COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE & OUTREACH PROGRAMS 

Metro Vancouver serves as the main political forum for discussion of significant community issues at the regional level. It acts as a facilitator, convenor, partner, advocate and a significant instrument for providing information and education to the community.

The Cities Conference
The Vancouver Board of Trade, in co-operation with Metro Vancouver, is hosting Metro Forum 2009 - The Cities Conference, Thursday, November 19, 2009 7:15 am – 2:00 pm

Transportation and planning, land use, the regional economy, integrated resource management, dealing with crime and infrastructure, financial challenges – all issues of regional and local importance. But as a region, how do we make the important decisions about who does what, where, when and how? How do we prepare the region for the economic upswing when it arrives?

Now is not the time to rest on our laurels, now is the time for innovation and action. Come hear from a Mayors’ Panel and keynote speaker Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, who knows a thing or two about innovation and action. One of Livingstone’s greatest challenges was dealing with the city’s ageing transportation infrastructure while reducing London’s impact on the environment.

 For further conference and registration details, please visit the Vancouver Board of Trade website

Gaining Ground
Resilient Cities: Urban Strategies for Transition Times, a Gaining Ground event, was held in Vancouver October 20 – 22. This event, co-sponsored with Metro Vancouver, featured a wide range of keynote speakers and informative workshops. The program included The Politics of Decision-making for Sustainability, a Metro Vancouver hosted workshop.

Decision-making for sustainability is an increasing complex exercise, often divided by newly emerging science, passionate community voices, and proponents on different sides of any one issue. In this context, how do local governments (politicians and staff) make the ‘right’ decision? What does it take to be an effective voice for change at the front end of innovation? How is democracy best balanced with quick action on sustainability imperatives?

Opening Remarks by Metro Vancouver Director and Surrey City Councillor, Marvin Hunt
Peter McLeod, Principal, MASS LBP and with the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queens University
Doug McArthur, Faculty member, SFU Public Policy Program; former Minister of Education and Deputy Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in BC and Saskatchewan
Cliff Curtis, Commissioner of Works, Regional Municipality of Durham

Please find below each speaker’s presentation.