Water is life. A secure and reliable supply of water is essential for all life forms.

This webinar will demonstrate that water is becoming increasingly insecure and unreliable due to climate change and increased demand by a growing population. Although a global challenge, this webinar will demonstrate the nature of this risk in Canada and how governments and communities are rising to the challenge.

Dr. John Pomeroy, director of the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Hydrology, the Canmore Coldwater Lab and head of Global Water Futures, one of the largest university-led freshwater research programs in the world, will demonstrate how water supplies and water quality across Canada are already at risk due to increasing frequency of floods and droughts, chemicals affecting our drinking water and conflicts between ecosystem and human needs. This risk will increase over time unless changes occur in the way we govern our most precious resource.

Fortunately, creative solutions are being developed both at the federal and provincial levels in Canada. Terry Duguid, MP for Winnipeg South, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Right Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, will outline the role of the proposed Canada Water Agency to coordinate science and monitoring services across the federal government and work with the provinces to track changes in hydrology and climate. This essential information will enable governments to adapt the management of our water resources to reduce risk.

In 1997, Duguid founded Sustainable Developments International, a firm specializing in environmental management. In 2000, he became Chair of the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission and subsequently took leadership positions with the Manitoba Climate Change Task Force and the Manitoba Emission Trading Task Force. He has a lifelong interest in science and its role in the betterment of society and has a Masters Degree in Environmental Design.

Oliver Brandes, a leading practitioner in policies relating to watershed governance and engagement with Indigenous peoples, will review a new initiative being launched by the BC provincial government on watershed security to ensure that watersheds are resilient to climate change. The strategy will be supported by a special fund so that both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities can be engaged in working with governments to manage risk to their water supplies.

Brandes, an Adjunct professor at the University of Victoria's Law Faculty and Director of the Polis Project on Ecological Governance at the University of Victoria, undertook an independent expert review in 2017 of drinking water source protection, which has since resulted in regulatory change. Brandes is also an advisor on a number of innovative watershed management projects in the Koksilah, Cowichan, Skeena, Nicola and Coquitlam watersheds in BC, as well as to the First Nations Fisheries Council, Freshwater Legacy Initiative and the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources.

Bob Sandford, Chair of the Global Water Futures at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and an award-winning author and editor of more than 35 books, will co-host this informative program.

Cold Matters: Our Arctic Connection

In keeping with the “what really matters” theme, Creative Solutions for a New World Climate and the Arts Series explores how much Cold Matters in terms of the roles in which snow, ice and permafrost play in the stabilization of the global climate system.

United Nations University Global Water Future's Chair and award-winning author, Bob Sandford, shares how winter snowfall extent, cover and duration impact water resources in Canada, and how important the Arctic is as a thermostat for weather not just in Canada but in the entire Northern Hemisphere. He concludes with observations on the climate risk posed by permafrost thaw and the need for cooperation among all of the circumpolar nations, but especially between Canada and Russia, in addressing that risk.

Dr. Thomas Axworthy, one of the architects of The Arctic Council, a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the Indigenous people of the Arctic, outlines concerns associated with accelerating permafrost thaw and its impact on northern peoples and cultures in Canada and throughout the Arctic. As well, he explores the cooperation needed within Canada and between Arctic nations that will be critical if we are to prevent the combined effects of sea ice loss, changes in the behaviour of the Northern Hemisphere Jetstream, and rapidly rising methane releases as a consequence of permafrost thaw from preventing Canada from achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

One of the most remarkable elements of the Global Water Future program is that it recognizes that art can make complex scientific issues relating to the value of water more compelling and understandable to the broader public.

Joining in this webinar is scientist and artist Dr. Louise Arnal, who together with her artist colleagues, Jennifer Baltzer, an expert on permafrost thaw, and Rhian Brynjolson, fuse art and science to portray changing climate circumstances in the Arctic in both Russia and Canada and make scientific research findings more understandable outside the climate science community. See the VirtualWaterGallery.ca, officially launching April 29, 2021.

In closing, there is a brief follow-on discussion on how the theme Truth Matters can be applied to the challenges posed by accelerating permafrost thaw and other climate threats led by Washington, DC lawyer, Mace Rosenstein and how we can use all the ways we have of knowing and caring to create the post-COVID world we want.

Old Forests Essential to New Medicines

Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger, a world renowned botanist, medical biochemist, author, and the subject of the popular documentary, Call of the Forest, has lent her support for the protection of our old growth forests. 

Raised with a knowledge of ancient Celtic law, which is similar to the Natural Law of Indigenous peoples, she was told she had a mission to share her knowledge with the world at this time.

It can take 5,000 years to create the rich, complex ecosystems we call “old-growth forests.” Yet within mere days, ancient forests and everything within them can be — and are — destroyed.

Old growth forest protectors with the Rainforest Flying Squad are maintaining their presence at blockades to protect Vancouver Island's few remaining intact ecosystems, calling them ‘Mother Nature’s medicine chest’.

Old-growth forests are incredibly rich, fertile ecosystems containing plants, fungi, bacteria, and micro-organisms that grow nowhere else. Indigenous peoples worldwide have found their medicines in nature. Many of the medicines we already use come from trees and forests.

The youth climate leaders in Climate Education Reform BC have just launched their official Reform To Transform Campaign, and they need us all to sign their Open Letter:

Climate Education Reform BC (CERBC) is a student-led organization advocating for a justice-driven Climate Change Education in British Columbia’s K-12 system.

CERBC is presenting the BC Ministry of Education 6 Needs:

1. A public declaration of a Climate Emergency from the BC Ministry of Education, alongside a promise to act through a climate justice, decolonizing, and anti-oppressive lens. 
2. The creation of diverse committees at the Ministry and District levels to guide the education reform process. 
3. The creation of a youth advisory committee to work alongside the BC Ministry of Education as well as individual district-level committees to give feedback and to continually ensure that students are receiving proper climate education.
4. A revision of the K-12 curriculum to implement education on a variety of topics, including climate justice.
5. The assessment and provision of professional learning, resources, and support for school staff to enhance their knowledge, tools, and strategies in teaching the reformed curriculum and preparing students for the climate crisis.
6. The implementation of equitable school infrastructure in alignment with transitioning towards a 95% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The full asks are on this page so check them out!

To see the just and climate centered education system needed to prepare our youth and communities to mitigate the climate crisis, CERBC needs your help to amplify our voice!

You can find CERBC on many different social media platforms.

Creating A Regenerative
Bioregional Culture

Calling all lovers of the Salish Sea. Check out this upcoming May Day Murmuration event and invitation for May 1st.

About Creatively United & Our Community Partners

The Creatively United for the Planet Society is a registered non-profit society. Since 2012, we have brought together more than 10,000 people from throughout the region who care about happy, healthy, and resilient communities. We have done so through eight zero-waste sustainability showcases, numerous community events and educational talks, collaborative partnerships, a video series, and the CreativelyUnited.org free community information network, resource and solutions sharing hub. 

The Gail O'Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund, supported by The Victoria Foundation, is dedicated to changing human consciousness towards global environmental change by combining science with the creativity of the performing arts.

Creatively United and Climate and the Arts both appreciate the support of the Polis Foundation for its assistance in the production of these webinars.

Under the Distinguished Patronage of:
Her Honour,
The Honourable Janet Austin, OBC
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

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