Background

Location: Vancouver, Canada

Dates: 2005 - 2006

Partners: BC Hydro

Key Issues: all aspects of Urban Sustainability; World Urban Forum

Funders: BC Hydro, Western Economic Diversification Canada, ALCAN, GVRD

Description

In January 2005 ICSC and BC Hydro initiated a series of monthly breakfast meetings to bring together the people and organizations in the lower mainland who were interested in urban sustainability. They have been highly successful – growing from 50 up to 300 participants and building an active contact database of over 3500 individuals and organizations in the lower mainland. The meetings had two purposes – first to share information about what local groups were doing in preparation for the World Urban Forum 2006 (WUF), and to build a sense of community and synergy among the local actors. The first sessions were hosted by the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of BC. As attendance grew (from 60 people to 300 people) the breakfasts moved to downtown Vancouver. The first 10 months were co-sponsored and co-chaired by BC Hydro and financially supported by Western Economic Diversification. The GVRD took over sponsorship of the breakfasts in late 2005 and continued to host them, with ICSC Chairing the meetings. Each session included updates on local activities and also presentations on matters of interest to the sustainability community, such as green buildings, mining, urban planning, energy etc.. The social capital built by the breakfasts is one of the strongest legacies of the WUF.

The breakfasts have continued under the GVRD’s sponsorship and have expanded into regular luncheon dialogues on matters of interest in the GVRD.