Press Release
June 3, 2014
Island Roundtable Forms on the Environment and Economy
Ladysmith Harbour
CEDAR – On the twentieth-fifth anniversary of the formation of the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy a new society has formed to gather advice on important Island-wide issues, and to further consensus for sustainable development on Vancouver Island.
“Vancouver Island has unique challenges,” states Laurie Gourlay, president of the non-profit Island Roundtable on the Environment and Economy. “As climate change impacts come to the forefront, along with water and food security issues and an increasing Island population of some 765,000 residents, important decisions about sustainable development and stewardship will be required.”
Following the process and mandate outlined by the BC Roundtable on the Environment and Economy some twenty years ago, in June 1994*, the Island Roundtable will be solutions-focused, examining deliverables specific to each sector and the Island.
“It’s both a critical and exciting time in the future of Vancouver Island,” says Gourlay. “And we want to encourage partnership in finding solutions that will serve the Island and the coast.”
The work of the Roundtable is expected to help advance consideration, and cross-sectoral cooperation with all sectors and areas of the Island, by addressing growth and planning challenges for Vancouver Island.
“Meetings over the summer will assist in identifying research and resource needs,” Gourlay adds, “as well as possibilities of affiliation with Island institutions, associations and universities.”
Having announced the initiative last fall Gourlay expects to spend the next six months looking to identify Islanders from all professions, walks of life and expertise who might contribute to and further Roundtable discussions of ‘our common future’.
“On Vancouver Island, how might we implement sustainable development that attends to the needs and interest of all while building a sense of place, partnership, and new means to cooperate?”
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For more information :
Laurie Gourlay, President
*(BCRTEE, ‘Local Roundtables: Realizing Their Full Potential’)
Island Roundtable on the Environment & Economy, Box 333, Cedar BC, V9X 1W1; (250-722-3444) <island@vcn.bc.ca>