Nature knows best - 5 key take-aways during CUI CityTalk

In case you missed it, Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) hosted another lively conversation organized with the Natural Assets Initiative based on a recent CUI report : “Both/And: Integrating Natural Asset Management into Federal Housing Supply Policymaking." The expert panel dove right into Canada's parallel needs for more homes and to preserve and enhance natural assets, which keep those very homes safe, resilient, and well-served with vital functions like storm water management and flood management.

Hosted by CUI CEO Mary W. Rowe, the candid conversation explored where city and community experience will meet science, how Canadian cities have been impacted by extreme weather and what we are doing and plan to do to adapt for the future. Here are five key takeaways from the discussion:

Natural Assets are essential for sustainable housing??

We have a growing resource of tools and people in local governments to show us that we do not need to choose between nature and housing – we need to continue to work towards integrating our efforts. Panelist Roy Brooke reminds us, we need to debunk this narrative that it is a choice and move quickly as we continue to lose wetlands, but continue to build homes, we need to integrate our efforts.?Everyone in any?community can begin a process of starting to look at what natural assets are in their places to discover, value, and protect them from risk. Let’s not wait. Every local government can take that step forward now, to begin moving bigger hurdles later. ?

Consider territory holistically when planning?

We need to zoom out and look at our lands holistically. We need to zoom out from the urban and see how, downstream, at the impact developments will and are having on various other districts and land. Patience Cox added importantly, “We need to think about everything on the land. We get worried about the built environment when we speak about mitigating risks, but what about the actual environment? How will animals, our food sources, how do we mitigate risk for all of it?”??

Conventional development needs to change

?Kim Fowler’s book and insights bring a very frank reminder to this reality in re-enforcing the point on conventional development in saying, “It is crap development. We are removing and stripping from the land the things we need. I mean, do not take out topsoil, so you do not need to bring topsoil?back in. Honour the land that is there.”?We need to drastically reconsider our building practices to change these behaviors. For example, developing permit areas in land use regulations is one way of helping to create tools for this. This was done in Nanaimo, BC. In addition,?bring people, communities, and indigenous knowledge together at the very beginning is critical for mapping, data, and ground truthing before ever beginning the project. Because it all starts with the data.?

Incentivize to value and account natural assets

Many tools already exist to support us in making changes. Resources like full cost accounting and full lifecycle analysis that can include the?value of natural assets, indigenous community insights, and other important local levers can be put in place in local governments. Making these requirements, helps level the playing field for developers, and helps the city to evaluate projects for funding based on those prioritizing natural assets. Changing the way things are scored and making sure all developers are aware, can ensure nature is being counted. And creating these incentives at all levels of government, to prioritize funding for projects accounting for natural assets.?

Canadian levers for multi-solve solutions???

We need to make sure we are integrating efforts on natural assets into a whole contingency of other important areas, like climate, local economies and others so when we are funding projects, we make sure we are solving for as many problems as we can. Jonathan Tinney reminds us that we also need to recognize, not every place starts with the same challenge. In some municipalities, it will be about trying to make integration for natural assets easier, but in others it will be about trying to stop making it so hard. Information and knowledge around solutions, standards and tools is critical because to build confidence in these types of natural solutions.

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