Our Ideas

This past February, Junxion participated in the Fraser Basin Council (FBC) State of the Fraser Basin Conference: The Many Faces of Sustainability. The FBC advances sustainability in the Fraser River Basin and releases a biennial report, Sustainability Snapshot, which summarizes indicator data across 18 topics to help business, government and citizens better understand the social, economic and environmental health of the Fraser Basin and its communities. The region is the province’s largest watershed and home to two-thirds of BC’s population.

According to the report, the good news is that the region is seeing better results in a number of sustainability indicators. The most positive of them include air quality, health, and business & sustainability. As well, the number of indicators rated as “poor or getting worse” dropped from 20 to 12.

Alongside these positive indicators, many areas are rated as “mixed results” (both fair and poor). Others are rated as “poor/getting worse”. The greatest areas for improvement are Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relations, biodiversity, fish and fisheries, and housing.

Each session at the conference was designed to share a story of either personal, organizational or community transformation, as told by the engaged citizen or inspiring community or business leader who led that positive change. In addition to providing Fraser Basin Council with recommendations around conference content and speakers, Peter ter Weeme participated in the 2009 conference as a moderator for the “Stories of Community Transformation” session.