PIBC 2011 Annual Conference
The Planning Tapestry: Weaving Our Way Together
May 31- June 3, 2011 – Nanaimo, B.C.

Over 430 participants gathered in beautiful Nanaimo, BC, for the exciting 2011 PIBC Annual Conference & AGM. 

Program Theme & Details

The 2011 Conference – The Planning Tapestry: Weaving Our Way Together – conference theme was organized into four subthemes…

• Say Something… A focus on community and engagement.
• Grow Something… A focus on growth and consumption.
• Do Something… A focus on action.
• Weave Something… A focus on multi-disciplinary integration of ideas and action.

Final Program
The final program for the PIBC 2011 Annual Conference & AGM is available online. To download a PDF copy of the final program, click here.

The 2010 conference program included an excellent line-up of keynote speakers, presenters, panel discussions, sessions, workshops and more... 

Keynote Speakers & Plenary Presenters:

• Mark Holland, MCIP:  Mark Holland, a planner with degrees in both Landscape Architecture and Community and Regional Planning, is one of the principals of HB Lanarc, a sustainability planning and design consulting firm. He previously worked with the City of Vancouver as the sustainable development planner and project coordinator on the Southeast False Creek model sustainable urban development project, the site of the Athlete’s Housing for the 2010 Olympics.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Community Energy Association, the Ecodesign Resource Society, and is a founding director of the Pacific Arrowsmith Institute. An acclaimed speaker, Mark is widely known for his ability to “make sense of sustainability” in a pragmatic way that leads to action.  Mark is one of the creative and driving forces behind emerging innovative approaches to planning issues including Agricultural Urbanism, Healing Cities, and Urban Magnets.  He has lectured on a wide range of issues including green urban design, community energy planning and the challenges municipalities face in implementing sustainable development principles.  Mark was recognized for his leadership in the planning profession and awarded 2010 Planner of the Year by the Planning Institute of BC, and was selected one of Vancouver’s top 40 under 40 in 2004 by Business in Vancouver Magazine.

• Annie Leonard:  “There are speakers and then there are speakers who engage, connect, inspire…Annie is all of that.”  In a society that is centred on accumulating ever more, and better, stuff, and that is taking an enormous toll on the environment, public health, equity and personal happiness, acclaimed filmmaker and Internet phenomenon Annie Leonard provides a hopeful vision for moving beyond the age of Stuff. Author of “The Story of Stuff,” Annie has worked on international environmental health and sustainability issues for more than two decades. She has worked with GAIA, Health Care without Harm, Essential Action, and Greenpeace International, and has traveled to over 30 countries to investigate the factories where our stuff is produced and the dumps where it is disposed. Annie did her undergraduate studies at Barnard College, Columbia University and graduate work in City and Regional Planning at Cornell, both in New York.  She is currently based in the Bay Area of California, coordinating the non- profit Story of Stuff Project.

• Wendy Holm:  To Canadian economist, author and award winning journalist Wendy Holm, sustainability means more than greenhouse gases and green roofs.  It means sustaining communities with good public policy and governance systems that work.  Wendy is an Agrologist, resource economist, award winning journalist and speaker who is passionate about food sovereignty, democracy and security; and who has been studying and writing about these issues for years. Over the past 35 years, Wendy has provided consulting advice to provincial and federal governments and private sector clients in British Columbia and Ottawa. The author of many reports and policy statements on topics ranging from BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve to water’s inclusion in the North American Free Trade Agreement, she was editor and contributing author of the book Water and Free Trade (1998).   Wendy has covered stories at the forefront of Canadian policy since the early 1990’s, picking up four national journalism awards since 2003. A twice-honoured Queens Medalist (1993, 2002) and BC Agrologist of the Year 2000, Holm is a strong and provocative speaker who will challenge our perceptions of sustainability and, through stories and fact, passion and humour, leave the audience empowered and wanting more. She lives and writes on Bowen Island, BC.

• Chris Turner:  Chris Turner is the author of the national bestseller The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need, which was named one of The Globe & Mail’s Best Books of the Year and a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Nonfiction, the National Business Book Award and the Alberta Literary Award for Nonfiction. He is also the author of the international bestseller Planet Simpson: How A Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. His narrated visual tour of The Geography of Hope has captivated audiences across Canada, ranging from Environmental Defence summits to Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers galas. His writing has earned him four Canadian National Magazine Awards and six honourable mentions, including the 2001 President’s Medal for General Excellence (the highest honour in Canadian magazine writing).  He previously wrote a monthly feature series on sustainability for The Globe and Mail.  His recent feature reporting for The Walrus received two gold medals at the 2010 National Magazine Awards. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife, photographer Ashley Bristowe, and their two children.

• Dave Witty, FCIP:  Dr. David Witty is Vice President Academic and Provost of Vancouver Island University.  Prior to that appointment, he was Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba, taught at the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC, and at Simon Fraser University’s City Program, where he led the development and delivery of the award winning SFU Urban Design Certificate. Witty was a senior partner in two interdisciplinary consulting firms, where he worked as an urban planner and urban designer across western Canada. He is a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners and a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He was the founding chair of the Canadian Healthy Communities Project and a founding member of the Council for Canadian Urbanism.  He is a former President of CIP. Dave is active nationally and internationally as an urban adviser and strategic consultant on urban issues.  He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy from UBC, a Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Arts in Regional Planning and Resource Development, University of Waterloo.

Sponsors & Exhibitors:

The 2011 Conference could not have been possible without the generous support and participation of our sponsors, partners and exhibitors. Sponsorship provides these organizations with a high-quality, unique opportunity for visibility and recognition. Thank you!

Thank you to all our Sponsors & Supporters!

Platinum:

AECOM    -    BC Hydro

Gold:

City of Nanaimo    -    Regional District of Nanaimo

Focus Corporation    -    CMHC

Silver

Vancouver Island University

BC Ministry of Community, Sport & Cultural Development

Bronze

Carvello Law Corporation    -    Stantec

Urban Systems Ltd.

Supporters

Couverdon Real Estate    -    In Print Ltd.

Nanaimo Veterinary Hospital

Exhibitors

AECOM    -    BC Hydro

CMHC    -    Fraser Basin Council

Gamella Design    -    HB Lanarc Consultants

Islands Trust    -    Kinder Morgan

Thank you!