Vancouver - November 29, 2006

This Forum specifically focusses on integrating and acquiring greenspace through development processes. The highlight is the success in the Thames Gateway, a vast area east of London UK experiencing settlement growth. Kevin Key will present strategies available in the BC land use context, and a site-specific example of an innovative development which preserves valuable greenspace while effectively meeting market reality and private interests.

Forum sponsors include Evergreen in partnership with the Greater Vancouver Regional District, Lees and Associates and UBC.

This annual Conference in Cumberland BC addresses issues critical to the health of small towns and rural areas. Kevin Key provided advice and examples of cost-conscious development strategies, including the value of using existing, in-situ materials and by incorporating heritage structures.

Sponsors for the Conference include the Village of Cumberland, Environment Canada, Cumberland & District Credit Union, AndersonCivil Consultants, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, and the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services.

Kevin spoke to design and land-use professionals on urbanism, architecture, art and life in Italia - with a focus on Siena, a small Tuscan city of 65,000 - and provided insights to the future of managing city-life in North America.

The presentation was hosted by the Planning Institute of BC with generous support from the City of Victoria.

SGBC is a Vancouver-based NGO which advocates and demonstrates progressive land use and livable communities throughout BC. In a series of Okanagan conferences entitled A Valley-Wide Dialogue for Action, Kevin Key demonstrated how good planning contributes to Quality of Life in communties.

Conference sponsors include the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, and the Canadian Agricultural Rural Communities Initiative.

The Vancouver-based GBAP is an initiative led by Environment Canada in partnership with several federal agencies and the Province of BC. In a Vancouver workshop, Kevin Key spoke on a variety of planning and development techniques and on successful projects in which they have been effectively used.