Wednesday night at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver I was treated by my wife (visual artist Connie Sabo http://www.eastsideculturecrawl.com/artists/sabo-connie ) to attend PechaKucha night # 12 "Walk the Talk, Green Your City" ( http://www.pechakuchanightvancouver.com/ ). Until that night I had no idea that PechaKucha is a world wide phenomenon that has really caught on in Vancouver (pechakucha is Japanese slang for chitchat and it apparently has no wrong pronunciation so 'it's all good, bro'). There were 2000 plus bright young (younger than me), shiny people there in earnest to witness the 3 hour "chat". I like to "Walk the talk", so I went forth with an open eye to linking the Lean with the Green and overall I was not disappointed. Basically it goes this way: there are quick slide presentations by politicians, planners, designers, researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, activists and artists interspersed with a few bon mots by the hosts. A number of presenters took the warm and fuzzy stance that Vancouver's being one of the world's most Liveable cities is not enough, and that Vancouver must become the most Lovable city. Nice. A bit too subjective and not as data-driven as I'd like, but nice all the same. That sentiment represented the overall tone of the evening's presentations.
This event was sponsored by the city and UBC so the Mayor was front and centre, and city staff and council were well represented. The pledges of good cooperation and complete alignment in Green Programs between the City and UBC seems to be a good start to the 2020 initiative. Significant investment in Green buildings was seen to be in action at UBC. UBC even has long range Green goals set out to 2050!
Post Olympic Investment?
It was notable that Mayor Gregor claimed that $60 million in new investment had landed in Vancouver since the Olympics. Not bad.
Vancouver Goes Green
Mayor Gregor launched the http://www.talkgreentous.ca/ website where the goal is engage the city in a conversation on making Vancouver the world's 'Greenest City' by 2020. The plan is to focus on 10 "specific" goals. The No.1 goal, my personal favorite, is to double the number of Green jobs by 2020 by becoming a mecca for Green business. What a green job is exactly, and how many is double, was not defined, but I hope that info is available somewhere. Government support can set the table for such a great achievement but it is entrepreneurs with great ideas and innovative business models that will put the tofu on the plate for the greenest city in the world.
And what is leaner than tofu? Not much. So to my way of thinking, the common love of waste reduction between the lean and the green is a match made in heaven! How this matchmaking occurs in reality seems to be what part of the "conversation" may be about. At intermission the conversation part was started with a text- in survey of the audience that revealed that more than half believe that the public will have the "biggest impact on Vancouver's Green Future". It was clearly a DIY crowd. And I was very pleased to see that particular sentiment tip the scale. It made me a bit more optimistic to see these results because it is really up to the public to demand the change and be willing to pay for it. By this measure it seems to me we are closer to that now than ever. http://developers.mobilemuse.ca/components/mobvote/mv.question.php?username=jhebert&authenticate=0b5db855d00acd305c62e95fdf876de4
Lean Leadership vs Green Leadership
I was thrilled (yes!) that the leadership style advocated by some of the presenters looks very Lean. Jaime Kowal, gifted photographer, laid it out strikingly on one of her slides. Clearly these Green folks are people that are aligned with the goals and the leadership style of Lean. I found myself excited by the possiblities that fertile ground presents. Kevin Millsip, sustainablity coordinator for the VSB claimed that Generation U ( for U-turn) is coming through the schools now and they understand the relationship between the economy and the environment and will turn our ship around. If so that's definitely continuous improvement! No offense Gen Y.
DIY
Jaime Kowal is launching a website http://www.greenthecityvancouver.com/ that is going to have a monthly Green assignment! These fun-sounding assignments are designed to engage people in the "conversation" and I am looking forward to seeing them.
I found it most impressive to see entrepreneurs launching businesses that "Walk the Talk" and others incorporating green ideas into their businesses for profit. I was astonished at the number of not-for-profits that are springing up to demonstrate some of the concepts as well. Check out what this guy is up to http://hivevancouver.wikispaces.com/Eesmyal+Santos-Brault
Next Steps
The humorous MC got a ton of applause for his half-joke that the next event will be at GM Place. I will be there next time to see if it happens and to enjoy some more fresh lean and green ideas.
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