PURPOSE

The BC Water Funders Collaborative is an informal body supporting strategic collaboration among organizations and foundations that fund freshwater and watershed protection efforts in British Columbia. The group’s purpose is set out as follows:

The BC Water Funders Collaborative aims to help find areas of common interest and alignment that facilitate the strategic use of collective resources to advance freshwater protection in British Columbia. The group provides a forum for exchange of information and peer learning between funders and water leaders by strengthening relationships, knowledge and networks.

 WHO WE ARE

Guided by a four-member Steering Committee and two paid Coordinators, the Collaborative is currently comprised by 20 funding organizations, including private foundations, corporate funders, and government agencies.

 HOW WE WORK TOGETHER

The BC Water Funders Collaborative is intended to maximize communication and collaboration on common priorities and may involve the engagement of key resource people in the water community. Participation by resource people ensures water funders are connected with the broader community and can make informed decisions based on current knowledge and science-based evidence.  The funders have identified four key themes for their collaborative activities as outlined in the box below.

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS

• Policy – supporting implementation of the newly passed Water Sustainability Act, the first comprehensive reform to water law in over 100 years.
• Places – investing in new forms of watershed governance in key regions and places, including indigenous watershed planning and co-governance.
• People – strengthening the capacity of local and grassroots organizations working on water and more generally keeping water on the agenda for the B.C. public.
• Pooling Water Knowledge – an emerging working group looking at key issues related to water monitoring reporting in BC, including community based monitoring, accessibility of information to decision-makers, and integrating science and traditional knowledge

CONTACT US

For more information about the BC Water Funders Collaborative, funding organizations are encouraged to contact its Coordinators at info@bcwaterfunders.org.  Please note that the BC Water Funders Collaborative provides a service to funding organizations only and does not accept applications for funding proposals.