Water Problems Are Complex

Albertans have become increasingly concerned about the availability and quality of our water. Industrial, agricultural and residential demands for water continue to increase and put pressure on the health and integrity of our rivers and lakes. Recent floods, and the potential long term influence of climate change, have renewed conversations about ecosystem health, cumulative effects, and how to plan for the future of Alberta watersheds.

Watersheds themselves are complex systems, and the people and groups tasked with protecting Alberta’s water resources operate in a diverse structure of multi-stakeholder engagement and activity, environmental monitoring, and the creation of integrated management plans. We need to think differently about our complex world and find new ways to work together.

We Need New Forms of Solutions

As a complex, shared problem, the issue of water quality requires adaptive solutions. The Project Blue Thumb lab team engages in creative, collaborative and systemic processes for problem solving with a focus on building relationships and piloting solutions that lead to tangible change.

Project Blue Thumb fosters new relationships across sector and geographical boundaries, offers a space to rapidly create and test solutions, and challenges dominant mindsets and preconceived ideas of watershed management and what a healthy watershed is.

Beyond Planning: Getting to Action

We cannot plan our way into a healthy and resilient watershed. To operate effectively within complex systems such as the Red Deer River Watershed we need to shift away from fixed, long-term planning to more iterative and adaptive planning based on learning and experimentation.

Beyond consultation, we need to engage with local stakeholders and co-create solutions that work where we live. Finally, we need to work across organizational boundaries, seek out different ideas and perspectives, and develop deeper, less biased understandings of the watershed system in our pursuit of transformational change.