The Real Estate Foundation Board of Governors meets quarterly to review and approve grants, and hold board meetings. Each summer we take these meetings on the road – to visit a different area of the province, meet with people and experience first-hand some of the work we have funded.

This June, the staff and governors piled into mini-vans and headed to Vancouver Island. Our first stop was Duncan, where we met with Oliver Brandes from the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance and three people from the Cowichan Watershed Board: Rodger Hunter, Co-ordinator, Rob Hutchins, Co-Chair, and Darin George, board member. Over lunch we heard presentations on water governance issues in BC and issues specific to the Cowichan watershed, followed by site visits to the Cowichan River and estuary.

We then drove to Tigh-Na-Mara resort in Parksville – some opting for more adventurous alternatives to the mini-van (see photo at right) – where we hosted a reception for 50 people from various organizations in the region with connections to, or potential interest in, the Foundation. This was a unique opportunity to meet people whose projects the Foundation has funded , but more importantly, to connect them with each other. Three of our grantees presented to the group – representatives of Cowichan Green Community, Mid-Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society and Ecotrust Canada. Their projects are great examples of leadership and collaboration in our grants programfocus areas: fresh water sustainability, sustainable food systems and built environment.