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The Right Size
PLANNING THE FUTURE
» Thursday 4 March 2010 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas
and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us as urban planner Patrick McCormick and architect Kevin Ryan investigate how the forces of economic development, community planning and sustainability effect our future planning choices.
» $2 at the door. Refreshments are available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Planning Experts Scope the Future of the Valley
We know what happens when the often competing missions of economic development, community planning and sustainability work together (or do not work together, as the case may be). In determining what the built environment should look like to meet the future needs of the people, businesses, institutions, and communities of the Okanagan, is there such a thing as "right-sizing"? If so, how do we arrive at lt? What effect will population growth, peak oil and climate change have on the way we live, work and deal with our surroundings?
On Thursday, March 4th at 5 pm the ongoing weekly Okanagan Institute Express series at the Bohemian Café presents The Right Size: Planning the Future. Join us as urban planner Patrick McCormick and architect Kevin Ryan investigate how the forces of economic development, community planning and sustainability effect our future planning choices.
 Kevin Ryan MA (Hons), DA, MAIBC, LEED AP, Architect, graduated with an Honours Masters degree and Diploma of Architecture with distinction from Edinburgh University 1978, and 1979, and founded Coast Architectural Group in 1984. As President of Bluegreen Living Communities, Kevin applies his vision for a sustainable future to the project of creating great communities. A long-term architect and proponent of green building, Kevin brings his extensive experience of functional programming, project feasibility analysis and design to Bluegreen, with the aim of achieving the optimum value from each site and project.
Kevin believes that all the resources of the site and building process are to be valued in a sustainable manner with the building occupants sheltered in a healthy and inspirational environment. This design philosophy leads to unique, exciting and responsive design solutions - living communities that are sustainable environmentally, social and financially.
Kevin examines urban planning and development from a broad point of view, concentrating on sustainable development and the principles involved, namely social sustainability, environmental sustainability and fiscal sustainability. It is his conviction that there is a genuine need for sustainable community solutions.
He maintains, "We live in a world of diminishing resources, of changing climatic conditions and of economic uncertainty. In this context, human connection is even more important than ever. Developing living communities is difficult for grassroots groups to achieve alone, and we want to make it easy for people to attain their hopes of living in supportive, sustainable communities through providing professional support and facilitation services."
 Patrick McCormick is an urban designer with the City of Kelowna. His work merges planning and architecture and focuses on the creation of humane environments. His educational background includes undergraduate degrees in business and economics as well as a Master of Environmental Design in Architecture from the University of Calgary. He
considers urban design to be a discipline where planning and architecture merge; where the prime
focus should be on the creation of a meaningful public realm that promotes human interaction, understanding, and cultural expression.
In an article published in Okanagan Home magazine, he stated, "In a perfect world, less tax would be spent on funding roads, utility infrastructure and environmental clean-up and more would be spent on creating livable public space, that is, on urban design. Higher quality exterior finishes, public art, landscaped boulevards and street trees are just a few of the components of highly functioning public space that can be achieved by compact urban form.
Combined with higher residential densities that result from compact urban form, well-designed, decently-funded public spaces become the lifeblood of the community, pulsing with activity, passion, creativity, and a sense of self-worth in an often confusing world.
I maintain that there's a bigger picture than that of environmental sustainability and green design. And that big picture is called quality of life. I don't mean to downplay the importance of environmental initiatives in saying that. There's an opportunity to expand the notion of sustainability beyond the purely environmental to achieve more holistic urban environments, environments that see the individual
as more than a biological entity within a physical ecosystem; environments that address the spiritual and psychological needs of their inhabitants; environments that nurture strong social bonding, attachment to community, and sense of place. In this vision, economic and social sustainability go hand in hand with environmental sustainability."
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
The Right Size: Planning the Future takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 128th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007.
Express has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet laureate and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and many others from a wide range of creative fields.
The Okanagan Institute is a group of creative professionals that has gathered around the goal of providing events, publications and services of interest to enquiring minds in the Okanagan. We partner with individuals, organizations, institutions and businesses to achieve optimal creative and social impact.
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
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