Building Capacity

The uptake of nature-based solutions appears to be hindered by the lack of trained professionals in BC. For example, in 2020, most of the Green Shores^® for Homes certifications that existed on mid Vancouver Island were attributable to a single contractor.

Based on a survey in 2020, many shoreline professionals, including municipal staff, local government decision makers, and stewardship groups, were unfamiliar with many nature-based approaches such as: beach nourishment, restoration or construction; retention and placement of stumps and logs as protective features; and removal or modification of structures that impeded longshore sediment movement.

We believe that by providing training free to local communities and shoreline professionals about the benefits and techniques of nature-based solutions for shorelines, we will create active champions operating at the community level. Ultimately, we believe that this will increase the uptake of nature-based approaches, with the concomitant benefits of coastal resilience to climate change.

Resilient Coasts for Salmon is providing the following training with the goal of creating a necessary pool of shoreline practitioners able to implement nature-based approaches:

Technical Green Shores^® Training, Level 1 and Level 2
Educational "lunch and learn" and webinars

The Green Shores Training is being provided to shoreline professionals (engineers, biologists, landscape architects, municipal planners), First Nations, conservation/stewardship groups, and shoreline property owners through the University of Victoria’s Continuing Education program in partnership with the Stewardship Centre for BC. If you are interested in the training, let us know, and we will notify you as future sessions are planned. More information and the current training schedule can be found here.

Upcoming educational events are posted on our Events page, and recorded versions of many of these will be available through our Outreach and Education page. If you would like to learn more about Green Shores right now, check out this post about the benefits of Green Shores and how it works as well as this post on how to take advantage of Green Shores to improve your shoreline property.

The uptake of nature-based solutions appears to be hindered by the lack of trained professionals in BC. For example, in 2020, most of the Green Shores® for Homes certifications that existed on mid Vancouver Island were attributable to a single contractor.

The uptake of nature-based solutions appears to be hindered by the lack of trained professionals in BC. For example, in 2020, most of the Green Shores^® for Homes certifications that existed on mid Vancouver Island were attributable to a single contractor.