How can the City of Vancouver partner with neighbourhood houses and non-profits to better engage with communities on green rainwater infrastructure? Green rainwater infrastructure (GRI) can be a complex topic to unpack in ways that are simple and meaningful for communities where projects are occurring.

One of the main challenges faced by municipalities that implement infrastructure upgrades or changes is creating dialogue and engagement around the benefits of green infrastructure. Neighbourhood houses and non-profits are two types of organizations in Vancouver that already successfully communicate and engage with their communities. Understanding the mutual benefits possible for partnerships with individual neighbourhood houses and non-profits may help COV tailor their initial outreach to these groups. By using a network diagram approach I show that certain organizations are better positioned as connectors and leader across multiple communities, these organizations may be better suited to engagement opportunities as they can spread information to multiple individuals and organizations in their own networks. This project highlights six themes of mutual benefits across organizations that link to the transformational directions outlined in the City of Vancouver Raincity strategy. These are: capacity building, environmental justice, neighbourhood resilience and placemaking, interest in sustainability, climate change, and GRI, public health, and collaboration across organizations.

The Green Infrastructure branch may use these findings to inform the focus of their outreach to neighbourhoods and non-profits, ideally resulting in partnerships with mutual benefits for both parties and meaningful GRI engagement with communities across Vancouver.