Greening BC Skylines Together...
Happy Spring Equinox/ happy Nowruz! Wow, spring 2025! Just as the days are getting longer and buds are bursting, GRIN is stoked for the year ahead. We are excited to share recent news and upcoming activities. Join our Mailing List and receive our quarterly newsletters straight to your inbox.
GRIN Receives Grant: “Scaling up green infrastructure opportunities to enable climate action”
GRIN is delighted to receive a grant from the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC). The project with ZEIC – “Scaling up green infrastructure opportunities to enable climate action” – will address current and projected challenges related to climate adaptation, resilience and action, energy efficiency, pollution abatement, and carbon sequestration, as well as environmental protection, stormwater management, biodiversity, public health & well-being, and economic development by means of green roofs and green infrastructure solutions.
This grant supports GRIN in its education and capacity building activities for green infrastructure professionals, while also bolstering its network operations. It is through these networks that practice change can be scaled for meaningful GHG impact. This project represents a valuable contribution to ZEIC’s mandate and strategic directions by advancing education on the importance of reducing, minimizing, or stopping greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
Mark your calendars
Green roof/ green infrastructure tours
We’re gearing up for a great year of tours, which create a unique space for experiential learning, cross pollination and socializing via green roof (GR) and green infrastructure (GI) projects. This year, to make our socials more inclusive and spacious, we’ll host most of our post-tour socials in public parks or on accessible roof gardens, rather than pubs. This also makes it easier for you to join us if you can’t make the tour but want to meet up.
The first three tours are posted and there are more to come. Mark your calendar and save your spot with our new RSVP system!
Save the date: Vancouver Grey to Green Conference (May 22- 23, 2025)
From May 22-23, GRIN is excited to co-host Vancouver Grey to Green with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, under the green roofs of Creekside Community Recreation Centre (1 Athletes Way, Vancouver, BC V5Y 0B1). Details to follow. For now:
Vancouver Grey to Green is a must-attend event for architects, landscape architects, and green infrastructure professionals, researchers, and policymakers. We’ll explore the latest innovations in green infrastructure through expert-led presentations, panel discussions, and case studies. Attendees will gain valuable insights into climate resilience, urban biodiversity, and sustainable design strategies.
– Thurs. May 22 > For the first time since covid, the Green Roof Professional (GRP) accreditation training will be delivered in-person! For a deep dive and full accreditation, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.
– Fri. May 23 > The conference will be held at Creekside Community Recreation Centre from 9am to 5pm. After a full day of green roof goodness, GRIN will host the after-party in the Common House at Cranberry Commons Co-Housing Community in Burnaby, just 15 minutes away. Good times!
Celebrating our achievements
Annual General Meeting 2025: GRIN’s first AGM
Spring 2025 started with a boom! Earthquakes aside, on Tues. March 11, GRIN held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM). Many thanks to the Architek Group for hosting us at their Mt. Pleasant office. It was a small but mighty affair. The board was sorry to lose Holly Horne, as she returns to the Toronto Green Roof milieu, and grateful for Fai Hui who stepped into the role of Treasurer. We are delighted to welcome Olya Trush to the board. The board of directors for GRIN 2025-2026 includes:
- President: Kathy Dunster
- Vice President:, Joshua Stewart
- Secretary: Olya Trush
- Treasurer: Fai Hui
- Members-at-Large: Genevieve Noell, Goya Ngan, Karen Liu, Randy Sharp, Ryan Vasseur
Thank you to each and every one of these passionate green roof champions for their commitment to the movement. Together, our board and volunteers are helping to advance GRIN’s vision, which was determined at last year’s strategic board retreat:
We envision a future where BC’s land- and roofscapes are covered by regenerative ecosystems, plants and soils that create conditions that promote reconciliation, food security, and that allow all living beings to thrive.
Project: Mapping Green Roofs and their Retrofit Potential
Our mapping project with Gentian Ltd. and Small Change Fund is alive and well. On Feburary 28, 2025, we presented the preliminary results to the City of Vancouver. While our goal is to map more area, we are currently working on improving the models and translating the results into useable layers and applications.
Our meeting with the City of Vancouver’s green roof working group helped clarify needs and directions. The roofscape accounts for about 30% of most cities’ land cover, and green roofs offer significant opportunities for climate resilience, urban cooling, and stormwater mitigation. In 2024, we mapped Vancouver’s core for existing and potential green roofs, as well as trees and private gardens. Preliminary results were published in the Living Architecture Monitor in December 2024.
This project is framed as a fundraiser, in partnership with the Small Change Fund, which means that more donations will enable GRIN to map – and empower – more BC communities. Donations of $10 or more will receive tax receipts in Canada. Many thanks to the generous donors who support this project, and to the generous initial donation that got us started. Please note Small Change Fund recently upgraded their website; the new link is https://smallchangefund.ca/campaign/mapping-green-roofs-and-their-retrofit-potential.
We hope to see you at any of our upcoming events. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with ideas or questions, we love hearing from you!
Happy Spring and be well!
