Farewell from Sheila Cole
By Sheila Cole, NSEN Senior Policy Advisor
After 20 years of serving as NSEN‘s Senior Policy Advisor, I feel the timing is finally right for me to step down from my position. This position has evolved over the years, from advising numerous Executive Directors, to being interim chair, responsible for leading the Network in times of transition, and recently to advising the Chair of the Board and Board members on how the Network functions, its history, its relationship with Nova Scotia Environment (NSECC) and past Ministers of the Environment. Also teaching about the relationship between the Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) and the NSEN, teaching about how the caucuses function and why they are so important, planning and leading numerous annual meetings with NSECC , helping to plan annual general gatherings and speaking about Network activities and policies to media, at conferences and at consultation tables.
I had intended to step down as far back as 2013 and focus on my own teaching about the interrelationship between environment and health, and writing. Just as I was about to announce it, the Chair at the time stepped down and said that NSEN should be dissolved due to insufficient operating funds. Our Board members were exhausted and the Network was terribly challenged after two intense years following the Harper government’s cuts in 2011 to core funding of the RCEN. This happened despite the urging of senior bureaucrats at Environment Canada to continue the funding of this historic and world renowned Network which supported the provincial networks in turn. NSEN thus lost capacity to employ an executive director. In the absence of a Chair, I stayed put, stepped into the Chair position, oriented a new complement of Board members and together we did all the administrative work while continuing to influence environmental goals and policies and maintaining the profile of the Network.
The NSEN continued in this way, sometimes having a Chair but often with me serving as interim Chair. Despite all odds the NSEN was continuing to operate while most others across the country had folded almost immediately under similar pressure. I was determined that our Network would not fall.
During these years I continued my own activism as part of national Working Groups involved with Canada‘s Chemicals Management Plan and the National Pollutant Release Inventory. I also attended numerous conferences with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, sometimes as a delegate and sometimes as an expert presenter.
In addition, I was Chair of the Health Caucus of the RCEN. The caucus participated actively at biannual meetings of UN Habitat’s World Urban Forum, presenting at five of these conferences in total, culminating with the Habitat lll meeting in Quito, Ecuador in 2016. In our presentations my colleagues and I spoke about environmental programs in our own cities. I showcased the work of local groups with which I was active in Halifax and shared how NSEN helped to expand this work across the province through our own provincial Health Caucus.
The Health Caucus also included training on Multi-Stakeholder Decision Making Processes as a form of constructive public engagement which we used within our networks and in consultation sessions with government, academia and industry. In addition, I represented NSEN for two terms on the Nova Scotia Round Table on Environment and Sustainable Prosperity, highlighting the concerns and work of our member groups.
The years have been busy, complex and strenuous, yet very rewarding.
In recent years the Network has benefited from the excellent leadership of Chris White as Chair. With a stable Board of Directors and the work of volunteers and full-time staff the Network has been once again growing (40 member groups now), developing a great new website, and hosting numerous webinars and educational sessions.
At this time I feel the Network is in a very viable position of strength. All the elements for continued programming and service to members and the public are firmly in place. The fact that we have just completed filming of the history of the Network is the final piece that makes it possible for me to confidently step down from my role.
I will maintain my involvement at events and meetings as a regular member. It has been a pleasure and privilege to be part of this amazing Network of environmental groups. Working together we have accomplished so much to protect the land, ocean and waterways and delicate air systems of our beautiful province. I often take the opportunity to showcase to other organizations, nationally and internationally, the work of the NSEN and the RCEN. Our networks are the envy of many countries around the world. As environmental challenges deepen and multiply, it is increasingly important that our Network continue to grow and strengthen and to continue our valuable work in local communities across Nova Scotia.