Ecosystem Approach workshops “on the road” - October edition

Digital artwork by Mariah Alexander

Did you know that the Ecosystem Approach is a United Nations-recognized science-policy framework for holistic decision-making over ecosystems at regional scales?  It has been a common approach in the Great Lakes basin and other regions globally including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Ever since our global conference and synthesis workshops last August 2022, we’ve been on the move and have taken the conversations “on the road”!  

The past year, HHL welcomed Research Associate Fani Tsaroucha and senior researcher Dr. John Hartig to the team. Together they are co-organizing discussions with conservationists and ecologists all across the Great Lakes to gather perspectives around the implementation of ecosystem approach and what its evolution looks like as we move forward. It has been an enlightening experience for our team. We get to hear from practitioners on the ground and generate practical recommendations for improvement. This work is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Erb Family Foundation, ECO Canada and the University of Windsor. 

 As we are reaching the end of the series of workshops, this autumn we are taking our workshops “on the road” by organizing a series of in-person workshops with academia and other knowledge user groups. Last month, our team travelled across three Great Lakes watersheds, from Ontario, CA to Michigan and Ohio, USA to meet three communities, at Traverse city co-hosted by Michigan Sea Grant and FLOW (For the Love of Water) on the 19th of October, at York University on the 25th of October and Cleveland State University on the 27th of October.  

More workshops are coming up this and the upcoming months (November, December and January).
Stay tuned for more featured bios and stories from our adventures!

For more information on our “Ecosystem Approach on the road” journey, follow us on our social media, or follow #EcosystemApproach

To share your thoughts about ecosystem approach you can fill in our feedback survey, here: