This post is cross-posted from the Council of Canadians blog. The original can be found here.
What would happen if water was managed based on principles and practices that empower communities to become stewards and what if decision making was local and collective? These principles inform a commons and public trust approach that water must be carefully managed and protected while prioritizing the basic needs of communities, the rights of indigenous peoples and the sustainability of the land. The lens of the commons can act as a political framework for many Great Lakes issues including extreme energy projects, bottled water extraction, invasive species and pollution.
Be sure to invite your friends to this event!
Speakers: Alexa Bradley (Program Director for On the Commons), Sue Chiblow (Environmental Consultant for the Mississauga First Nation) and Jim Olson (Founder and Chair of FLOW for Water). Moderated by Emma Lui (Water Campaigner for the Council of Canadians).
Registration: Space is limited! Contact Emma Lui at elui@canadians.org to register.
This is the first webinar of our Protect the Great Lakes Forever Virtual Townhalls.
Protect the Great Lakes Forever Virtual Town Halls
After decades of neglect, mismanagement and industrial overuse, the cherished waters of the Great Lakes are in serious trouble. Tar sands oil pipelines and shipments, nuclear waste and fracking are just some of the serious and immediate threats to the future of the Lakes, which more than 40 million people in Canada and the U.S. depend on for drinking water.
We need a new vision and new strategies to protect the Great Lakes. The Council of Canadians/Blue Planet Project is hosting the Protect the Great Lakes Forever webinar series to create this shared vision and help communities turn that vision into reality.
Join community leaders working to protect the Lakes for important and timely discussions on the threats that are directly impacting you and your community, and how we can work together to address them.
March 18: A bold new vision for the Great Lakes
March 27: Tar Sands Crude Shipping on the Great Lakes?
April: Strategies to stop extreme energy in the Great Lakes
May: Dead zones, nutrient runoff, total maximum daily loads and the public trust doctrine
June: The Great Lakes Commons Charter: creating a people's declaration on behalf of our Great Lakes
Virtual town halls in fall 2014 will focus on mining and other threats to the Great Lakes. We will continue to look at how local strategies and community organizing have stopped or slowed down threats to the Great Lakes.
