The Great Lakes Commons Map

Great Lakes Commons Map

Great Lakes Commons Map

The Great Lakes Commons Map is an online, collaborative tool that tracks and maps stories relating to the Great Lakes and the growing efforts of many communities to take a commons approach in the way we relate to the Lakes. The map is a living tool that aims to build capacity for both individuals and organizations who are curious and committed to a Great Lakes Commons. As the map grows, it can become an important tool for public engagement, connecting more and more individuals and groups from across states, countries, First Nations and Native American nations.

The map was conceptualized by Paul Baines and during his bicycle tour of Lake Ontario in 2012. Many of the first “Reports” were from that trip, but now the map is expanding and has always belonged to a broader public. Text, photos, videos, and links are organized by category and location, so users are reading, seeing and hearing each other’s stories and tracking each other’s progress around the Lakes.

The ultimate goal of this map is to use the energy of the crowd (crowdsourcing) with the power of networked media to arouse our biosphere consciousness: a mind-shift that understands our interdependence with all of the earth's elements.

In the true spirit of the commons, reports and comments can be contributed by anyone and the map runs on an open-source software platform. “We are all connected to these lakes and regularly have something to offer this commons work: a story, an example, a website or video, a curiosity, a campaign, an observation, some data, a photo, or a request,” says Baines. Head over to the map now and tell your stories!

Maude Barlow Tours the Great Lakes

Maude Barlow

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow is currently taking part in a tour of seven cities to address the many challenges facing the Great Lakes. She is partnering with academics, community activists and water experts along the tour, many of whom are hosting workshops and other hands-on opportunities to learn and do more in defense of the Lakes. The tour provides an opportunity to highlight pressing issues in each of these communities.

Barlow is a renowned activist and author. She co-founded the Blue Planet Project and the International Forum on Globalization, and she is a leading member of Food & Water Watch and the World Future Council. She has been a champion of taking a commons approach to water resources throughout the world.

Learn more about Barlow’s tour here, and help us spread the word about this exciting opportunity to hear first hand from an internationally known leader on water issues!

Welcome to the Great Lakes Commons Blog

Great Lakes Commons

Welcome to the Great Lakes Commons Blog. This blog will track the progress of the Great Lakes Commons Initiative, which seeks to reorient water governance and ensure a healthy future for the water, the ecosystem, and communities surrounding the Great Lakes.

Ask almost anyone who lives in the Great Lakes region and they will tell you how connected they feel to these vast iconic bodies of water. And yet our Lakes are endangered – put at risk by human choices and narrow economic interests. The current governance of the Great Lakes reflects the dominant economic system, which is biased toward commercial and private interests at the expense of ecological and human well-being.

The Great Lakes Commons Initiative arose out of an understanding that fundamental change was needed if we want to create a sustaining future for our Great Lakes. We face an urgent choice—we can continue on the current path toward depletion and degradation, or we can make a dramatic change in our relationship to this living and life-giving ecosystem.

One way to achieve this goal is the establishment of a Great Lakes Charter, a new social contract guiding the ways that communities treat our shared resource. A collaboration amongst Indigenous communities, inner city groups, local community organizers, major academic and advocacy organizations, lawmakers and more in both Canada and the United States, this Charter can help develop a new shared cultural water ethic and use legal leverage to form policy.

This blog will provide updates on this Initiative and feature stories about individuals and groups working to ensure a healthy future for the Lakes. Check back often, subscribe to updates and find us on Facebook and Twitter!