How the IJC Established a Great Lakes Connection Between the Public and Science

Session: Beyond Peer Review: Why You Must Connect Your Science to Stakeholders (and how to do it) (5)

Jeff Kart, International Joint Commission, [email protected]

Abstract

In 2016, the International Joint Commission launched Great Lakes Connection, a monthly newsletter that focuses on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin. The publication, distributed via email and available online, aims to translate the latest science on ecosystem health into plain language. The goal is to increase public knowledge of issues facing the lakes, help people consider how their daily actions affect the lakes, and find out how they can take personal and collective action to assist in restoration and protection efforts. The IJC creates and solicits articles on research that relates to environmental trends and our editors and writers strive to make complex topics relevant to the layperson. While the focus is on work of the IJC and its boards, we also seek outside submissions, especially on issues that have received little or no traditional media coverage. The newsletter has seen a rise in subscriptions and its monthly lead articles are regularly shared on social media and picked up by newspapers and TV stations. The newsletter is part of a broader communications strategy to establish an ongoing two-way dialogue to gather input from various stakeholders and increase public involvement in triennial assessments of progress to the Canadian and US governments.

Twitter handle of presenter
@IJCSharedWaters