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demonstrate the societal relevance of their work. Many agencies are pursuing a
two-pronged strategy to accomplish this:
1. by making their information and knowledge more widely accessible, and
2. by providing value-added products more tailored to support decisionmaking
on societal problems.”
The Gulf of Maine Council web site was mentioned as a good example of a
collaborative web environment. 16 The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine
Environment was established in 1989 by the governments of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts to foster co-operative
actions within the Gulf watershed. Its mission is to maintain and enhance
environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine to allow for sustainable resource use
by existing and future generations.
Site-specific Workshops
Face-to-face interaction still remains the most effective collaborative learning
mechanism. In this regard, it was mentioned that tool-specific workshops at each
pilot project site would be useful to pilot site practitioners and researchers. Focus
could be placed on how to use these tools to produce key outputs for decisionmakers.
These types of tool-specific workshops will be central to the capacitybuilding
goals of the ILM Network.
Virtual Learning Events on ILM Approaches and Tools as defined by Pilot Project
Site Researchers and Practitioners
Face-to-face meetings are not always feasible because of cost and travel concerns
among researchers and practitioners. In such situations, virtual learning
environments have provided a good alternative.
The Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network (CSIN) uses virtual learning
events to enable indicator practitioners from across Canada to make
connections. 17 Using web-conferencing technology (i.e. Microsoft Live Meeting),
practitioners gather around the virtual meeting table to learn about one another’s
initiatives and to get feedback on their own work. Learning events are designed
and presented by CSIN members themselves, and are open to all members.
Participants have come from city and provincial planning and/or
environment/resource departments; multi-stakeholder watershed-based
coalitions; academic institutions; national and community non-governmental
organizations; federal indicator programs; and sustainability think tanks. In an
effort to record and make accessible the information shared during learning
events, there are presentations, summaries, and reports of the events provided
afterwards where possible.
Such a virtual learning environment could be a useful collaborative mechanism
for tool-specific workshops within the ILM Network.
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