A Strategic Plan for the Great Lakes Commission

Regional Coordination program
Our goal: To strengthen the collective Great Lakes management effort by providing regional leadership, generating consensus on regional priorities among diverse interests, and building partnerships for decisive regional action.

Objective #1 of 5
Strong linkages between the research, policy and management communities to promote informed public policy decisionmaking.

• Support the development and use of research, policy and management program inventories as reference tools.


• Maintain a consensus-based process to identify research, policy and management needs and priorities.


• Inform all relevant funding entities of research, policy and management priorities and encourage programming that addresses these priorities.


• Institute or otherwise support procedures, conferences and special events that promote interaction among researchers, managers, policymakers and/or opinion leaders in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system.

Objective #2 of 5
A forum for dialogue and decisionmaking on critical regional issues with input from all interested parties.

• Encourage strong representation and participation from the community of Great Lakes-St. Lawrence interests in Commission meetings, task force and committee activities, policy position deliberations, and related functions.


• Through the Commission's Associate Member and Observer programs as well as other means, strengthen binational, multijurisdictional involvement in Commission programs and activities.


• Sponsor, or otherwise participate in, periodic "summit" meetings of regional agencies for the purpose of information sharing, coordination, issue prioritization and collective action.


• Establish and exercise leadership in a coalition of North American multijurisdictional river basin organizations for coordination, collaboration and joint advocacy purposes.


• Pursue issue-specific projects where exchange of information and viewpoints can enlighten public policy debate, and assist members in policymaking responsibilities.

Objective #3 of 5
Policies, position statements and management principles that provide guidance in implementing an ecosystem approach to Great Lakes-St. Lawrence management.

• Maintain, update and disseminate a compendium of Commission policy positions and encourage its use as a reference guide in legislative, program development and policymaking activities.


• Promote the development, endorsement, distribution and use of multijurisdictional policy statements for the purpose of information/education, coordination and advocacy.


• Implement a congressional advocacy strategy featuring an annual statement on U.S. federal legislative and appropriations priorities.


• Foster a consistent and consolidated approach to shared goals and objectives by promoting application of the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin and other Commission coordinated agreements.

Objective #4 of 5
Support for both new and established organizations that share common goals and priorities with the Great Lakes Commission.

• Strengthen and pursue partnerships with other Great Lakes-St. Lawrence agencies and organizations with compatible goals, and provide secretariat and other support services where needed.


• Promote and support the development of new organizations, or the expansion of existing ones, that can provide a collective voice for important sectors of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence community.


• Establish and manage task forces and councils -- at levels ranging from local watersheds to the entire system -- to provide for communication and collaboration on research, monitoring, management, policy, and related matters.


• Encourage the appointment of Commission members and staff to leadership roles in regional/national associations, commissions and other organizations that share Commission goals and priorities.

Objective #5 of 5
A unified voice on critical public policy issues associated with resource management, environmental protection, transportation and sustainable development in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system.

• Maintain a strong presence in federal, state and provincial capitals, using issue briefings, hearings and other special events as a means to present a unified regional voice to legislators and other policymakers.


• Provide advisory services and policy recommendations to clients within the region, including governors; premiers; legislators; federal, provincial and state agencies; and the larger community of policymakers, opinion leaders and the general public.