Conclusions

Throughout my research for this project, I’ve learned a considerable amount about the limitations of governance.  In fact, sometimes I worry that governance cannot compensate for the problems our environment faces.  However, this project and our course in general have shown me that a combination of strategies is the approach that works best in addressing complex problems. The Great Lakes are an interesting case in environmental degradation because not only do they transcend state and regional boundaries, but national boundaries as well.  The Great Lakes do not belong to one particular governmental entity, so it is multidimensional governance that works best in devising solutions.

In my prior blog posts, I addressed three different avenues of governance in regards to the Great Lakes:  the Great Lakes Protection Fund, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the US and Canada, and market-driven protective actions fueled by businesses such as the Great Lakes Brewing Co.  None of these three avenues had one formal key solution; however, each provided an integral piece of the puzzle that is environmental protection.  Agencies such as the GLPF raise awareness, encourage collaboration, and offer funding toward collective solutions; treaties like the GLWQA provide a more formal, documented guide for protective actions; and markets and businesses like the Great Lakes Brewing Company increase local awareness, encourage business accountability, and increase the popularity of advertising environmental sustainability as incentive for consumer support.  All of these actors work toward creating a society that values environmental protection and cultivates awareness of environmental problems.

This knowledge leads us to JP Evans’s eight hypotheses. In my research I have been able to most specifically identify with hypotheses one and two: “Governance is about evolution, not revolution,” and “Getting the mix of approaches right is critical.” Environmental problems cannot be solved in the blink of an eye.  It will take a process of evolution of the way people think and act as we work toward developing solutions to the wicked problems that plague us.  This ties into the “mix of approaches.”  Environmental problems cannot be solved by political entities alone, nor can market forces solely create solutions.  Even grassroots organizations, NGOs, and community driven efforts, on their own, cannot succeed in providing meaningful and sustainable environmental solutions.  We must apply a combination of all of these methods to create change for the Great Lakes.  Evans also explains how crucial duality is to the system of solutions, and how large-scale and small-scale movements, governmental and non-governmental organizations, must all be applied.  Although this course could be frustrating for me, because it illustrated the complexity of the environmental problems we face today, this class and this project taught me the significance of collaboration and innovation.  One perspective alone cannot create a solution.  We have to listen to one another and take a variety of approaches in order to create resolutions for the Great Lakes, and also for our world.  For multidimensional problems, we must take a flexible and multifaceted approach.  Rather than excluding certain actors, we must examine the value of a collaborative approach to solving environmental problems.

Thoughts On Great Lakes Actors

Assessment of the Jobs and Performance of All Actors

In order for our own Lake Michigan and the surrounding water in the Midwest to stay clean, fresh and sustainable there are quite a few steps and precautions that must be taken. People need to take into account that keeping the Great Lakes great is not just a five or even ten year process. Many of the leading organizations are trying to get people involved as soon as possible which is great! But I think many supporters don't comprehend just how big of a project the Great Lakes really is. Most organizations that handle the Great Lakes are large, yes, but most of have them have some limitations particularly when it comes to funding and budgets. Some of the actors that my team has written about before like Freshwater Future, Compact Implementation Coalition and the Great Lakes Protection Fund really try to set up information on their websites about exactly who they are and what they handle. Online, it lays out what kinds of grants they ask for and receive and how. This, as well as where all that money gets distributed in coordination with the goals of the actor. All in all, there is only so much that can go towards the lakes and because of this, I think some people tend to underestimate the importance of clean water initiatives.

Just because a good cause like Freshwater Future isn't known by many people doesn't mean that any or all goals of the initiative are unattainable. For Freshwater Future and many others, I believe the greatest strengths of these organizations have been and continue to be spreading awareness and convincing people to get on board with what needs to be done in our waters. Unfortunately in a lot of ways, these actors are still at the beginning stages of their development with the public. People need to know much more about them and hear of them before they can be raising more money for the Great Lakes. Once the public is made much more aware of actors like these, then people need to be sold on ideas. People need to be sold on the idea of the Asian Carp causing a legitimate threat to the ecosystem. People need to be sold on the idea that we must have a zero tolerance for raw sewage dumping. Once people are 100 percent sold on the idea that our freshwater is actually of vital importance to all humanity, then the real life impact is what we will see unfold right before our eyes.


These are images (a couple from WTMJ, a Milwaukee news station) of an aerial view of some raw sewage dumped into Lake Michigan likely killing everything in its way and contaminating the water.

Overall, I think the actors currently involved in the Great Lakes projects are doing a wonderful job with the initial "making people aware" epidemic. Although many are still uneducated on our waters, the actors are getting larger as well as multiplying. This may be the best news yet, but the most difficult task ahead of actors and supporters will be convincing the public to invest their own time or money to help these water causes over long periods of time.