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MSWG's Path to Washington
The "Path to Washington" is MSWG's major long-term project: A three year effort to produce a new set of legal and policy tools to apply to our serious environmental problems, improve ecological conditions, sustain communities and improve everyone's quality of life. A March 2008 project status sheet is here. Distinguished, challenging and influential speakers from all sectors of society and numerous nations have participated in MSWG's process of developing the Path to Washington, supporting the MSWG mission of being a “voice for ecological innovation and integration”. See a partial list of these speakers here.
Fact Sheet here. A short Project Framework and Guidance for Partners is here. Email here for information.
On April 10, 2008, the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, the UGA River Basin Center, MSWG, and Ecological Futures Consulting, LLC hosted a national dialogue at the University of Georgia in Athens to receive input from a wide range of leaders in public policy, ecology, economics, and law on next generation environmental policy. Summary report here, or click above for more information.
A symposium hosted by the NYU School of Law, March 28 & 29, 2008. The aim of the symposium was to develop concrete proposals for the new Congress and administration that will take office in 2009. The symposium featured over 40 environmental experts from academia, government, ENGOs and business proposing innovative solutions to a broad range of old and new environmental problems confronting the U.S. A background paper is here. You can reach several of the papers presented at the conference by clicking above.
Government agencies in the USA are testing new environmental oversight paradigms. What results are they seeing? MSWG, USEPA and ECOS are working in cooperation to find out. The first in a series of papers, on what data is being gathered, is here. (A 4.2 mb file) A second report, with a vision for the future is here. A third report, on measuring culture-change issues, is here. Fact sheet on the project here.
Can business, communities, and government cooperate for an ecologically sustainable America? A Path to Washington dialogue on this subject was held at the University of Texas, Austin, on the afternoon of May 6 to discuss this. A draft (5/15) summary report is here. Click here for more pre-meeting information.
On Feb. 28, 2008, Bob Donaghue gave a talk on Ecosystem Services at the University of Georgia's Academy of the Environment. His presentation (33 mb file) is here.
On January 9, 2008, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a group of (mostly state) government employees met to discuss how to mobilize the power of innovation to improve their environmental agencies' results. Report here.
The first of 36 national dialogues to explore a new era of ecological law for America to follow and complement the current era of environmental law was held at Madison, Wisconsin on Nov. 27, 2007. Under the label of "ecological federalism," the discussion, led by U. of Wisconsin Prof. D. Moynihan from The La Follette School of Public Affairs, focused on how the spirit of community and opportunity can be rekindled with an ecological flavor to serve the needs of those outside of Washington within a national system of governance. A video is available here. Summary report by Prof. Terry Shelton, here.
An American Policy Imperative: Think Ecologically, Act Economically. To restore ecological damage & cope with the challenges of this century, a new era of law based on "thinking ecologically and acting economically" is needed, argues MSWG President Jeff Smoller in these Nov. 14, 2007 remarks to the Coastal Bays Foundation in Corpus Christi, TX. Full text here.
MSWG's 10th annual Workshop, in Madison, WI, June 17-20, 2007, continued development of Path to Washington themes by looking at issues throughout the world. Summary report by Drs. DeWitt John & Lee Paddock here. Also see under "Annual Workshops", left.
In April, 2007, MSWG sponsored a session in Glen Ellen, CA on how advanced ecological thinking in policy is needed to protect, restore and enhance nature and to inform decisions of industries and cities. Policies and cultures were discussed that: support restoring natural ecosystems, provide eco-system services, foster industrial ecology, revitalize urban eco-systems, improve environmental impact processes and use the natural capital value of working lands. Full report here. Executive summary here.
MSWG's June 2006 Workshop in Park City, Utah, brought out important themes for the Path to Washington. Summary report from MSWG's president, here.
The MSWG record of interest in innovation that has lead to the Path to Washington plan and the concept of ecological federalism to address unmet ecological needs. Click here for more.
Power Point from May '06 National Environmental Partnership Summit in Atlanta, here.
The Path to Washington strategy was crafted in Chicago in March 2007 by a small group convened by MSWG, who focused on the need for laws and policies that recognized the achievements of the existing system, but also a need to find new tools that will address the nation's unmet ecological needs. Here are the mission and goals of the Path to Washington.
(Oct. 2007) Organizational description here.
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