Climate (In)Securities
in Great Lakes Communities:
A Critical Conversation

4-5 p.m. — Check-in and Refreshments

5-5:30 p.m. — Opening Remarks

• Tim Killeen, President, University of Illinois System
• Madhu Khanna, Alvin H. Baum Family Fund Chair and Director, iSEE

5:30-6:30 p.m. — Keynote Address: Pierre Béland, Canadian Chair, International Joint Commission (IJC)

• Title: “Climate (In)Securities in the Great Lakes: Insights from Across the U.S.-Canada Transboundary”
• Abstract: As a binational institution the IJC has a unique role in assisting the governments with the oversight of U.S.-Canada boundary waters — their levels and flows, water quality, and aquatic ecosystem health. Since these lakes and rivers, and their watersheds, represent a very significant percentage of continental water supplies under different natural regimes, they offer an opportunity for the development of broad management models in response to climate change. As part of its mandate from both federal governments, the IJC has a duty to provide opportunity for interested parties to be heard on any matter before the Commission. When the IJC undertakes studies at the request of the two governments it typically consults widely on the questions being studied, and brings together representatives from various levels of governments, local interests, communities, and Indigenous people on advisory boards in individual basins. Insights from across the transboundary that can be applied and reinforced in the Great Lakes include supporting local and regional action through unique governance arrangements, grafting socio-economic considerations to more traditional hydrological models, building acceptance of and willingness to actively support common goals, and promoting a shift from traditional hard engineering infrastructure-based approaches to a consideration of ecosystem services, among others. By adopting practices that are adaptive to changing conditions and fluctuating water regimes, we can better manage risk and vulnerabilities as global climate change is playing out locally.
• Speaker Bio: Béland’s involvement in Great Lakes issues came from his past work as a scientist in environmental ecology and the impact of toxic manmade chemicals in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence food chains. He has published books, and numerous scientific and popular articles, hosted a TV series on the environment, and participated in several documentary films. He has chaired public hearings for various agencies such as the Quebec Environmental Hearings Board, Parks Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Quebec Energy Efficiency Agency. Previously he headed the Fisheries Ecology Research Center with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and was a paleoecologist with the National Museum of Nature. From 1995 to ’98, as an IJC Commissioner (and Acting Chair) he was lead Commissioner on Remedial Action Plans for Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence basin. Béland holds a B.A. and a B.Sc. from Laval University (Quebec City), and a Ph.D. in marine sciences from Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia). He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at ORSTOM Centre, New Caledonia, and at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is fluent in French and English and proficient in Mandarin.
• Pre-Critical Conversation interview link: https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1119666

6:30 p.m. — Reception