Global environmental governance has long played a significant role in how environmental policy becomes enacted around the world. In this blog post, we discuss the role of international environmental bodies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the United Nations Convention to Combat […]
Marine & Ocean Issues
From Water Pollution Studies to Legislation and Regulatory Action: Celebrating 50 Years of Contributions of the Canadian Ecotoxicity Workshop
What can a half century of research achieve? This question was top of mind at the fiftieth Canadian Ecotoxicity Workshop (previously the Aquatic Toxicity Workshop), sponsored by the University of Waterloo, on 6-9 October 2024 in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. This series of meetings began in the 1970s directly after the formation of the federal government department, […]
Book Review: Securitizing Marine Protected Areas: Geopolitics, Environmental Justice, and Science by Elizabeth De Santo
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely considered to be the best tool to protect ocean biodiversity. Generally speaking, an MPA is an area of the “ocean set aside for long-term conservation aims” (IUCN, 2017), although many other types of ocean protection fall into this category, including marine reserves, marine sanctuaries, or marine parks, all of […]
The Ocean at Science-Policy Interfaces: Books EIUI Team Members Are Reading
The ocean is vast, occupying about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and holding 97 percent of its water. These dimensions alone highlight how the ocean dominants Earth. However, size is only one of many factors that position the ocean in critically important roles for the well-being of the planet. Food sources, transportation and communication […]
New Paper: On the Development of Criteria for Determining the Effectiveness of Technical Working Groups
Use of scientific information in evidence-based decision-making is critically important in contending with coastal and ocean management concerns. Evidence can reach policy- and decision-makers through a wide variety of channels, or it may not reach them at all due to a host of hurdles that can encumber information pathways. Furthermore, a myriad of information […]
“Tides of Change” – The ACCESS-Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership Conference, 4-7 June 2024
With the highest tides in the world as a backdrop, the joint Atlantic Canada Coastal and Estuarine Science Society (ACCESS) and the Bay of Fund Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP) biennial conference was aptly headlined “Tides of Change: Accelerating Conservation and Protection Efforts in Atlantic Canada’s Estuarine and Coastal Waters.” While the macro tides alone are a […]
Public Engagement in Environmental Assessments: Recent Conference Paper by EIUI Team Member
At the 42nd AMOP technical seminar on environmental contamination and response, hosted by Environment and Climate Change Canada in Halifax, on 4-6 June 2019, Ian Stewart presented a paper in the session on “Social Aspects Oil Spill Response Planning.” The first AMOP technical seminar, held in Edmonton in 1978, launched the former Arctic and Marine […]
EIUI at the 2018 Bay of Fundy Science Workshop – Proceedings Now Available
The Bay of Fundy, and the larger Gulf of Maine, is one of the most diverse ecological ocean and coastal areas globally and home to the world’s highest tides. The Bay of Fundy was the Canadian finalist in the worldwide New7Wonders of Nature contest (2007-2011). Since 1996, the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP) has […]
“The Future of Ocean Governance and Capacity Development” Now in Open Access
The International Ocean Institute-Canada has announced that its recently published book The Future of Ocean Governance and Capacity Development: Essays in Honor of Elisabeth Mann Borgese (1918-2002) is now available in open access format. The full book (11 Mb pdf file) and the individual essays can be downloaded at this link. The contributions by EIUI […]
“Canada’s Oceans Now: Atlantic Ecosystems 2018” Report. Its Potential Use and Influence
To great fanfare, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) recently released Canada’s Oceans Now: Atlantic Ecosystems 2018 (DFO, 2019). This 43-page publication is based on a larger scientific synthesis report presented at a meeting in December 2017 (Bernier, Jamieson, & Moore, 2018). Canada’s Oceans Now: Atlantic Ecosystems 2018 focuses on the overall health […]