90-Minute Symposium

090-017

Chicago Wilderness: Integrating Biological and Social Diversity into the Future

Session Start/End Time:

Friday, Feb 13, 2009, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

HRC Crystal C

The future of both nature and people in the Chicago region stand at a pivotal moment. Global climate change, invasive species, increased demands on land, and growing urbanization and fragmentation disrupt ecological processes and intensify the stresses on our environment. Now at the centennial of the Burnham Plan, which preserved much of the region’s existing green space a century ago, a new era of regional planning is emerging. Initiatives, such as Chicago Metropolis 2020, offer a strategic guide to address economic, social, and environmental needs in an integrated way. Leading the way on the environmental front is Chicago Wilderness, a novel, regional conservation effort in the greater Chicago metropolitan area that has grown to over 220 member organizations. This symposium explores the successes and limitations of the Chicago Wilderness initiative and how it continues to evolve to meet existing and emerging challenges and opportunities in a complex social and political landscape. The panel will focus on urgent needs to increase public engagement and participation in conservation, improve scientific knowledge of biodiversity, better manage protected lands, and include green development practices in future land use planning. Speakers present opportunities for a still more inclusive vision of Chicago Wilderness, one that integrates people and nature and secures the green infrastructure and long-term viability of the metropolitan area.

Organized by:

Sir Peter Crane, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL;Liam Heneghan, DePaul University, Chicago, IL

Presentations:

  Symposium Organizer--Sir Peter Crane, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

  Symposium Co-Organizer--Liam Heneghan, DePaul University, Chicago, IL

  Moderator--Robyn Thorson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fort Snelling, MN

  Chicago Wilderness as a Social-Ecological System: New Research on Urban Biodiversity--Liam Heneghan, DePaul University, Chicago, IL

  Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision--Dennis W. Dreher, Cowhey Gudmundson Leder, Itasca, IL

  Is Nature a Key Component of a Healthy Human Habitat?--Frances E. Kuo, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL

  Discussant--Gerald W. Adelmann, Openlands, Chicago, IL

  Discussant--Suzanne E. Malec-McKenna, City of Chicago, Chicago, IL