March/April 1997
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March/April 1997 |
Introduction
As scientific adviser on Great Lakes water quality issues to the International Joint Commission (IJC) and its Water Quality Board, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) is charged with developing recommendations on matters of science pertaining to the identification, evaluation and resolution of current and anticipated problems.
Among the many benefits of applying science to understanding and managing Great Lakes problems are insights that enable one to identify new issues or to consider old issues in new ways. By being proactive in defining or managing a problem, the problem may be either avoided or prevented. Alternatively, ones options and effectiveness can be greatly enhanced through early action. The intellectual challenge of identifying emerging issues was recently expressed in a quotation from Arthur Schopenhauer in the 1993 SAB report: "The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen, but to think what no one has yet thought about what everybody sees."
Throughout the history of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the Commission, its boards and the scientific research establishment in the basin have been extremely successful in thinking what no one has yet thought. Inasmuch as the predictive power of science allows one to anticipate problems, the SAB has played a significant role in identifying emerging issues in the past and intends to do so in the future. In 1992, the SAB organized the Workgroup on Emerging Issues to strengthen this role and approach emerging issues in a systematic way. The mandate was defined as identifyingand evaluating changes in environmental and social dynamics that may, over the near or long term, impinge upon the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem and influence the activities of the Commission under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
While the identification of many important emerging issues has historically been the domain of scientists, the most recent effort of the workgroup in the 1993-1995 biennial period was to adopt a systematic approach through the use of survey instruments, directed towards the IJC advisory members, and globally to various international institutions. With the 1997 survey, the workgroup wishes to build on this approach and solicit input from the diverse public and scientific communities.
Focus readers are encouraged to participate in the 1997 survey by responding to the survey questions below and forwarding them to the International Joint Commissions Great Lakes Regional Office by mail or electronically.
The workgroup looks forward to your responses and comments. The SAB intends to publish the results of this survey in its chapter of the 1995-1997 Priorities Report and to present the information at the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Public Forum in Niagara Falls on November 1-2, 1997. The SAB will present the results to the IJC, with a view to identifying future priorities and activities.
The following general issues have been identified by the Work Group as having already emerged. If you wish to identify these issues in your response please be specific, in terms of the particular aspect that is emerging.
Issues That Have Already Emerged
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To ensure full consideration of your response, please submit your survey form by April 30, 1997. Should you wish to identify more than one emerging issue, please use a separate form for each response.
Revised: April 14, 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net