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Great Lakes Champions: Water Quality Board Launches ‘Choosing Your Great Lakes Future’ Scenario Game

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WINDSOR, Ontario—In the new online game “Choosing Your Great Lakes Future,” players pick actions that create a ripple effect, leading to one of four possible scenarios for the health of the Great Lakes in 2050. The purpose of this game is to educate and inspire people to consider how today’s actions can impact the Great Lakes in decades to come.

The International Joint Commission Great Lakes Water Quality Board will showcase how it transformed its scenario-based Great Lakes Horizons Project report into the interactive “Choosing Your Great Lakes Future” game during a one-hour webinar on Thursday, August 29, 2024, starting at 11 a.m. ET. Advance registration is required for this free public webinar: bit.ly/wqb-horizons-webinar or us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xDQPkdNPRUSG4L8jJ9Bt0g.

The game and the Horizons project reflect ecological, economic, social, political, demographic, technological and cultural factors that drive changes and trends that impact the water quality and health of the Great Lakes. 

“The health of the Great Lakes today largely reflects our past choices,” said Chris McLaughlin, board Canadian co-chair and executive director of the Bay Area Restoration Council in Hamilton, Ontario. “Today’s major investments in the Great Lakes are repairing expensive damage to water quality created decades ago by decisions made without regard to their implications for the health of the Great Lakes. Hindsight is 20/20, and we should learn from this history to shape our legacy for future generations. The board’s Great Lakes Horizons project is about looking ahead beyond the visible horizon and aligning today’s actions to set the Great Lakes on a sustainable path into the future,” McLaughlin said.

After players make choices for each of 13 drivers, the game reveals which of four scenarios result from the choices, with short, animated videos outlining different possible futures.

“This game is about champions, but not about winning,” said Jon Allan, board US co-chair and senior adviser at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. “We want the game to influence the real world by changing the way we think about our influence on the future, fostering conversations and inspiring people to champion decisions that align with a healthy and sustainable vision for the future of the Great Lakes,” Allan said.

During the August 29 webinar, members of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board will give a short presentation about their Great Lakes Horizons project, the scenarios and the game, with  a period for answering audience questions. 

 

An overview video briefly summarizing the “Choosing Your Great Lakes Future” game by the International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board.

The Great Lakes Water Quality Board is the principal adviser to the International Joint Commission (IJC) under the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The board assists the IJC by reviewing and assessing progress by the governments of Canada and the United States to implement the Agreement, identifying emerging issues and recommending strategies and approaches to prevent and resolve complex challenges facing the Great Lakes, and providing advice on the role of relevant jurisdictions to implement these strategies and approaches. 

Contact: Allison Voglesong Zejnati, International Joint Commission Great Lakes Regional Office Public Affairs Specialist, allison.voglesong-zejnati@ijc.org, 519-551-0952

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The IJC was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to help the governments of Canada and the United States prevent and resolve disputes over the use of the waters they share. More information can be found at IJC.org.