LAKE NIPISSING SUMMIT 2012 REPORT The following document outlines the discoveries after the-two day Lake Nipissing Summit including notes taken during the World Café regarding questions on the future of Lake Nipissing. The 2012 Lake Nipissing Summit was a conference-style event designed to create an awareness and consensus on the need for shared ownership towards the future of Lake Nipissing. Bringing together members of the communities surrounding the lake, this event provided knowledge and background information on the lake and its current status, as well as provided a voice for all participants on the major issues of Lake Nipissing. The summit was focused on three major pillars: social, environmental and economic. The summit was the first step towards a brighter future of Lake Nipissing through shared accountability and collaborative efforts. Included in this report you will find the demographics of those who attended the summit, responses and outcomes from the World Café and survey results of the effectiveness of the summit. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the sponsors of the Lake Nipissing Summit for contributing to its success and helping start the conversation towards a brighter future for Lake Nipissing. 2 DEMOGRAPHICS All parties were invited to attend the Lake Nipissing Summit. Below outlines the demographics of the participants. Leaders 19% 5% 8% Students 10% Education/Faculty 12% General Public 18% Tourism Industry 10% Economic Industry 8% 10% Environmental Industry Government First Nations Examples of people/organizations that fall under the following categories: Leaders Mayor from the communities surrounding Lake Nipissing Students Nipissing University/Canadore College students, high school students Education/Faculty Professors, Interim President of Nipissing University, Biological technologist General Public Retired public members, concerned citizens, other Tourism Industry Cottage association owners and operators, Resorts, Camp Directors Economic Industry Economic Partners Environmental Industry Conservation s Authority, Greening Nipissing, Ministry of the Environment FRi Ecological Services Government Ministry of Tourism, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, OPP, NOTO First Nations Chief, Councilors, Nipissing First Nation, Union of Ontario Indians, Dokis First Nation 3 WORLD CAFÉ A World Café is a conference format that allows all participants a voice on the selected topic. It is founded on the assumption that people have the capacity to work together, no matter who they are and what backgrounds and knowledge they have. We put leaders, stakeholders, tourism operators, general public and students into one room and gave them three questions surrounding Lake Nipissing to discuss at round tables. One person at each table was asked to volunteer to be the table ‘host’. The role of the host was crucial to the success of the World Café as their purpose was to efficiently take notes of the conversations that took place. Each of the three questions was given two rounds of 15 minutes each. Before the second round of each question, participants moved to a different table, except the ‘host’. The ‘host’ recapped what the previous group had discussed. In the end, the recorded conversations included everyone’s voice. QUESTION 1 In order to benefit the future of Lake Nipissing from a social, economic and environmental standpoint, what opportunities can we see that would increase knowledge and awareness about the lake? Themes that arose from this question are noted below and the number in brackets beside each topic indicate the number of participants that felt this was in their top 3 choices for most important of all the questions and themes. Education: primary through to university (8) Central Data Warehouse available to all (10) Future Summits/Committees (3) Ministry of Natural Resources participation (6) Join the Eastern Georgian Bay Fisheries Restoration Project (1) 4 What would increase knowledge and awareness? 12 10 10 8 8 6 6 4 3 2 1 0 Education Central Data Future Summits MNR Join EGBFRP After a review of the comments from the World Café, it was clear that education and having information available to all was of main concern. Individuals not directly involved with the daily decisions and information about Lake Nipissing feel they are not educated enough to know what the real, and most immediate, needs are. On the other side, those that are aware of the issues feel they have no outlet to communicate this information to the public. Potentially including this information in the secondary and post-secondary schools curriculum was also discussed. The media was another topic that was discussed and how they can play a role in the distribution of information. While having future summits was among the top 5 themes, it was noted that there are issues that require immediate attention and don’t necessarily require ample discussions and debates with a large group, but rather actions among many smaller groups. Overall, there was a general consensus that everyone wants to be more informed. From youth to retired professionals the feeling was that it is vital that we begin to share information and work together towards a brighter future for Lake Nipissing. A complete list of notes from Question 1 can be found in Appendix A. 5 Question 2 In moving forward towards a brighter future for Lake Nipissing from a social, economic and environmental standpoint, what needs our immediate attention? Themes that arose from this question are noted below and the number in brackets beside each topic indicate the number of participants that felt this was in their top three choices for most important of all the questions and themes. Regulations – e.g. fishing licenses, reduction of harvest, fisheries control (14) Educating the public, communicating – ACTION (18) Development of a communications plan (4) Funding more studies – e.g. Spiney flea, creel count, algae (10) Ministry of Natural Resources participation (9) Pollution Monitoring (1) What needs our immediate attention? 20 18 16 18 14 12 14 10 10 8 9 6 4 4 2 1 0 Regulations Educating the Communications Funding Studies MNR Pollution Public Plan Monitoring Although a different question was posed, conversations seemed to arise about educating the public and having a more transparent system when sharing information, which indicated its importance. Various potential solutions were discussed regarding altering regulations but they were generally outside the scope of the participants’ expertise to formulate an actionable item. It was clear that conversations needed to continue in an alternative environment with experts in order to reassess current regulations and how they are managed. A complete list of notes from Question 2 can be found in Appendix B. 6 Question 3 How can we support each other in taking the next steps? What unique contribution can we each make? Themes that arose from this question are noted below and the number in brackets beside each topic indicated the number of participants that felt this was in their top three choices for most important of all the questions and themes. Set-up committee and additional summits (7) Outreach to stakeholders communicating the issues (9) Co-Management (18) Accountability – collaboration on Lake Nipissing Fisheries Management Plan (7) One voice (8) How can we support each other? 20 18 18 16 14 12 10 8 9 8 6 7 7 4 2 0 Committee Outreach Co-Management Accountability One Voice Co-management was a strong theme for a response as to how the public will be able to support each other. Although, after the discussion on this topic it was clear that individuals have various interpretations of what the term ‘co-management’ means. Setting up a committee and having additional summits was among the top five themes from question three. Suggestions of having a group of individuals with representatives from each sector and department in order to get a truly informative and well rounded opinion of the health of the lake was another popular topic. A complete list of notes from Question 3 can be found in Appendix C. 7 Overall Results The following demonstrates the complete list of results from the World Café that were compiled and assessed: 100 90 80 86 70 73 60 50 40 40 40 30 20 23 20 18 10 15 12 12 13 5 5 0 A B C D E F G H I J K L M Legend: A Media Involvement B Education and Research (secondary, post-secondary and public) C Volunteers D Committee/Annual Meeting/Leadership Group needed E Environmental Issues F Enforcement/Management G Biology/Funding Studies H Regulations I Sharing Information/Accountability/Cooperation and Co-Management J Ministry of Natural Resources – More presence K Partnerships L Tourism M Communication Plan/Action Plan 8 Conclusion With the overall analysis of the results, sharing information and co-management was the top reoccurring theme among all questions during the World Café. Participants each had their top concerns and immediate needs but without a clear overall awareness of the lake, decisions cannot be made. During discussions issues and topics were brought forth that many were unaware of, although extremely important. It is clear that there is a common theme among participants – genuine concern of the health and future of Lake Nipissing. Immediate actions to improve the lake did not have a common theme however; creating committees that represent each sector equally in order to move actions forward was a common consensus among participants. A survey was distributed to participants following the summit and results were positive and motivating as we move forward. A more complete analysis of results and the questions that were asked can be found in Appendix D. The success of the Lake Nipissing Summit will be determined by how the information in this document is shared and acted on in the future. Chief Couchie closed the summit stating that, “We haven’t finished, we’ve just begun.