A Conference Organizing Urban Transects for a Sustainable Transformation of Economic Partnerships across the Lower Great Lakes (OUTSTEP-LGL)

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This project consists of a conference of research scholars and stakeholders that will address the need for sustainable development of urban systems in the Lower Great Lakes (LGL) region, comprised of the U.S. portion of the watersheds of Lakes Erie and Ontario. The urban areas in this region, intersected by rural areas, share a common environmental settling and history of natural resource exploitation, followed by industrialization, then de-industrialization and little to no population growth. Environmental variability and the need to prepare for and adapt to its impacts pose a new challenge to the urban systems essential to the region's sustainable development. The region is not anticipated to be as severely impacted by environmental change as other parts of the U.S. and might become a corridor of relative stability possible resulting in in-migration and increased economic activities while renewing pressure on natural resources, thus challenging sustainability. The region's urban and rural systems require a holistic assessment of current and future sustainability stressors. The intellectual merit of the project lies in the creation of a network to develop scholarly research and interdisciplinary communication with stakeholders to provide the foundation for a sustainable and resilient strategy on urban systems. The broader social impact of the project will be realized through the resulting coordination and collaboration in the realm of sustainability that will enhance the region's essential infrastructure and quality of life, help safeguard public health, and contribute to economic competitiveness.Against the backdrop of a growing appreciation among scholars and stakeholders of the sustainability challenges arising from the differential environmental variability, the scientific focus of the project will be on the development of new insights and approaches to supporting new sustainable development modes of urban systems. The objective in organizing and hosting a three day OUTSTEP-LGL conference is to provide a scientific foundation for a sustainability strategy on urban systems for the LGL region by bringing together sustainability and resilience scholars from across academic disciplines and stakeholders. The 'PEOPLES' Resilience Framework will provide the organizing principle of the conference. A session will be devoted to each of the seven dimensions of systems' functionality: 1) Population and Demographics, 2) Ecosystem Services, 3) Organized Governmental Services, 4) Physical Infrastructure and Lifelines, 5) Lifestyle and Community Competence, 6) Economic Services, and 7) Socio-Cultural Services. The conference is expected to initiate a region-wide research and community engagement effort, plans for the sustainable development of urban and rural systems, and thus advance research in the field of urban sustainable systems, adding to the curriculum of participating faculty and benefit the regions' citizens through its sustainability enhancement of urban systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.