This summit will connect people from a range of sectors from across Ontario – and around the world – to talk about, celebrate, and take action to protect biodiversity. Objectives include:

* Providing a forum to educate, energize, and engage stakeholders;

* Introducing a non-traditional audience to the importance of biodiversity and their role in implementing Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2011;

* Celebrating achievements, reflect on the state of Ontario’s biodiversity, and prioritize actions to 2020 to advance Ontario’s biodiversity conservation targets.

The summit will feature sessions on the topic of ecosystem services, insofar as information and the consideration of ecosystem services help to fulfill the objectives of Ontario’s biodiversity strategy. This strategy includes reducing threats to biodiversity, enhance resilience of biodiversity, and improving knowledge about biodiversity.

The State of Ontario’s Biodiversity 2015 will be formally released at the start of the summit.

A “youth summit” will take place in parallel at another venue and join the plenary sessions by a live video feed.

Many ONES members will be attending and presenting at the 2014 Latornell Conservation Symposium themed “Growth & Transformation” from November 18 to November 20 in Alliston Ontario at the Nottawasaga Inn.

ONES worked with the Latornell Program Committee to develop the stream of “Environment, Economy and Health” which has sessions on all days:

DAY 1: Tuesday, November 18, 2014

11 am – 12:30 pm, Room 6: Our Well-being Is in Our Nature

Green Infrastructure and Health (Steven Peck, Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition)

Exploring the Relationship between Urban Natural Landscapes and Emotional and Mental Well-Being (Emily Grant, University of Waterloo)

Human Well-Being, Ecosystem Services and Watershed Management in the Credit River Watershed (Tatiana Koveshnikova, Credit Valley Conservation)

2 – 3:30 pm, Room 6: Urban Green – Critical for Community Health

Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment Guidelines for Ontario (Vidya Anderson, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care)

Health and Well-Being Benefits of Urban Green Space (Tara Zupancic, Habitus Research)

Prioritizing Plantable Areas to Grow Peel Region’s Urban Forest (Janet Wong, Region of Peel)

Communicating the Benefits of York Region’s Urban Forest (Barb Davies, York Region & Lionel Normand, Toronto and Region Conservation)

4 – 5:30 pm, Room 6: EcoHealth Strategies

Ecosystem Approaches to Health (Karen Morrison, International Association for Ecology and Health & York University)

Ontario EcoHealth Collaborative (Helen Doyle, York Region Public Health & Mike Puddister, Credit Valley Conservation)

Being in Nature – A Prescription for Better Health (Ashoo Anand, Credit Valley Conservation)

DAY 2: Wednesday, November 19, 2014

8:30 – 10:30 am, Room 6: Does Our Economy Have a Green Future?

Post-Growth Economics for Ontario (Eric Miller, Consulting Economist)

Building Canada’s Clean Economy (Keith Brooks, Environmental Defence)

Recognizing and Fostering the Provision of Ecosystem Services by Private Landowners – Views from the Land (Elizabeth Holmes, University of Guelph)

10:30 am – 12 pm, Room 5: Green Opportunities in the Marketplace

Timber Stalks or Gold Stocks, Can You Make Your Forest Pay? (Chris Gynan, Silv-Econ)

Green Opportunities in the Marketplace (Robert Orland, Orland Conservation & Erik Lees, LEES + Associates Landscape Architects)

Bird-Friendly Certified Hay Program (Mark Eastman, Credit Valley Conservation)

2 – 5 pm, Room 4: Agroecology – An Ecosystem Approach to Farm Production (Panel)

Microbially Active Soils and Nutrient Cycling (Jeri Parrent, Ecologist)

Agroecological Practices on an Organic Farm (Alvaro Venturelli, Plan B Organics Farm)

Food Systems That Foster Agroecology (Kristine Hammel, Grey Bruce Centre for Agroecology)

Agroecological Principles at Multiple Scales and Disciplines: A Knowledge Perspective (Thorsten Arnold, Grey Bruce Centre for Agroecology)

DAY 3: Thursday, November 20, 2014

8:30 am – 10 pm, Room 10A: Natural Capital and Ecosystem Service Assessments in Ontario

Natural Capital Assessment: The Practitioner’s Dilemma – Why Hasn’t NCA Caught on in Ontario? (Vince Deschamps and Natalie Leava, Stantec Consulting Ltd.)

Ontario’s Experience Valuing Nature (Andreas Link, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry)

Ontario Wetland Carbon Sequestration (Eric Enanga, Western University)

10:30 am – 12 pm, Room 6: Modelling for Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Modeling for Protected Areas with the ARIES Project (Will Wistowsky, Ministry of Natural Resources)

Using Agent-Based Modeling to Understand Resilience in a Southern Ontario Agroecosystem in the Context of Climate Change and Alternative Agricultural Regimes (Martin Bunch, York University)

Modelling Ecosystem Services in Ontario and Canada (Wanhong Yang, University of Guelph)

2:15 – 4:30 pm, Room 18: Biodiversity Offsetting in Ontario (Panel)

Moderator: Eric Miller, Consulting Economist

Creating a Framework for Biodiversity Offsetting in Ontario (Sarah Hedges, Ontario Nature)

Experience with Habitat Offset Projects to Date (Ron Reid, The Couchiching Conservancy)

Offsetting under the Endangered Species Act (Carl Bickerdike, South Nation Conservation)

Regulators Perspective (Ian Crawford, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry)

Corporate Perspective (Brian McCormick, Hydro One)

Building on the success of Grey to Green: A Conference on the Economics of Green Infrastructure in 2013, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is now planning Grey to Green for 2014. This two-day conference focuses on the health benefits of green infrastructure – for our economy, our ecosystem and our community. Grey to Green will bring together leading edge thinkers and doers across a diverse range of fields which reveal the intersection of health and green infrastructure protection and development.

Designers, engineers, policy makers, developers, utility managers, conservationists, healthcare professionals, horticulturalists, contractors, urban farmers, academics, all share important opportunities to advance the social, economic and ecosystem health of our communities by utilizing living green infrastructure such as urban forests, green roofs and walls, bioswales, rain gardens, meadowlands, and wetlands. Grey to Green will bring to light many of the important scientific, design, economic and policy advancements in the green infrastructure field.

Important advancements have occurred recently in our scientific understanding of the important role that these technologies play, particularly in urban regions, regarding the maintenance of our physical and mental health. With more and more people living in high rise developments, the integration of green infrastructure is becoming increasingly important.

The policy environment with respect to green infrastructure is also rapidly changing, with many jurisdictions in the United States in particular recognizing the multiple benefits of green infrastructure with incentives, regulations and investment. Private sector developers and designers are realizing that the design and development of buildings and sites can have a dramatic impact on the bottom line. Utility managers are looking increasingly to green infrastructure to conserve energy and manage stormwater to prevent flooding and combined sewer overflow events.

The conference theme is Environment vs Economy: Resolving the Dichotomy.

Leading experts from across North America will be brought together to explore the relationship between the environment and economy and the perceived dichotomy between having a healthy environment and having a thriving economy. Experts include:

Robert Sandford, Director of the Western Watersheds Research Collaborative, is a leading thinker on the impact of climate change on freshwater resources.

Elena Bennett, from McGill University, studies the connection between ecosystem services and human well-being.

Terre Satterfield is an anthropologist at UBC whose work focuses on culture and justice as they influence environmental values.

Daniel Simberloff, from the University of Tennessee, is a leading terrestrial ecologist and expert on the biology of invasive species.

Peter Victor, from York University, is an economist who works on environmental issues.

These presenters will draw on their experiences in the sciences and the arts, bringing together perspectives from economics, anthropology, ecology and public policy arenas. Can we balance the conservation of nature with our need to have a strong economy so that we may live healthy and prosperous lives? Do we need to accept a weak economy so that we may have environmental sustainability? Can we afford to fight climate change? Or can we afford not to fight it?

Renowned Canadian wildlife artist, naturalist and conservationist, Robert Bateman, will be the keynote speaker on the evening of the first day. He is a passionate advocate for environmental education and his art speaks eloquently about the value of nature.

The two-day summit will feature presentations by each of the experts and will culminate in a panel discussion hosted by CBC’s Paul Kennedy (with subsequent broadcast on his award-winning program Ideas). At a time when the world is changing rapidly and pressing global environmental and economic challenges abound, an in-depth exploration of the ways in which environment and economics might interact is both timely and important.