Great Lakes Forever is a public education initiative designed to raise awareness of the value and vulnerability of the Great Lakes. The program, initially launched in 2004 by the Wisconsin-based Biodiversity Project, was expanded to Chicago in 2005 with the support of the John G. Shedd Aquarium and other Chicago and regional partners. This coalition shares a common desire to create a broader, more engaged constituency that sees reasons to get involved in protecting the Great Lakes. Longterm, the campaign also seeks to foster an institutional commitment and a sustainable capacity to build that more engaged Great Lakes constituency.
Great Lakes Forever frames discussion of the Lakes around four key issues: water quality, water quantity, habitat protection and invasive species control. This coalition of partners and regional advisors is working to raise the profile of important, but poorly understood Great Lakes issues, such as: polluted run-off, groundwater depletion and habitat loss. The program combines several communications components in an effort to reach the public on these issues: media outreach (press kits,) educational advertising (print and radio,) point-of-experience signs (at lakefront areas,) and Web-based outreach.
More than 20 U.S. and Canadian advisors are involved in the Great Lakes Forever campaign, including the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago Wilderness and the John G. Shedd Aquarium.
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