U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Sol Conference Update

On Wednesday, October 13th, 2004, Pat O’Connor of Detroit District’s Regulatory Branch attended one day of a week-long international conference of the Society for Organizational Learning (SOL) (http://www.solonline.org/ ). The conference was held at the Ford Conference Center in Dearborn, Michigan and included numerous educational organizations, non-profits, government agencies and Fortune 100 Corporate participants. Attending from around the world were student participants in the SEED Water Project, a worldwide initiative designed “to enable students to investigate water quality and availability; to hone skills essential to maintaining and improving the quality of water sources in their local communities; and to facilitate the sharing of their data and ideas with other students. And as with other SEED efforts, this was achieved by putting new technologies into the hands of young people and allowing students, and teachers, to learn by doing.”(http://www.seed.slb.com/en/voices/science/cairo/) Students from as far away as Malaysia were both presenters and participants. All attendees shared the common goal of addressing the challenges associated with developing sustainable relationships within large organizations, between business, education, municipalities, government, and other community entities, and ways to establish and maintain sustainable economic, social and ecological systems.

Pat’s participation during the conference reflects both his interest in ecosystems and in effective environmental teaching and learning opportunities for children. An additional Detroit District benefit of his presence was that it was that it afforded him informal opportunities to discuss the Corps’ expanding mission in environmental sustainability. He has been invited to be take part in forthcoming conversations with a Boston-based SOL group that includes author and SOL chairman Peter Senge, best known for his book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization (1990) (http://commhum.mccneb.edu/PHILOS/senge.htm)

As well as being a Corps-trained biologist, Pat has worked to create and sustain water education program opportunities with Oakland County Schools, the City of Pontiac and other interested watershed groups.

Pat has an ongoing volunteer role with the McMath Hulbert Observatory (http://www.mcmathhulbert.org/ ). The networking aspects provided by the conference also provided a conduit between the Detroit District and potential partners concerning the work we do and future outreach possibilities. New and continued District partnerships are the genesis of our continued success in the Great Lakes region. Currently, District volunteer partnerships between the Corps, major corporations, Oakland County Schools, the City of Pontiac and other interested watershed groups are serving to create a regional nature education center on the Clinton River in Pontiac, MI. Recently, Pat was a key player in securing a grant of $175,000 from the MDNR Trust Fund to purchase and transform a stretch of abandoned railroad along the Clinton River in Pontiac into a new link in the Clinton River “Rails-to-Trails”. Pat is also an active local volunteer partner in the ongoing conversation for turning the adjacent 33 acres of woods, fields, flood plains and wetlands into a nature education center.