Great Lake Erie Southern Shore Bioregion
CONNECT.
COMMUNICATE.
COOPERATE.
COLLABORATE!
in the Great Lake Erie Southern Shore Bioregion
The goal of GLESS is to cultivate connection, communication, cooperation and collaboration among the human – and more-than-human – members of the Great Lake Erie Southern Shore Bioregion.
Bioregioning in Northeast Ohio – Let’s make it happen!
Our first public meeting on November 5 was a great success! We had representatives from Case Western Reserve University, Lake Erie Institute 
, Riddall Green Partnership 
, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, Kelly’s Working Well Farm
, Organic Connects, Food Strong 
, Chagrin Valley Learning Collective, Hueman Alternatives, Northeast Ohio Earth Restoration 
, and more.
Since then we have held meetings in West Geauga, Kent, Lakewood, Ashtabula, and Akron with Stow, Cleveland Heights and other locations planned. Contact us to arrange a meeting in your neck of the woods! Meanwhile, to join the network fill out this membership form.
Network Weaving
In our bioregion, we currently have an abundance of people and organizations working locally in the various areas of human life support (food, energy, health, education, infrastructure, etc). We can think of them as part of the human created ecosystem, which is embedded in the larger natural ecosystem of the bioregion.
Our goal is to build a strong symbiotic network in our bioregion, the Great Lake Erie Southern Shore, from the bottom up. By doing so we will create the conditions necessary for the emergence of cooperative projects and initiatives that will regenerate our bioregion and the life support systems needed for transitioning through the challenges we are increasingly facing.
A symbiotic network is a “community-wide, multi-hub, network-centric ecosystem, where power is shared [equally] by the stake-holders”*. Participating organizations and individuals share the goal of increasing cooperation, collaboration and communication for the benefit of each other and the whole community. The network is completely independent and not controlled by an existing non-profit, business or local government.
The function of the GLESS bioregional network is not to manage specific projects, but rather to create the conditions for such projects to be realized through the cooperation, collaboration and communication of network members. Individual network members will differ in their philosophy and goals, but may form coalitions within the network to advocate for and achieve mutual goals and objectives.
*Birthing the Symbiotic Age by Richard Flyer
We are now at a point when we can begin in earnest the conversation about how to design for the regeneration of the Earth.
The Design Pathway for Regenerating Earth, p. 29
Stay in touch!
Send an email with any questions, thoughts, inspirations!
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