On August 15th 2009, the BRWP’s Riverwatch program held the first of what is to be a series of community engagement workshops focused on drafting up scenarios that represent possible futures of the Bonnechere River Watershed may face.  The event took place at the Sands on Golden Lake and featured guests who reside on or near water throughout the Bonnechere River watershed.

At the beginning of the workshop, attendees were asked to identify a place in the watershed that matters to them most, and then to list their main values related to this place.  Afterwards they were also asked to identify ecosystem services in this region, as well as issues and change drivers.  The most popular responses were then used to create a scenario matrix, which was then used to help draft up possible future scenarios within three different participant groups.  The event was very informative and it was inspiring to share thoughts and ideas with concerned residents of our watershed.  Great thanks are extended to all who participated!

Two more scenarios workshops are still to come.  The target group for these will be working landscapes in November, and Youth in February.  Scenarios from this workshop and the two to follow will be used to create scenarios in the spring, which will then be conceptualized by local artists.  In April 2010, a grand affair will be held to showcase these scenarios to the community and invited officials from groups such as local government, municipalities, and hydroelectric power generation, just to name a few.

For more information on these scenario workshops, or to express interest in attending any of our planned events, emails can be directed to riverwatch@bonnechereriver.ca.