Ecotrust Knowledge Systems
Knowledge Systems is the informational toolkit for Salmon Nation, housing the organization's analytical, technical, and map-making capacities. By integrating ecological and economic information into sophisticated analyses and compelling, map-based outputs, Knowledge Systems builds a data-rich foundation for the Salmon Nation vision.
The work of Knowledge Systems includes reporting, planning, and visioning:
- Reporting — We work to assess and monitor biophysical and socioeconomic patterns: the status of salmon stocks, for example, or the number of speakers of each Native language along the Pacific coast.
- Planning — Outlining alternative scenarios brings an analytical perspective to resource management or other community, business, and policy options. An example of this work is on display in the Groundfish Fleet Restructuring Project.
- Visioning — An economy that properly values both its communities and the environment is a key component of Salmon Nation. Knowledge Systems supports the Forestry 2100 and Vivid Picture projects in envisioning such a future.
An output of Knowledge Systems work is the transformation of Ecotrust's intellectual capital into a series of stand-alone toolkits for assessing and monitoring the state of the bioregion and envisioning new market infrastructures within it. The first of these toolkits — the Ocean Communities 3E Analysis Network (OCEAN) — grew out of our groundfish work and allows users to apply a spatial lens to fisheries management. Complementary toolkits for the food & farms and forestry sectors are now in development.
By necessity, Ecotrust efforts are focused among a specific range of constituencies and sectors: Native Programs, Fisheries, Forestry, Food & Farms, Citizenship. Yet, it is at the integration of these components that we attain the greatest progress towards building Salmon Nation. Enabling this integration is also a key goal of Ecotrust Knowledge Systems.
Partners
Dalhousie University
Information Center for the Environment
Oregon State University
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
San Diego Supercomputer Center
Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology
University of California
