9 a.m. — Refreshments and networking 

10 a.m. — Meeting begins promptly

4:30 p.m. — Closing reception begins 

We are gathering to hear the latest from campus and community colleagues about what’s going on in user- and community-focused water work. We will be learning from examples of this work and the principles behind its success. And we will receive training in best practices for community engagement skills and resources to support our water-related work from the Ginsberg Center team.

Keynote speakers include:

• Steve Yaffee, whose practitioner-focused research on collaborative decision making in complex environmental and sustainability situations inspires and guides the next generation of engaged scholarship
• Sophee Langerman, who builds bridges between BIPOC communities and the game-changing federal investments in Great Lakes restoration and infrastructure through her work with the Healing our Waters Great Lakes Coalition
• Monica Lewis-Patrick, CEO of We the People of Detroit, a water warrior who is facilitating community-engaged research and creating networks of relationships with water advocates across the state and region.

Event highlights include:

• Opening plenary with Steve Yaffee on the theory and practice of collaboration
• Facilitated Meet & Greet
• Panel discussion with representatives from the campus organizations that support engagement
• Lunch plenary with Sophee Langerman on spanning boundaries and building relationships within the HOW Coalition
• Mini-workshop on community engagement approaches and skills presented by the Ginsberg Center
• Remarks by Monica Lewis-Patrick on action-oriented research and university-community engagement processes (where to make changes and elements that work) 
• Closing reception

In order to register, you need to login using your U-M credentials. External participants without a U-M account, please create a U-M Friend Account. If you have complications registering as a non University of Michigan member, please contact Ivana Holmes at ivholmes@umich.edu.