Mosquito Lagoon Listening Session – A Different Kind of Meeting

NEW SMYRNA BEACH. Public participation and communityengagement have long been discussed as critical components for relevant andeffective environmental management. When scientists and other resource managerslisten, learn, and incorporate ideas from local people who are intimatelyconnected to the places they manage, everyone can benefit. Local communitymembers get a say in how their resources are managed and share theirexpectations for project outcomes, while scientists and decision-makers learnfrom diverse knowledge and perspectives community members bring and can moreeffectively communicate about the importance of their work. If doneeffectively, community engagement during the planning, implementation, and/orevaluation phases of a project can increase the community’s support for, andtrust in, scientists and managers’ decisions.

On February 19, 2019, Citizen Science GIS team members, andother investigators on our NationalScience Foundation Coupled Natural-Human Systems grant held alistening session in New Smyrna Beach to learn what local people want to seecome from livingshoreline and oysterreef restoration projects in Mosquito Lagoon. Our big goal was tohost a different kind of meeting, where listening was fundamental andcommitting to actions based on the priorities of participants, paramount.Invitations to the listening session were sent out widely through email andsocial media, and information was also spread through word-of-mouth. We invitedanyone with a connection to the lagoon to come have their voice heard and sharetheir priorities for future restoration with scientist actually working onthese projects.

At the listening session, guests sat in small groups attables, and each table focused on discussing a specific question:

• Table 1: In which areas would you prioritizeoyster reef restoration, and why?
• Table 2: In which areas would you prioritizeliving shoreline restoration, and why?
• Table 3: How has restoration in Mosquito Lagoonaffected you, and what kinds of benefits do you hope to see come from oysterreef and living shoreline restoration projects?

By the end of the evening, participants had a chance to sitat each table to share their perspectives on every issue.

So what did we learn?There were certain areas people prioritized for upcoming oyster reef and livingshoreline restoration. Anticipated ecological success was a big factor in wherepeople wanted to see future restoration occur. Another top priority was tochoose highly visible sites to maximize the educational opportunities ofrestoration. The people we spoke with also expressed a desire to see restorationprojects improve water quality and clarify, and they expressed concerns over development,plastics, and boat wakes, which can dislodge oysters.

What happens now? Restorationscientists on the Coupled Natural-Human Systems team are currently planning forsummer 2019 living shoreline and oyster reef projects, and have committed tointegrating what they learned from the community into their upcoming work. Assuch, the maps and notes developed from this listening session are playing intodecision making about which places to restore next. As decisions are made, wewill continue to post updates and send announcements to the community memberswho attended the meeting. On a broader scale, we hope this kind of communityengagement continues so that restoration projects can align ecological andsocial goals to maximize benefits for people and the planet!