Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News

The Newsletter of Freshwater Future

The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of Freshwater Future, published four times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.

Volume 16, Number 1 • Spring 2008

Director’s Notes: Making Time for Creativity

By Jill Ryan

When we are in the middle of a project and it seems there is no time to spare, is often when we most need to take the time to find a creative solution. The issues that community groups tackle often seem daunting and can even create hard feelings among friends and community members.

What I have noticed from the groups we are working with aswell as fromour own work is that it can be so easy to find one solution andwant to stickwith it. The danger here of course is that we can become so focused on our first solution or idea that we miss other opportunities that may provide more benefits and may be more appealing to a wider audience.

While making time to do creative brainstorming may seem daunting, it can often result in an array of benefits that may take our project to wonderful new heights. I hope that you will try to make time on a regular basis to reassess your project, talk it over with others and see whether a creative new solution may offer a welcome resolution.

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.

– Erich Fromm

Disclaimer: The interpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, the C.S. Mott Foundation, subscribers, donors, or any organization mentioned in this publication.

Freshwater Future builds effective community-based citizen action to protect and restore the water quality of the Great Lakes basin. We work toward this goal by providing financial assistance, communications and networking assistance and technical assistance to citizens and grassroots watershed groups throughout the Great Lakes basin. Through these efforts we work with over 1,800 grassroots watershed groups and citizens to protect and restore the rivers, lakes and wetlands in their communities. Freshwater Future is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization.

For more information, please contact:

info@freshwaterfuture.org
P.O. Box 2479,
Petoskey, MI 49770
PH (231) 348-8200;