CEM North America & Caribbean Region Newsletter (June 2022)
Updated: Jun 22, 2022
June 2022 Newsletter - Introductions & Call for Young
Professional Representatives
Dear Regional Members of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management,
The IUCN 2021-2025 intersessional period is underway and we wish to introduce ourselves as
the new Chair (Brock Blevins) and Co-Chair (Salima Medouar) of the North America &
Caribbean Region of IUCN's Commission on Ecosystem Management. We are honored to take on this role and look forward to working with you and CEM leadership to enhance this region's engagement with the Commission's priorities through 2025.
Meet your new Chair and Co-Chair
Brock Blevins (Chair)
I have worked with the IUCN since 2007, previously as Membership Coordinator for the North American and Caribbean Region of the CEM, Co-lead for the CEM Thematic Group on Ecosystem Restoration, and currently as Regional Chair for the North America & Caribbean Region. I am also the Training Coordinator for NASA's Applied Remote Sensing
Training Program (ARSET).
Location: Annapolis, Maryland, USA
Salima Medouar (Co-Chair)
I have a Joint Specialization in Sociology & Anthropology as well as a Masters of Sustainability Science & Society focusing on Policy and Ecosystem Governance. I recently worked for the Province of Nova Scotia as a Clean Energy Strategist in renewable energy development and climate change mitigation and now work as an Aboriginal Consultation Advisor where I advise on the Crown’s legal duty to consult on Environmental permits and authorizations. My interests are in collaborative environmental management and environmental justice. As co-lead of the Young Professional Network (YPN) for IUCN-CEM I also look forward to increasing the participation of emerging young leaders in the commission alongside my role as Co-chair of the North American & Caribbean Region.
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada;
Upcoming Activities & Objectives
As chairs, our objective is to guide the development and implementation of CEM’s work in this region. As regional chairs we collaborate with CEM’s thematic and specialist groups as well as regional offices with the aim of identifying funding opportunities, synergies, and strengthen partnerships and promote membership.
Main Objectives
Connect with thematic, specialist and regional groups to help coordinate and promote activities for a wider capture as well as find synergies between groups planned activities such as the Young Professional Network.
Encourage membership (Currently 139 members)
Quarterly/periodic virtual meetings/webinars on CEM activities for members to share information on regional plans and achievements; invite thematic and specialist groups to present on specific topics of interest for the region
Provide connection points for members to contribute to the work of the CEM and ways to engage the commission
Outcomes
Improve regional communication to prepare activities for the next World Conservation Congress as well as other events that may be of interest and align with IUCN-CEM’s mandate (UNFCCC, CBD etc.).
Increase membership through coordinating with other groups on events that may promote the membership to individuals with similar interests.
Increase the understanding within the membership of how to navigate and make the best use of various tools and resources provided by IUCN-CEM and develop other tools to help improve communication and connectivity.
Provide greater promotion and visibility of the activities within the regional network so that we can find synergies where there might have been duplication of efforts so that knowledge and lessons learned can be shared (surveys, workshops, webinar series, etc.)
CALL: North America & Caribbean Region of IUCN's Commission on Ecosystem
Management is seeking a Young Professional (YP) to join a core group as regional YP
representatives.
The YP Regional representatives will work to enhance the Youth and Young Professional engagement in their respective regions. They will work closely with the YP Network Leads and the Regional Chair on regional CEM priorities and coordinate the region's activities and
communications. This will be a voluntary position with an expected time commitment of 3 hours per week. The primary responsibilities of a regional YP representative will be to:
Manage communication and action of YP members in the region and increase network engagement in various CEM activities and thematic or specialist groups
Maintain regular communication with regional YP representative core group
Provide program support to the Regional Chair
Should you be interested in joining the core group as regional representative for North America & Caribbean Region and increasing your participation in IUCN-CEM please provide the following information by to Salima Medouar, co-lead of the Young Professional Network (YPN), salmalsun22@gmail.com and Brock Blevins, bblevins37@gmail.com by July 1st.
A brief (300 word or less) description of your interest, experience, and qualifications.
A brief 1-2-page CV.
We look forward to connecting with interested individuals and working together!
Upcoming
Look for a short survey we will be sending to members. This will help us to understand the vast amount of expertise within the region and how they align with CEM priorities.
We would like to thank Angela Andrade and Liette Vasseur for this opportunity and all of you for your continued support and interest in furthering the priorities of the Commission and IUCN.
All the best,
Chair: Brock Blevins, Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI), Training Coordinator for
NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET); bblevins37@gmail.com
Co-Chair: Salima Medouar, Aboriginal Consultation Advisor for the Government of Nova Scotia, Canada; salmalsun22@gmail.com