Ecotrust

Organization Description

Affiliated with Ecotrust Canada and several other related organizations, Ecotrust works around several main concepts.  For one, the organization works to develop a Conservation Economy, which builds smart growth and economic development around principles of sustainable living.  Also, the idea of a Salmon Nation brings together all people living within the traditional home range of pacific salmon species and asks them to unite around this environmental icon. Community development, planning, ecology and natural resources management, and facilitation projects all focus on Ecotrust’s defining principle—that all successful communities must incorporate ecology, economy, and equity into decision-making.

In addition to ongoing outreach to create a sense of place using the concept of Salmon Nation, Ecotrust has several specific tools and initiatives, including Knowledge Systems, an informational toolkit housing the organization's analytical, technical, and map-making capacities. The System integrates ecological and economic information into sophisticated analyses and map-based outputs, building a data-rich foundation for the Salmon Nation.  The Salmon Nation project heavily utilizes storytelling and community participation methods to bring out personal feelings and connections to the land; a primary goal of the project is to reach a majority of citizens in the region.

One of Ecotrust’s great strengths is the organization’s ability to think along interdisciplinary lines, using as evidence everything from population statistics on salmon to poetry and personal narrative on the meaning of the species.  Using The Natural Step Framework, Ecotrust also helps communities conduct visioning projects and characterize themselves prior to conducting any planning or management project.