On August 29, Stu Ludsin presented a webinar for the USGS Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor.

Title: Meeting the challenge of implementing ecosystem-based management in the North American Great Lakes Basin

Stuart A. Ludsin (ludsin.1@osu.edu)

Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43212, USA

Description: At a recent conference celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, Ken Minns, Mohiuddin Munawar, and I hosted a workshop to learn how to enhance successful implementation of ecosystem-based approaches (hereafter, EbAs) to solve resource management, conservation, and societal problems globally. Herein, I provide insights gleaned primarily from a workshop writing exercise focused on identifying the key needs for and challenges to effective implementation of EbAs. We identified six categories of needs and challenges, spanning from the initial phases of EbA development (e.g., setting clear goals; getting stakeholder buy-in) to the final ones (e.g., adapting to change; maintaining program support). Setting clear goals aligned with a collective vision was identified as most critical to successful EbA implementation and offered the fewest barriers. By contrast, accounting for limitations in governance and navigating administrative constraints posed the biggest barrier, with inability to sustain support for EbAs and getting stakeholder buy-in being next most mentioned. These latter three challenges were also identified as critical to EbA success, thus helping us to understand why effective implementation of EbA has remained elusive globally. Sound science (and overcoming associated hurdles) and effective communication were also found essential. Ultimately, we assess the state of EbAs in the Great Lakes in relation to our workshop findings and conclude with recommendations on how promote successful