As a board and staff, we do our own strategic planning on the basis of frequent environmental scanning. Quetico Centre staff have worked with most of the forest products and mining companies in the region, with education and health-care institutions, municipal governments, business and industry, and community and volunteer organizations. Wiens says the Centre attracts people from around the world. Most come from Northwestern Ontario, but we also have groups coming from right across Canada and the midwest United States especially for leadership seminars and organization effectiveness work. We do that off site as well, although our place is ideal for getting minds together around important tasks.
Some programs draw participants internationally, from Europe, South America and Asia.
That s starting to happen more and more. With many other partners we re working toward establishing a biospheric monitoring station, Wiens says. It s very much at the starting point. It s also very important and interesting. Climate and other changes will be tracked, implications of the findings will be assessed, and the information will be distributed through public workshops.