A Great Lakes Vision. Sustained Local Impact.
The GLSI vision has always been to build a regional network to support local place-based environmental stewardship, youth learning and leadership development, and community collaboration that, together, help to shape and steward the future of the Great Lakes Basin and its communities. The heart of GLSI is its network of regional centers in Michigan, each embedded as part of a local institution (university, intermediate school district, etc.). GLSI Regional Centers build and sustain local ecosystems of school-community partnerships and drive youth learning and leadership experiences that are centered in the places they live and learn. GLSI's central leadership team provides support and guidance to this network, organizes the National Place-Based Education Conference, and delivers training, resources, and network development across the whole system.
Over the past few years, GLSI has leveraged the resources developed and lessons learned across its first 20 years to develop and begin implementation of a new model of place-based stewardship education delivery with schools and community organizations beyond the reach of GLSI Regional Centers throughout Michigan and across all Great Lakes States.
Where We Work Across the Basin
The GLSI Hub Network
Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (NEMIGLSI)
Based in Alpena, Michigan, NEMIGLSI is administered by a coalition of regional partners, including the Community for Northeast Michigan, Michigan Sea Grant, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. NEMIGLSI serves a large, rural region of Michigan, encompassing 10+ counties of the Northeast Lower Peninsula. NEMIGLSI aligns GLSI’s model of Place-Based Stewardship Education to regional economic and cultural pillars, including local food systems and agriculture, natural resources and fisheries management, watershed health, and marine debris issues. Savannah Graf is the current NEMIGLSI coordinator.
Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI)
Hosted jointly by the Copper Country Intermediate School District and Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, LSSI serves the geographically expansive and rural communities of Michigan’s western upper peninsula. The Keweenaw Peninsula serves as the place-based heart of LSSI’s work. As a result, LSSI brings GLSI’s model of Place-Based Stewardship Education to life locally by weaving together the regional legacies of copper mining and forestry, the culture of rural community life and local food systems, and the defining importance of Lake Superior’s fishery and water quality to the region’s overall health and resilience. Carla Strome is the current LSSI director.
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Groundswell Stewardship Initiative (GSI)
Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, GSI is hosted by the Grand Valley State University Center for Educational Partnerships within the College of Education and Community Innovation. GSI serves the metropolitan Grand Rapids area and communities throughout Kent and Ottawa Counties. Centered in a growing urban environment, GSI emphasizes stewardship of urban and suburban watersheds and water quality, as well as increasing community green space access, and supporting biodiversity protection and native species efforts in school yards, local parks, and neighborhood settings. Clay Pelon is the current GSI director.
West Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (WMIGLSI)
Based in Muskegon, Michigan and serving a multi-county region of the coastal western lower peninsula, WMIGLSI is fully integrated into and hosted by the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District. WMIGLSI focuses on vertical K-12 grade integration of GLSI’s model of Place-Based Stewardship Education with Muskegon area schools and community partners. WMIGLSI works extensively with the defining feature of the region–water. Watershed health, water quality protection, and riparian zone protection and remediation are constant areas of focus in student learning and stewardship action projects supported by WMIGLSI.
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Discovering PLACE (DP)
Based in Flint, Michigan and serving a multi-county region surrounding Genesee County, DP emphasizes urban place-based education to address long-standing and systemic environmental issues in Flint and the surrounding area. DP has emphasized stewardship of, and improvements to, local watershed health and water quality, and has worked extensively to support local food systems education and youth-led projects to address food insecurity and unequal access to local foods in urban communities. Leyla Sanker is the current DP coordinator.
Our work is expanding, get involved to support our mission.
Twenty years on, GLSI’s vision has come a long way toward being realized throughout Michigan, and we now look to develop and support the next generation of Great Lakes Stewards throughout the entire Basin. Learn about partnership opportunities and ways to support our mission.