The Desert Seas Summit will bring together the research and conservation community working across the Gulf of California, the Pacific coast of Baja California, and their connections to the Sonoran Desert.
Over five days, researchers, students, communities, producers, artists, organizations, decision makers, journalists, and partners from across the region will gather in La Paz to exchange knowledge, build new collaborations, and explore new ways of working together across disciplines, sectors, and borders.
This will not be a traditional conference as the Summit is designed around participation and collaboration with different ways to be part of it. Check them out below:
The gathering will begin with a series of satellite events or independent gatherings convened by individuals and organizations around specific topics and goals, that provide an opportunity to bring your team together, advance a project, host a workshop or connect with partners, leveraging the space and time created by the larger Cumbre.
Each individual satellite event is independently organized and by invite or separate registration only. If you are interested in organizing a Satellite Event see how you can become a Summit Partner and email us at nextgensd2012@gmail.com.
The second day will feature a Science Expo, the first time the larger Gulf of California scientific community will have gathered in more than 20 years. Rather than a typical conference, the event format will feature six simultaneous co-laboratories – collaborative spaces where researchers, academics, and students will share, reflect, and advance the state of science across six priority topic areas of the Desert Seas.
All of this energy will then segue into the Summit itself. The three days of the Summit will focus on sustainable foods and livelihoods across the desert and sea. Through an (un)conference or open space format, producers, researchers, organizations, and diverse stakeholders identify shared challenges, share perspectives and co-create projects that can move beyond the Summit.
The Summit will also take us out into the field. Participants will have the opportunity to visit local projects, meet people working directly across the desert–sea landscape, and experience firsthand some of the places, practices, and initiatives shaping the region.
Side events will be anchored on art and science. The Summit will commence with the opening of a gallery exhibit “Arte de los Mares del Desierto” at the Archivo Histórico of Baja California featuring 18 artists from across the region. There will also be a pop-up gallery at the Summit venue highlighting results of the United Nations’ One Ocean Expedition, and a short film screening and festival.
Please reach out at nextgensd2012@gmail.com with any questions or comments.
