The Great Lakes Way: A Case Study of Connecting People to Natural Resources and Expanding Ecotourism

The United States and Canada have promoted using an ecosystem approach in protecting and restoring the North American Great Lakes for over 40 years. Building on this foundation, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and partners have applied a similar approach in creating a 240-km interwoven set of water trails and greenways in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, USA called the Great Lakes Way. Five-year accomplishments identified in this case-based reflection include: a Great Lakes Way Advisory Committee serving as a boundary organization, a consensus vision map, signed collaboration agreements with 45 communities/trail stakeholders, an increase in the total number of usable and funded greenways from 167 km in 2020 to 199 km in 2024, a Memorandum of Understanding between U.S. and Canadian trail organizations to foster transboundary trail tourism, and estimated annual economic benefits of $3.75–5 billion USD. Key case study insights that have helped advance this trail initiative include: 1) facilitating stakeholder agreement on a compelling vision; 2) building capacity; 3) empowering a boundary organization to collaborate on a common goal; 4) co-generating of knowledge and solutions; and 5) practicing adaptive resource management. Remaining challenges include sustaining meaningful community engagement, ensuring long-term funding, monitoring user attitudes/behaviors, and supporting research that strengthens and sustains this boundary organization and science-policy-management linkages.