Bridging Divides Through Collaboration
The ICOET community consists of transportation and environmental practitioners, academics, ecologists, and engineers representing both public and private sectors, collaborating to devise effective solutions at the intersection of ecology and transportation. Having hosted the very first ICOET in September 2001, Colorado is excited to again be your 2025 conference host and to take this opportunity to share our state’s ecological and cultural diversity with participants from around the globe. In the heart of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado straddles the Continental Divide, separating waters headed downhill for the Pacific from those destined for the Atlantic. People across Colorado have a rich diversity of experiences and cultural backgrounds that are uniquely influenced by the landscape they inhabit: from the tribal lands and heritage that range across the state, to the rural towns with longstanding traditions of agriculture and ranching, to the bustling Front Range cities, and to the scenic mountain towns that draw Coloradans and visitors from around the world. The theme of ICOET 2025 focuses on openly sharing knowledge and collaboratively addressing a wide diversity of ecological, cultural, and institutional issues related to impacts of transportation and other linear infrastructure. These collaborative processes advance discussions around ecological connectivity, facilitate communication, and demonstrate effectiveness: by working together we can accomplish more.
Collaboration across literal and figurative divides requires professionals and academics working with linear infrastructure and ecology to establish long-term and multifaceted relationships. Leaning into an ethos of partnership brings diverse individuals and organizations together to solve local, regional, and global ecological challenges. By sharing our experiences of local, regional, national, and international collaboration, we can face the challenges of a transforming landscape together. Collaboration at the intersection of transportation and ecology reaches beyond wildlife crossings. Integration must incorporates a breadth of resource issues that affect both the built and natural environments – a challenge that ICOET attendees grapple with regularly. Bridging divides is how we will work together to meet today’s challenges with innovative science and creative sustainable solutions.
The vision for ICOET 2025 is to celebrate successes and glean insights from colleagues around the world working across varied and complex transportation and ecological systems. Attendees will have an opportunity to experience how Colorado, North American, and our global colleagues are implementing innovative technologies, advancing environmental justice, adapting to climate change, and seeking to balance linear infrastructures with community, economic, and ecological values. The host city, Denver, is nestled at the convergence of the plains and the Rocky Mountains. We anticipate this setting will inspire attendees in the ethos of collaboration, foster connections, and bridge the divide in pursuit of common goals. Welcome to Colorado!
ICOET 2025 Topics
- Wildlife movement, connectivity, and linear infrastructure
- Mainstreaming ecology in transportation planning and program delivery
- Collaborative efforts in transportation ecology and lessons learned
- Land use and ecosystem interactions at the landscape level
- Critical challenges and failures in transportation ecology
- Addressing diverse cultural and tribal perspectives and issues in transportation ecology
- Advancing innovative technologies
- Adaptation, mitigation, and resilience with climate change
- Management and restoration of roadside ecosystems
- Aquatic species & ecosystems, stormwater, and water quality
- Linear infrastructure systems and impacts on a global scale
- Enhancing infrastructure systems for net economic and/or ecological gain
- Lessons from policy, planning, and process
- Challenges and solutions associated with linear infrastructure beyond roadways