“Synergy at Scale: Partnering for a Healthy Landscape”
ICOET is a community of academics and practitioners representing cutting-edge approaches to some of our most pressing challenges associated with maintaining and improving interactions between transportation and ecosystems. Vermont is the smallest state to ever host ICOET, and we are thrilled to share with the world what this “brave little state”* has to offer. Despite Vermont’s size, we are positioned as a critical connection within the northern Acadian ecoregion, connecting the Adirondacks in New York to the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, Canada. Similarly, Vermont is a key international transportation corridor, making understanding the intersection of transportation and region-wide ecological connectivity of high importance. This unique intersection of transportation and ecological connectivity in Vermont and the northeast region is reflected in equally unique regional partnerships, like the Staying Connected Initiative. As a result, the theme of the 2023 conference is embedded in the idea of synergy at scale – that is, exploring how these issues are addressed most effectively at small and large scales through partnerships and collaboration.
Partnerships are critical to success on all scales. These partnerships overlap and interact in dynamic ways. There are the partnerships that are exclusive to the work we are doing in our own jurisdictions. And there are partnerships that capture broad landscapes and multiple political jurisdictions across the globe. These multi-scale synergistic partnerships transcend geopolitical boundaries and bring together scientists, policy makers, and practitioners. Together, these professionals not only make their own jurisdictions more biodiverse, but also ultimately make the larger region more permeable for ecosystems and especially wildlife as species shift ranges due to climate change and development pressures. Partnerships are elemental in working towards a healthy landscape locally, regionally, and globally. Synergy at scale.
The vision for ICOET 2023 is to continue to infuse the program with an appropriate balance of science and practice that inspires innovation and action by showcasing new ideas and solutions for the intersection of transportation and ecology. In keeping with the history of ICOET, we expect attendees will push the limits of new science and practice to advance and expand our ability to mesh ecosystem processes and transportation. Moreover, this conference is a forum for broad international collaboration and information sharing. Ideally, ICOET can help scientists and practitioners working in low-income countries influence decisions in areas that are under intense development and extraction pressures. The synergy of the partnerships among, and beyond, ICOET attendees results in an energy and vision that will take the discipline of transportation ecology to the next levels. - Welcome to Vermont!
*“If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the Union, and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont.”
– Calvin Coolidge
ICOET 2023 Topics
Advancing innovative technologies
Aquatic species/ecosystems, wetlands, stormwater and water quality
Climate change: adaptation, mitigation, resilience
Community diversity, social justice and culture shifts in transportation
Enhancing infrastructure systems for net economic and/or ecological gain
Global systems: policy, pandemics, economics, and people
Lessons from policy applications
Linear transportation beyond roadways (railroads, pipelines, transmission lines, etc.)
Mainstreaming ecology in transportation planning and program delivery
Mitigation / Restoration
Terrestrial wildlife and ecosystem interactions
Vegetation management within transportation corridors (e.g., for pollinators)
Wildlife movement: connectivity, safety, across eco-tones