This is cool. If you know environmentalists or others that are working on restoration, nitrogen policy, science of N role int he ecosystem, CAFOs, Farm Bill or just general gurus that know a lot about pollution and nitrogen please tell them to plug into the wiki to shape a real grant program!
Open to public participation through May 10th the wiki results are going to the Packard Board. The thinking on the strategy is developed in Creative Commons so other foundations can also pick it up and run with it. Hopefully, they also post the full summary they present to the Board back to the community that helped draft it. If funded it could funnel millions into nitrogen work.
It is cool they are even having the audience vote on the likely success of the strategies created. I remember a little about this from my river days and it looks like they are really getting some solid advise ( at least as good as any one or two program officers could write up in a few months!)
An increasingly dangerous threat to our environment and human health, nitrogen pollution is degrading water quality and coastal ecosystems, contributing to climate change and posing a variety of health risks. Despite its rapid growth and harmful consequences, the problem of nitrogen pollution has received relatively little attention, except in areas suffering the consequences. In response to this gap, the Packard Foundation is exploring opportunities for philanthropic investments to make a significant contribution to solutions.Since the most robust strategies for addressing a problem as complex as nitrogen pollution can not be developed by Packard alone, the Foundation has launched a public forum for collaboration. Everyone with an interest in reducing nitrogen pollution is invited to join and work together to create effective strategies for addressing this pressing problem.
I look forward to seeing the final document. I added network building under additional strategies.
