There was a board that field projects could put up sticky notes of their current needs. This sense of community even extended to outside the conference room. Whether it was zoos highlighting the conservation impact of their partnerships, or small organizations talking about working with local communities for one species, it was clear that successful conservationists don’t do it alone. The second great idea at the ZACC conference was community and collaboration, which came across as a strong overarching theme throughout. The 2016 winners and finalists with Sigourney Weaver, the Jane Alexander Global Wildlife Ambassador Award winner (Image credit: The Indianapolis Prize) And his point was that a simple, compelling narrative will be critical for conservation success. It was a great example of how compelling a short data-driven story can be. No one ever made a decision based on a number – you need a story.” Education, experiences and the stories you tell are the bets you will place. The price of playing the conservation game is animal welfare. 55 million school-age children in the US will visit zoos and aquariums this year.Increasingly urban and disconnected from nature (kids spending more time on screens and less time outdoors).In 1950, 30 percent of people lived in urban settings – by 2050, it will be 66 percent of people.Ninety-five percent of biomass mammals on earth are humans, our pets and the livestock we raise to eat. Dan Ashe, President and CEO, Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Image credit: ZACC).Although he spoke rapidly, the data points were compelling, so I took notes as fast as I could: Keynote speaker Dan Ashe, President and CEO of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, shared some interesting statistics in Tuesday’s session about the challenges we face in conservation. 1 – Storytelling as the new bet in the game What were your favorite ideas from the conference? Please leave a comment to let me know. Here are 5 creative ideas I saw at ZACC 2018. And that will take longer than a year to finish publishing! (Stay tuned for stories from field biologists, scientists, students, executives, researchers, and wildlife officers from different organizations and regions.) It was such a treasure trove of fascinating people that I captured nearly 20 video interviews of amazing stories. At the same time, it’s probably a good thing that the conference only happens every two years. Not to mention that I came away inspired with some great ideas to try in the future. I’m really glad I got to attend – the conference was amazing! I learned so much about how these collaborative projects actually work. I’m keen to learn as much as I can about conservation and Jacksonville is just a six hour drive away. When our Director of Science passed along information about the 2018 ZACC conference, (thanks to our Board and Onnie Byers letting us know about it), I quickly volunteered to go. World map where ZACC attendees could place pins of their locations
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