The Institute’s oceans programming has included the Ocean Community Strategy Roundtable (2014), the Aspen Institute at Windsor Oceans Symposium (2013), and the Ocean Community Study and Dialogue (2013).

This initiative was hosted by the African Wildlife Foundation and the Aspen Institute in 2014-2015, and served as a platform for developing a vision for China-Africa cooperation on wildlife and wild lands conservation and governance. This high level dialogue series convened groups of African and Chinese business and policy leaders to foster a set of recommendations regarding the opportunity for cooperation on conservation and development challenges.

The Conservation Innovation Roundtable was convened in 2013 partnership with the Chesapeake Conservancy, and produced a final report entitled Conservation Innovation in Context.

Photo credit: Bob Mical

The Dialogue Series on Conservation in the 21st Century, hosted in 2010-2011, focused on the future of conservation, society and the environment. The Dialogue produced a final report chronicling ideas about the need for a new narrative for conservation: “Nature as Foundation of Economy: Investing in Natural Infrastructure for Conservation Supporting Human Development."

Recognizing that the circumpolar Arctic region is experiencing significant ecological change due to global climate change, the Aspen Institute convened a civil society Dialogue and Commission in 2008-2010 to consider the implications of this impending transformation for the region’s inhabitants and resources.