In light of recent events such as Hurricane Katrina and the looming threat of global climate change, PlaceMatters identified a critical need for ways to effectively integrate ecosystem science and community planning in ways the public and decision-makers can readily understand and act on.  

PlaceMatters also believes the scientific community benefits from tools and techniques that more effectively engage the public to help build consensus around critical ecosystem management measures in the context of broader community development objectives.

Linking Ecosystem Based Management and Planning

In addition to our Bridging the Divide project, PlaceMatters offers consulting services, project design, and tools expertise to marry ecosystem based management (EBM) and land use planning within various contexts.  PlaceMatters seeks to assist communities, non-profits, government agencies and other organizations to effectively plan for both ecosystem and community health using a suite of public engagement, GIS, systems modeling, scenario analysis and land use planning tools.