Editor’s note: This is the first part of a 6-part series by Kathleen Fitch, Anne Hooper, Chioma Lewis, Lea Mitchell & Lillian Young.
The COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened the connection many Americans and Canadians feel with the outdoors and the environment while opening new opportunities to engage with our environment in the Great Lakes region.
The need to socially distance, to wear masks, to avoid public transit, to sanitize, to keep schoolchildren at home and to avoid indoor workplaces, sports venues and entertainment venues has prompted many people to spend more time outdoors, to adopt new hobbies and to recreate their old jobs or create new ones.
This Great Lakes Echo series, “Renaissances: Environment Creative Culture,” illustrates how some of us have adapted to societal changes unlike any that the modern world has experienced.
The theme explores environmental, creative and cultural renaissances during the pandemic and defines those renaissances as inspiration, rediscovery or a rebirth of ideas, exploring ways that people have used creativity and nature to help them during the crisis.
By Kathleen Fitch, Anne Hooper, Chioma Lewis, Lea Mitchell & Lillian Young