Bird conservation challenges and opportunities have changed constantly in the 30 years since Partners in Flight began. To respond to those changes, Partners in Flight has periodically taken a step back to assess our progress, consider the way we move forward as an initiative, and consider the challenges that lie ahead of us. The last time we did that, it resulted in the 2014 Strategic Plan.
For our 30th anniversary, the Partners in Flight Steering Committee launched a long and short-term visioning exercise to consider obstacles and opportunities for bird conservation. Our target was to identify how the steering committee can ensure that Partners in Flight continues as a driving force in bird conservation into the future.
For long term visioning, three working groups were formed to consider Partners in Flight’s
- History – successes, and challenges,
- Engagement with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice topics, and
- Future obstacles and opportunities in bird conservation (“Horizon scanning”).
To discuss desired short term results (1-2 years), the Partners in Flight Steering Committee held two virtual sessions of three hours each to identify how the Steering Committee can best function to ensure that we continue to look forward and use the strength of the Partners in Flight network to address challenging topics as they arise for bird conservation.
The Partners in Flight 2022 Action Plan summarizes the process to date. We will post additional news stories here to provide updates on the next steps.