International Fellows Explore Malibu Lagoon For Lessons on Restoration

Lessons learned from the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project was the subject of a tour Wednesday for visitors from South Africa, Ghana, Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand.

The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission hosted the group, who were five fellows selected from a worldwide competition to take part in the GOOD Exchange Global Citizenship Project, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to Julie Du Brow, a spokeswoman with SMRBC. 

Th Malibu Lagoon Project was completed in June.
 
“One of the purposes of our fellowship is to … underscore just how universal many of our problems are, and how productive it can be to share ideas about solutions,” said Casey Caplowe, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer. “We want the best of what is going on in Los Angeles to inform projects half a world away, and vice versa. Our hope is that we can help entrepreneurial community leaders to take what they do and expand it on a global scale.”    
 
The fellows include Regina Agyare of Ghana; Bruce Good of South Africa; Kurt Shaw of Recife, Brazil; Maria Morfin of Tepoztlan, Mexico; and Coralie Winn of Christchurch, New Zealand.
 
“We’re honored to have this group of innovators come and learn about the lagoon restoration project,” states Dr. Shelley Luce, SMBRC Executive Director.  “Restoration projects are vibrant examples of all the things that each of these innovators will probably need to deal with at some point on own projects—from working with stakeholders to looking at fresh options and the science that leads the way. If our tour helps provide guidance that can be translated locally, I’m thrilled.”  Malibu Lagoon restoration project managers Mark Abramson, Sr. Watershed Advisor for SMBRC, and Suzanne Goode, Sr. Environmental Scientist for California Department of Parks and Recreation, led the tour.
 
Other organizations the fellows will be engaging with in their Los Angeles stay include CicLAvia, Homeboy Industries, the East LA Community Corporation, the Watts Towers, and the Santa Monica Farmers Market.