View from the back of the conference room during Thursday morning's meeting.

David Anderson, Minister of Environment of Canada, welcomed participants and said the meeting should send a message to world leaders on the need for sustainable growth and prosperity.

Prof. Thomas Homer-Dixon, University of Toronto, opened the first session addressing the issues posed by the challenges of environmental management in a changing hemisphere and the need for innovation. He argued for a shift from an environmental protection paradigm to an environmental innovation paradigm and suggested the need to act innovatively and proactively. He also underscored the importance of information to increase the capacity of different groups and suggested promoting partnerships to avoid gridlocks of information sharing.

During the afternoon session, participants discussed the meeting's second theme, "Environment and Health - understanding the linkages." Mauricio Pardón, Director of Environmental Health at the Pan American Health Organization [left], delivered the keynote address. Highlighting the role of health concerns as a major catalyst for environmental conservation, he noted that a billion people in the Americas are exposed to atmospheric pollutants above acceptable levels, resulting in approximately 100,000 deaths annually. Elisabeth Dodswell, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, was the session moderator.