04/30/2026
Shifting Baseline Syndrome (SBS) is a concept that should be getting far more attention in environmental and planning conversations.
It describes how each generation inherits a slightly diminished version of the natural worldāand accepts it as ānormal.ā Over time, that quiet recalibration lowers expectations, increases tolerance for ecological decline, and weakens urgency around restoration.
Consider a local park. It may look healthy today, but a few decades ago it may have supported significantly higher biodiversityāmore birds, pollinators, and native plant life. If that earlier condition isnāt part of our lived experience or institutional memory, the loss becomes invisible.
This has real implications for how we plan, fund, and prioritize environmental work. If our baseline is already degraded, we risk designing systems that maintain decline rather than reverse it.
What moves the needle:
ā¢ Reintroducing historical context into planning and policy discussions
ā¢ Creating opportunities for direct engagement with intact or restored ecosystems
ā¢ Leveraging intergenerational knowledge to reestablish what āhealthyā actually looks like
Understanding where weāve been is essential to setting credible targets for where we need to go.
Mushkegowuk Cree Geomatics
