Big Lake 2026

Lakes have histories and relationships. Lakes experience youth and old age and can teach us about time. Lakes are rich with life and sustain complex ecologies. Lakes are home and their abundant watersheds announce to travelers they have arrived. People are drawn to lakes, and always have been, for sustenance, contemplation, medicine, protection, commerce, and community.

The BIG LAKE journey will pause at lakeshores throughout Wisconsin to meet and hear Wisconsin residents describe how their communities developed at the water’s edge and how their orientation toward lakes has evolved over time. Lakes big and small will be our entrée into a host of broader Wisconsin realities, challenges, and pleasures.

Along our BIG LAKE route we will visit the land and people shaped by Wisconsin’s waterways. Wisconsin Idea Seminar travelers—faculty and staff from the University of Wisconsin-Madison—are students of Wisconsin life, deepening their understanding of the state and reaffirming their commitment to public service and the Wisconsin Idea.

We will visit a lakeshore forest, meet environmental stewards and business owners, spark ideas with Universities of Wisconsin colleagues, and see the spaces and places where many of our UW students come from. Experts and practitioners from across the state will join the journey at various points along the way to enrich our learning throughout the week.

During our journey we will hear directly from Wisconsinites who show how their communities thrive when people come together with respect, creativity, and a desire to work for the collective good.