Green Infrastructure Forums and Workshops

Summary
Green Infrastructure Forums and Workshops
August 10, 2004
J. Glenn Eugster, National Park Service
Brian LeCouteur,Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

One of the major accomplishments of the Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project was to establish and maintain a Regional Green Space Forum to highlight and disseminate information on issues pertaining to green space programs, initiatives and innovations both nationally and internationally. These forums have acted as an information exchange on technical topics pertaining to green space, parks and recreation areas. In concert with the activities of the Metropolitan Washington Community Forestry Network, these forums and workshops have augmented and broadened the regional audience and sparked the interest of its current membership.

In developing these programs, COG and NPS staff assembled eight Green Infrastructure Forums, two workshops and a Regional Mapping Forum pertaining to green space in urban areas. The format was developed to work with local partners to develop a program outline and to select using both NPS contacts and COG’s existing network of attendees. As time passed, the forums became more popular and attendance grew. There were over 800 attendees over the course of two and a half years these events were held. Peer networking opportunities were built into the agendas which also aided in building attendance at future meetings. Ample meeting notice served to boost meeting attendance as notices were sent out three to four weeks in advance when possible.

Geared for both public and private interests, these events:

1) Presented its cooperators and collaborators with accurate and informative,
educational opportunities on the natural, physical, biological, cultural and economic aspects of green infrastructure;

2) Shared outstanding national examples of protection, regeneration,
management and recreation activities and strategies;

3) Created opportunities for peer networking; and

4) Provided opportunities for dialogue between different government and private sector interests.


Green Infrastructure Forums and Workshops

April 2, 2002

The Forum series began in April 2002 and featured Robert Yaro, President of the Regional Plan Association of the metropolitan NY-NJ-CT region. It also featured a panel of local professionals to present current local and regional efforts in green infrastructure programs that included: Sheila Hogan from the Casey Tree Endowment Fund, Mark Busciano with the DC Dept. of Public Works, and David Burke from Maryland’s Green Print program.

September 9, 2002

On September 9, 2002, Leslie Sauer formerly of Andropogon Associates, and Mari Lou Livingood of the Alexandria Seaport Foundation (ASF) spoke at a forum held at the Council of Governments. Leslie Sauer presented her best management practices for stormwater management in urban areas and on development sites. Ms. Livingood presented her work with the urban youth in managing the environmental stewardship activities of the ASF.

November 7, 2002
Greg Moore of the Golden Gate National Parks Association.
This session was held at the Environmental Law Institute in N.W. Washington, DC. The session was attended by about 50 people. Greg Moore presented their work over the past 25 years in developing a park partnership organization with NPS to assist in revitalizing parks and rehabilitating brownfields in the San Francisco Bay area. A presentation was also made by Nancy Sturm and Bob Sutton of the Greater Washington National Parks Fund. Ms. Sturm and Mr. Sutton provided an overview of the work they are doing to build up this fledgling organization and their partnership with the National Park Service – National Capital Region.

November 22, 2002
Andy Lipkis of Tree People from Los Angeles California and Dave Eckert, local filmmaker and environmentalist. The forum was held at the Hall of States Building in near Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Mr. Lipkis gave an extended presentation about his organizations’ work in the Los Angeles area working with citizens, local, state and federal officials to change urban infrastructure management to harness stormwater as a resource and to conserve resources devoted to obtaining fresh water supplies. Mr. Eckert presented an abbreviated version of his recent film on the history and resources of the Four Mile Run stream system located in Arlington and Alexandria Virginia.


January 23, 2002
Steve Coleman, Director of Washington Parks and People, Gerri Spilka of the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning and Blaine Bonham, Jr. of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society - both from Philadelphia. This forum was held at the offices of Council of Governments in Washington DC. There were approximately 50 people in attendance. Steve Coleman helped create Washington Parks and People and serves as the group’s technical and inspirational leader. He has written articles entitled “The Invisible Park” and “Organization and Programming Across Cultural Boundaries” all highlighting the work of his organization. Mr. Coleman is currently leading a citywide effort to “Celebrate Our Centennial: 100 Years of the District’s Park System”. Mr. Coleman noted that Washington DC is the “Greenest City in America” with a “one-quarter of the city devoted to green space”. Parks and people are working in Watts Branch – a tributary of the Anacostia River, to show how parks, and public health is related.

Gerri Spilka of the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning works on place-based approaches to regional and community development with OMG, a research and consulting organization with clients across the U.S. She discussed her work with an educational strategy that concerns green city management and her work with Mr. Bohnam.

Blaine Bohnam of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society who oversees the Society’s urban greening program, “Philadelphia Green” also serves on the Pennsylvania Environmental Council’s Green Space Alliance, a regional effort to preserve open space and natural resources. Most recently he has lead their “Vacant Land Management Study” in Philadelphia, PA.

Mr. Bohnam and Ms. Spilka, along with Darl Rastofer, recently authored “Old Cities/ Green Cities: Communities Transform Unmanaged Land”, a publication of the American Planning Association.

January 28, 2003
A “Lessons Learned Forum” was held on January 28, 2003 at the German Embassy in N.W. Washington DC to share the experiences of the U.S. Exchange Team with other Potomac watershed leaders. This was an all day event highlighting the presentations of those that participated in the Germany / US International Exchange that occurred in the Summer of 2002 sponsored by the Glynwood Center in Cold Spring New York. This effort was assisted with funds and technical assistance from the Metropolitan Washington Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project provided by the National Park Service, National Capital Region and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

This event was well attended with over 120 participants. Many inspiring presentations about stormwater management technologies were highlighted by those that participated in this exchange. These included German architect Herbert Dreiseital speaking on water in German cities and the world; Katrin Scholz-Barth of HOK Landscape Architects speaking on Green Roof technology and its application in urban settings to help defray the impact on stormwater; Dale Medaris from EPA’s Office of International Activities, and Marc Gibb from the Northern Virginia Regional Council on how exposure to the innovations he witnessed in Germany has inspired him to begin making changes through his organization to handle stormwater in a positive way in Northern Virginia. This event has resulted in inspiring many to explore these “green” technologies and in some instances to implement innovative stormwater management projects of their own. It also has inspired some discussions for potential intra-regional collaborations for disseminating these technologies between NVRC and the Council of Governments.

Green Mapping Forum:

October 18, 2002

The Green Mapping Forum idea was developed to catalogue existing mapping efforts in the region. Working with existing member governments, regional federal and state agencies and constituents, regional mapping efforts were identified and a listing of potential presenters were composed. From this listing, COG and NPS identified those that were the most developed and when assembled, would cover the geography of the Washington Metropolitan Area and beyond.

On October 18th 2002, COG organized and conducted a Green Mapping Forum, to highlight a representative sample of the regional mapping efforts in the region to date. The keynote speaker for this event was Margaret Maizel of ONEIMAGE, LLC. who presented her GIS analysis of vegetation cover loss in the Washington region. Other speakers included geographic information system experts from the Metropolitan Washington Region.

Kim Finch from Prince George’s County, who presented their county-wide Green Infrastructure plan.

Andrew Zimba from the Casey tree Endowment Fund, who presented the methodology behind the DC street tree inventory.

Robert Dietz from the US Geological Survey who presented their National Biological Inventory Mapping Program, and

Gary Moll and staff from American Forests, who presented their City Green analysis methodology for the Metropolitan Washington region.

Other organizations participated in the Green Mapping Forum as exhibitors / partners and brought materials that were displayed in the meeting room for perusal during session breaks. These included: U.S. Geological Survey; Prince George’s County; American Forests; Casey Tree Endowment Fund, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; National Park Service, National Capital Region; U.S. Forest Service; The Wilderness Society and the National Capital Planning Commission.



III. Workshops

February 13, 2003
A Dialogue Session was conducted by Daniel Martin of International Communities for the Renewal of the Earth and Ms. Anne Pearson of the Alliance for Community Education. The workshop and training, was designed to create a committed group of stakeholders and form a “Green Infrastructure Network”. The purpose of the network is to share ideas, information and expertise from different geographical areas, communities and interest groups of the metropolitan Washington region to help achieve a common understanding of the value of green infrastructure to human well being.

Mr. Martin and Ms. Pearson conducted a dialogue session with 25 participants that
focused on listening techniques to facilitate better communication with those that we encounter in our lives. This technique was loosely applied to the topic of Green
Infrastructure / Green Spaces and what those spaces meant among those in this
group. Group and one-on-one discussion was used to convey ideas for practicing the
newly learned communication techniques and thoughts and feelings about green spaces
and wild lands