Guest Blog Post for Greenprint Partners
This February, Exchange members provided input on the Framework at four Learning Circles. We extend our gratitude to the Exchange members who provided invaluable insights. If you were unable to attend the Learning Circles and provide your input, there are a number of ways to engage with the ongoing development of the Framework:
- Exchange members are invited to participate in a dedicated Learning Circle focusing on the Framework. If you would like to join this Learning Circle, complete this Zoom registration link. Meetings are on the 3rd Wednesday (Mar 20, Apr 17, May 15) at 10-11am pacific / 11-12pm mountain / 12-1pm central / and 1-2pm eastern.
- Engage with the development of the Framework at the Annual Member Meeting.
- Provide asynchronous feedback via this Google Form. Please submit by March 19.
The Evolution of the Framework: Scaling up green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) as a practice requires a thoughtful and well-structured approach. The Exchange’s vision for the Framework is based on insights from Peter Plastrick’s “Connect, Innovate, Scale Up”. It’s intended to serve as an organizing framework for GSI principles, best practices, and case examples. It’s a starting point for what happens next: developing the strategies that will support innovation and continuous learning.
The Exchange has turned to resources like Learning Circles topics and the State of Public Sector GSI report to inform the GSI topics that the Framework will offer principles, best practices, and case examples around. This ensures that the Framework is grounded in real-world insights and experiences, and the hard-won lessons learned from practitioners across the USA and Canada.
Unveiling the Framework Topics: The Framework takes shape through the identification of key topics categorized into three pillars: WHY, WHAT, and HOW.
The topics addressed in WHY support members members seeking to center equity, build buy-in, and have sustainable GSI investments by leveraging known drivers for GSI. Current Framework topics include: (1) Center Equity, (2) Build Buy-In, and (3) Advance Sustainability.
The topics addressed in WHAT support members seeking to craft a tailored strategy that aligns policies, programs, procurement, funding, and workforce. Current Framework topics include: (4) Align Policy, Program + Procurement, (5) Fund, and (6) Build Workforce + Capacity.
The topics addressed in HOW support members as they approach GSI planning, design, construction, and management for successful delivery. Current Framework topics include: (7) Plan, (8) Design and Build, and (9) Maintain, Monitor and Manage.
These categories are the core concepts necessary for the successful scaling up of green infrastructure projects. Let’s dig into each a bit more:
Center Equity: This topic focuses on embedding equity principles in GSI initiatives. Equity will be integrated and considered in every framework topic, and it will also have its own section, because it’s so critical to the Exchange, and the GSI sector at large. This topic explores preparing teams for equitable GSI delivery, centering community, ensuring project selection, siting, and investments enhance equity, designing projects and programs for lasting community benefits, fostering economic stability and wealth building, mitigating displacement risks, identifying equitable policies and programs, addressing racial equity, combatting biases in urban planning, and promoting equitable distribution of assets and benefits. Key elements include anti-displacement, wealth building, workforce development, community engagement, and considerations for public health and environmental justice.
Build Buy-In: This topic addresses making a compelling case for GSI, positioning green and gray solutions, securing leadership buy-in, fostering partnerships and intergovernmental coordination, employing effective narrative strategies, conducting cost-benefit analyses, engaging elected officials and senior champions, implementing public outreach, utilizing demonstration projects, sharing case-making research, fostering cross-pollination, and providing education and training.
Advance Sustainability: This topic centers on advancing GSI as part of overarching sustainability goals, enhancing urban environments for cooler, safer, and more biodiverse cities, and seamlessly integrating GSI strategies with other sustainability and resilience efforts, such as energy production. Key considerations include addressing climate resilience, emergency preparedness, recovery, and implementing designs that are sustainable and adaptable to climate change.
Align Policy, Program + Procurement: This topic focuses on understanding the regulatory environment at federal, state, and local levels, leveraging existing conditions to inform policies and programs, identifying effective policy tools, exploring program and procurement models, coordinating across departments and agencies, centering equity in policies and programs, and considering private property easements, incentives, rebates, trading, grants, public-private partnerships, performance contracting, and public procurement.
Build Workforce + Capacity: This topic explores avenues for workforce training, ensuring confidence in knowledge and skills, the potential need for mentor/protege, internship, or apprenticeship programs, increasing opportunities in disadvantaged communities, forging partnerships and program models for workforce development.
Fund: This topic covers determining how to pay for GSI, building public support for stormwater fees, identifying funding and financing tools aligned with program models, exploring funding accelerators, considering stormwater fees, evaluating new financing approaches, obtaining loans and grants, securing funding for ongoing maintenance and asset management, ensuring funding accessibility and equitable distribution, optimizing the use of capital dollars, improving state and federal funding mechanisms for GSI, and emphasizing co-benefits within financing programs.
Plan: This topic is dedicated to strategically planning GI. It involves determining optimal locations, assessing quantity and types of GSI, integrating equity considerations, planning for lasting community benefits, mitigating displacement risks, defining design considerations, and aligning GSI with broader planning efforts. The focus includes integrated planning, change management, long-range planning, modeling, GIS evaluation/prioritization, and overcoming challenges like space limitations, siloes, and ensuring planning translates into implementation-ready recommendations.
Design and Build: This topic revolves around the design and construction of GSI. It includes adhering to national and local design standards, designing for lasting community benefits, emphasizing maintenance in design, reducing the chances of community displacement, involving communities in the design process, implementing best practices for GSI construction, addressing design barriers, fostering innovation and accelerators, designing with maintenance in mind, incorporating placemaking principles, selecting and optimizing plant and soil performance, detailing specifications, and exploring new technology.
Manage, Monitor and Maintain: This includes understanding asset management systems and their benefits, planning and executing maintenance strategies, addressing funding for monitoring and maintenance, considering data standardization, and delving into various elements such as lifecycle costs, criticality, levels of service, capital project rehabilitation, public and private inspections, and ongoing monitoring efforts.
