Green Infrastructure Conference DRAFT Meeting Results December 19, 2003

Green Infrastructure Conference DRAFT Meeting Results

December 19, 2003

Prepared by Glenn Eugster, NPS-National Capital Region

I. Purpose and Agenda 

A meeting was held on December 9, 2003 at National Capital Planning Commission in Washington, DC to discuss the idea of a holding a 2004 Green Infrastructure Conference in the metropolitan Washington region.   The conference will be designed through a public-private partnership involving park, open space and recreation interests from all levels of government and the private sector.  It is intended to bring the leaders from various sectors together to share information and experiences and agree on actions that can be taken to carry-out green infrastructure approaches and projects throughout the region.

Patti Gallagher, Executive Director of the National Capital Planning Commission welcomed the group and made some brief remarks about her organization’s interests in parks, open space and recreation areas. 

Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director for the National Park Service, National Capital Region asked the audience to introduce themselves and provided a brief overview of a draft Green Infrastructure Conference proposal that he and Brian LeCouteur, Community Forester of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments prepared.

II. Clarifying Questions and Discussion of the Proposal

The group was asked to help improve and further develop the proposal by responding to the following questions.  The participant’s responses, which have been organized into similar categories, follow.  

What is the desired outcome of the conference?

Overall Goal Statements

Assure access for green space for all

Reduce loss of green space across the region

Federal government re-committed to urban parks and green space

Innovation in recreating and reclaiming green spaces and connections

Inclusive approach to green and grey infrastructure

Green infrastructure in every plan for community, school, business, revitalization

Diversity

Audience

Politicians (e.g. city officials, school boards, etc.) present from the 3 major jurisdictions (MD, VA, WDC) interested in pursuing action items from the conference.

Institutional infrastructure in attendance

Start or serve as mentor to other urban areas

Green space community working with gray infrastructure community

Goals/ Actions/ Strategies/ Priorities

Regional green structure goals and objectives clarified

Identify 1-2 problem areas.  Develop concrete solutions

Commitments and buy-in to go forward

Regional land conservation priorities/ plan and action items to accomplish (e.g. jurisdictional coordination, commitment

Strategies for increasing # acres of green space within DC while improving current parks, integrating community efforts

Build a foundation for action

Agenda for growing greener

Action plan for region.  Tasks for each player

Public commitment from key public, business and community leaders

Setting a 5-10 year agenda for real actions in the region

3-5 top-priority political items that certain subgroups will continue to work on after the conference

Clear identification of the most critical issues/ needs (e.g. preservation, restoration, and management).

Green Compact—“Principles for Action”

Develop/ create a “compact” of local governments and feds to better coordinate green planning

Clear objectives for implementation

Public commitment to protection of green infrastructure

Political action for continued support of green space planning

Regional strategies for implementation

Generate public and private investments in actions

Coordination/ Leadership

Ongoing structure for partnerships for moving forward

Formation of a permanent coordinating metro area council for green groups

Strategy for integrating and supporting local, regional and national efforts

Integrated management of all DC green spaces linked to the entire region

Establish a green infrastructure planning board at COG

Create groups willing to further develop action agenda for identifying issues/ subjects/ goals and willing to implement actions

Both broad understanding and specific action steps for decisionmakers at several levels:

--Congressional delegation

--County/ city

--Department heads

Build a network of advocates

Building a local constituency in support of open space

Leadership Council on Open Space (nfp to advocate/ influence public officials)

Interdependency and collaboration between public and private sector

Education

Educate the masses!

Early media outreach for public education

Making the case/ Business case/ ROI for green infrastructure

Exchange/ understanding of connection between rural, suburban and urban land patterns and practices

An understanding that what is “green” underpins planning for all else—roads, buildings, etc.

Engagement and education of builders, developers, utilities and business community

Engage School systems, teachers and students in vision and action

Schools/ school yards as learning landscapes

Learning from other region’s experiences (good and bad)

Communications & Outreach

Lots of press

Statement summarizing economic benefits of green infrastructure

Publicity!!  Not just a story buried in Saturday Washington Post

Create on-going communication and action network

Week-long series of programs and events

A public outcry for green infrastructure investment

Mechanism for ongoing collaboration, communication and connection of all green space sites and agencies

Engage new diverse constituencies by demonstrating relevance

Develop grass-roots campaign

Regional network of key players to move on beyond the conference

International

Create track for international best management practices

International green infrastructure network: 1) bi-laterally; 2) multi-laterally

Contribute to international discussions on urban parks

International success stories and evidence that green works and saves funds

Scale and Project Type

Scale: City; Neighborhood; Site

Retrofit opportunities

Green urbanism

Means of identifying and cataloging infill areas needing attention

Tools and Information

Tools: Mapping existing conditions and opportunity analysis ROI

100 Success stories

Describe tangible examples of BMP’s

Tools:  Mapping public health and safety information and analysis with green

Model legislation for green space $ support (e.g. Development Impact fees)

Regional inventory of built best practices

Shared data and resource bank  

Reports and tapes available for purchase

Regional tracking system for future actions

Regional “Who’s Who” list of responsible parties

Funding

Conservation finance

Commitment to funding next TEA (e.g. Transportation Enhancement for green space)

Demonstrate cost effective environmental management applications of green infrastructure (e.g. for air and water quality)

Continued funding for the Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project, because “pledges” won’t work without one umbrella-group taking the lead.  Most groups are too busy to take more work—you’ll need dedicated staff to continue the effort.

Annual budget items for green space purchase and preservation—beyond parks

Action by DC and other governments to spend significant money on greening Fund “green” at a level competitive with “Gray” infrastructure

Specific Results

Experienced landscape architect for DC Office of Planning

Support for the regional “Green Belt”

Getting WASA and others to act on planting

Influence LEED 3.0 of US Green Building Council with credits for green space, etc.

Codifying green space planning at a local and regional scale

Specific steps for action in the DC region

Reaction and Discussion of Outcomes

Once the group listed the expected outcomes there was a brief discussion of the results.  The following are highlights of that discussion.

Ambitious;

There is a good sense among today’s participants of what is important but there is a need to go beyond today’s participants and reach out to a more diverse collection of people; Talk to other people.

Who is organizing and paying for the conference?

Involve the Board of Trade

Outcomes have different stakeholders. Need to bring together a ‘cluster of stakeholders’;

What is the best way to achieve the outcomes?  Need to cluster key sets of activities and key outcomes;

Need to link together with existing activities such as the ULI DC Regional Council Smart Growth conference or the USGBC federal summit in March, or the Congress for New Urbanism conference in Chicago, June 2004;

Wallace Roberts & Todd are involved with  the US Green Building Council

Need to focus on ‘green’ urbanism;

Economic value of greening might be a focus--‘green’ is gold;

Think of green as an asset

Need to bring  developers ‘bosses’ to conference such as the director of the ULI, WASA, CEO of engineering firms;

Look at the region and its different sectors

Green infrastructure inspires!

“Nature’s first green is gold. 

Her hardest time to hold.  

Her early leaf’s a flower

But only so for an hour

Then leaf subsides to leaf

So Eden sank to grief

And dawn subsides to day.

Nothing green can stay”.

Robert Frost

Concern with perception of conference being as a “green movement” meeting only among ‘greenies’.  Tailor image broader—life, survival, money

There is a need to bring in “non-greenies”.

Relevancy is a challenge. Make conference focus on diverse topics such as public health, crime, children’s health;

Make connection to drinking water and water resources in the Potomac and connection to region and entire watershed;

Avoid perception that green infrastructure is a luxury – it is a necessity;

Spread knowledge broader

Focus on events leading to the conference—APA Conference this Spring

Air quality is a big issue—non-attainment.  Bring green space into this effort;

Demonstrate relevance of international work and international best practices;

Spend time on facts that we all agree on.  Speak with a unified voice.  Use facts and a shared statement.

Stress relevance and international experience (e.g. McMillian Commission, etc.)as essential;

Demonstrate the inter-relationship of communities in the region.   Look at inner circle, next circle, and areas beyond.  Speak to each of these areas (i.e. Former Mayor of Missoula)

Stress relationships and inter-relationships

(E.g. bring the secretaries of Agriculture and HUD together;

Quantify (e.g. business and human health) a green index.  Pick 4-6 case studies in the region (e.g. LA Example)

Look at certain communities with problems and link them with successful international communities.

Do a report or a multi-media product such as a slide show ;

Look at national center for integrated living?

Show relation connection to crime reduction.  Tie to green infrastructure to show the benefits with example;

Be cautious about international examples because of the differences in tax requirements

What are the possible Green Infrastructure Conference topics, tracts and themes?

The participants were asked to list the conference themes, topics or tracts that they feel are appropriate and relevant for the conference.  The responses, which have been organized into similar categories, follow.

Overall Goals

Increase regional green space

Concept and Definitions

Green Infrastructure concepts and principals—including definition

Kinds of green infrastructures

Economics of Green Infrastructure

Green as the key to the economic well-being of communities, cities and the region

Economic and social value of green space

Connection to community vitality’s (e.g. quality of life, economics)

What it costs to build green; what it costs to lose green

Costs of not acting now on air, water, roads and building codes

Focus on social benefits of green infrastructure

Economic benefits: The business of green

Understanding that nature is not a cheap and readily available commodity

Cross-jurisdictional project management, especially green asset accounting and management

State of the Region and City

State of the region—What we’ve got? What condition?, where is it?

General session-identify  problems in DC region

Values and Functions

Learn Green, Live Green (education, livability, quality of life)

Clean air and how can green infrastructure contribute

Clean water and how can green infrastructure contribute

Public benefits of a growing green infrastructure

Green makes green: Jobs, housing, business, taxes and money are at stake.

Public health and safety: lives are at stake

Green infrastructure across the region, city, suburb, rural lands

Value of open space (e.g. economic, health, environmental, cultural)

Why green space is vital (all the roles of green space)?

The economic health benefits of creating a quality public environment for people

Public health and green infrastructure

Incorporating green into urban/ regional design and planning

Using natural/ restored green systems to provide gray infrastructure 

Functions

Role of green space in crime prevention and reduction

Transportation

Water

Partnerships, Awareness & Coordination

Increase public/ political awareness of the importance of green space

Coordination of green space management and across jurisdictions

Partnering and civic engagement to include mapping

Engaging diverse communities

Getting communities to care about “their” green space.

Education

Education follow-up

Caring about green space: It starts at school

Presentations by elected officials on local and regional green infrastructure success stories

Techniques and Approaches

Growing green infrastructure at the urban/ rural fringe

Incentives and regulations that really work to kickstart actions

Reclamation and restoration as a foundation to grow green urban communities

Retrofit green space (i.e. finding and creating green space where currently there is none) within the cities.

Tools

Focus on international best practices

Legal/ policy: framework 101 opportunities for green

101 organizational infrastructure

Who’s who? City, state, non-profit, feds

Green solutions by land type/ ecological and function (e.g. open space, buildings, stormwater, air, etc.)

Great Cities, Green Cities.  Local, national and international models.

Tools: Mapping

Examples of how other jurisdictions successfully implemented green infrastructure for objectives related to the DC Metro area

Examples of DC metro area environmental challenges that can be met in whole, or part, with green infrastructure approaches.

Tools to protect and enhance green space

What every local official needs to know about green

Indicators/ Measures of Progress

Discussion of green infrastructure indicators: What factors contribute to health?

Reaction and Discussion of Themes

After the themes, topics and tracts were identified the group discussed the results which follow.

Economics of ‘green’

Regional connectivity and interconnectedness;

Public health and safety;

Define what it is.

Justify!

Do it!

What are the successful examples?  Where are these?  100 success stories--case studies of green infrastructure.  Context is important(e.g. Indiana tax example, Colorado lottery)

Educating children;

Show regional context;

The Green Party has been an influence in Germany.  Send GOP leaders of region to Germany;

Develop a tool kit for the first conference; hold the summit at the second conference

Define a new movement—new regionalism

VA saleable tax credits for easements; Bring in the Hockers!

Look to Central Park and the creation of a conservancy approach with business;

Answer question ‘what next?’  Plan next steps; Form a network; involve decision-makers to prompt a change in action; know the answer.

Involve people in the development community?

Involve people with money and authority, including the rule writers.  

Involve DC Mayor Williams

Facilitate peer networking;

Focus on private sector;

Remember that the conference is about the practitioners and not about the organizers;

Bring in home builders and developers;

Conference is not an end point – it is a starting point.  Engage people.  Who?  How to involve them?  How will it happen?

Danger—no money after conference.  Bring in the wealthy corporations.

Schedule/ Dates 

The Green Infrastructure Conference is proposed for September 2004.  The group was asked to comment on the proposed date and their comments follow.

 Avoid conflicting with religious holidays

 When are the Presidential debates?

 Is early December better than September?

 Hotel availability and rates

 Funds

 Election year might be an asset

 Urgency between now and then.  There is so much we can and need to do.

The group will have further discussion about the date of the conference.

Scale (i.e. numbers, days, cost, etc.)

To be determined after further discussion.

Location

To be determined after further discussion.

Who is missing from the discussion?

To be determined after further discussion.

III. Next Steps

Organize a leadership committee and workgroups (i.e. tracts/ content, funding, outreach, etc.)

Secure commitments from participating organizations.

IV. Next Meeting Date and Location

January 28, 2004

10:00 am to 1:00 pm 

The location is to be determined.