Hosted by: Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange, The Summit Foundation, and The Democracy Collaborative
Apr 29, 2019 1:00 PM Eastern Time
Creating climate resilient cities means more than investing in infrastructure—it means tackling economic and racial inequality that leaves disinvested communities on the frontlines of climate damage. In this webinar, we explore how building green stormwater infrastructure (harnessing nature's innate ability to manage runoff), can be a key intervention point for also building community wealth, creating a vibrant economic system where democratic ownership and control creates more equitable outcomes.
In particular, green infrastructure could create new opportunities to launch and support enterprises whose goals go beyond profit margins: social enterprises (mission-driven nonprofits with a fee-for-service component) and worker-owned firms (democratically owned and operated businesses). Growing such enterprises has the potential to increase economic resiliency of community members while building cities that enjoy the well-documented benefits of green infrastructure.
Based on the recent report by The Democracy Collaborative, Building Resiliency through Green Infrastructure: A Community Wealth Building Approach, the webinar highlights the perspectives of practitioners on the ground, partners in implementation, and experts in the field of water management. It explores leading examples already in operation as well as strategies to expand these models across the country.
Webinar Panelists:
- Babak Tondre, Designer and worker-owner at Dig Cooperative, Inc. (Oakland, Calif.)
- Carlina Arango, Landscape Program Coordinator at Verde Landscape (Portland, Ore.)
- Ilyssa Manspeizer, Executive Director at Landforce (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Matt Barron, Program Officer, Sustainability at Heinz Endowments (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Paula Conolly, Director at Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Introduction: Johanna Bozuwa, Research Associate at The Democracy Collaborative