Green Infrastructure Webcast Series
2024 EPA Green Infrastructure “Soak Up the Rain” Webinar Series
AT THE INTERSECTION OF EQUITY & GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
EPA recognizes that fulfilling our mission of protecting human health and the environment depends on our ability to protect and lift-up communities with environmental justice concerns that have been overburdened by pollution and as a result are more vulnerable to climate change. Green infrastructure can help to reduce the disproportionate impacts of stormwater and flooding on these communities especially in the era of climate change.
Green infrastructure can also provide additional benefits to communities:
- Increased access to green space.
- Cooling and relief from the sun.
- Traffic-calming.
- Community gathering spaces and natural beauty.
Using green infrastructure practices can help to remedy inequities in access to these amenities that exist between neighborhoods or between demographic groups.
For the 2024 “Soak Up the Rain” webinar series, we will showcase projects and practice at the intersection of equity and green infrastructure for addressing environmental justice.
April 9th, 2024 -- Creating Age-Friendly Communities with Green Infrastructure: How Addressing Needs of Children and Older Adults Benefits All
- Webinar presenters demonstrated how planning and implementing green infrastructure can address the unique vulnerabilities of older adults and younger children. View recording here.
June 6th, 2024 -- Planting for the Future: Native Plants, Green Jobs, and Equitable Climate Resilience
- Webinar presenters will discuss how efforts at the national, state and local level to grow, plant, and maintain native and rewilded landscapes are opportunities to work toward equity in frontline communities by helping them be more climate resilient
Fall 2024 -- Conserving Rural Landscapes: Green Infrastructure in the Rural and Tribal Context
- Webinar presenters will explore how climate change is creating an opportunity to rethink the ancient practices for managing flooding and drought and how they might be used for today’s rural and tribal landscapes.
Winter 2024 -- Igniting Community Imagination: Advancing Green Infrastructure Implementation Through Arts and Culture
- Webinar presenters will explore the role of arts and culture in green infrastructure planning and implementation and how artists can act as “trusted messengers” in communities where implementing green infrastructure may be met with skepticism.
On this page:
To receive updates on upcoming webcasts and registration availability, sign up for U.S. EPA’s GreenStream listserv by sending a blank email to join-greenstream@lists.epa.gov. For questions on the webcast series, please contact Robyn DeYoung (deyoung.robyn@epa.gov).
Upcoming Webcasts
Planting for the Future: Native Plants, Green Jobs, and Equitable Climate Resilience
Thursday, Jun 6, 2024; 1:00 PM ET
Landscapes planted with native, locally-adapted plants have wide-ranging benefits including ecosystem connectivity, soil health, water infiltration, and more. As adoption of native, locally-adapted landscaping grows nationwide, the availability of suitable seed, plant starts, and skilled, knowledgeable tradespeople to plan, install, and maintain these landscapes presents an obstacle. At the same time, harmful effects of climate change are already impacting communities, often hitting hardest for those already impacted by social and environmental inequities. In this webinar, convened speakers will discuss the growing need for skilled workers to grow, plant, and maintain native and rewilded landscapes; opportunities to work toward equity in frontline communities through workforce development and livable wage careers; climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and fostering a “deep bench” of local knowledge and skillsets; and more.
SPEAKERS
- Peggy Olwell, Plants Conservation Program Lead for Seeds for Success Program, Bureau of Land Management
- Ann-Marie Benz, Horticulture Programs Manager, California Native Plants Society
- Sarah Lavoy, WaterSense Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Registration link: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_0IHmtrEvRWevT03YSGtsFQ.
Past Webcasts
Related Webcast Series
EPA Water Finance Webinars and Forums — EPA's Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center hosts a series of water finance forums to bring together communities with drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater project financing needs.
Watershed Academy Low Impact Development Webcasts — EPA’s Watershed Academy offers monthly webcasts related to the implementation of watershed approaches to preserve and restore aquatic ecosystems. It has presented nine 2-hour webcasts on green infrastructure.