Urban waters’ practitioners need to consider gentrification and displacement in their work. Greening neighborhoods and improving water quality in urban rivers is intended to create healthier neighborhoods, yet the impact on historically marginalized communities isn’t always positive as environmental improvements … Continued
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This session was recorded as part of River Rally 2020 and led by Darryl Haddock (West Atlanta Watershed Alliance) and Jennifer Arnold (Reciprocity Consulting, LLC). Historically marginalized populations suffer disproportionately from the effects of flooding and inadequate investments in water … Continued
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The report from the Center for Neighborhood Technology outlines the impacts of green infrastructure investments on property values. The report also addresses the issue of green gentrification and includes anti-displacement practices. The authors state: “The best practices around the country … Continued
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The Green Values Strategy Guide from the Center for Neighborhood Technology describes how community benefits are related to Green Stormwater Infrastructure, defines different green stormwater infrastructure strategies, and includes information about (1) Health Benefits, (2) Economic Benefits, (3) Climate Benefits, … Continued
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The urban waters movement is entwined with the movement for environmental and racial justice. Members and partners of the Urban Waters Learning Network are implementing or working to implement equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice in their environmental efforts. Below is … Continued
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The white paper–created by the Passaic River Urban Waters Federal Partnership, NY/NJ Harbor and Estuary Program, and the USDA Forest Service–reports on findings from a public outreach project targeted at understanding community access and relationship to public parks in Passaic. … Continued
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The report from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network defines Resilience Hubs as a way to include equity-centered strategies that intersectionally reduce vulnerability and greenhouse gas emissions while engaging community members. In addition to defining key components of Resilience Hubs and … Continued
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The report summarizes a workshop hosted by the Georgetown Climate Center and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. The workshop brought together city, state, and federal officials to discuss methods to include social equity and environmental justice in building resilience to … Continued
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In October 2019, more than 850 members of the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC)–a group hosted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)–convened to discuss policy recommendations for reforming national disaster housing recovery. After the convening, the NLIHC and … Continued
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The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) planned a convening of more than 850 organizations that are part of the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) for Oct, 2019. The conference met to address systematic racial, income, and accessibility challenges in … Continued
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The guidelines in this toolkit created by The CREATE Initiative partners comes out of the question: “What does it look like to envision green spaces as sites through which to build a more equitable and just world?” Sharing in the … Continued
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The handbook was created from a collaboration between Blacks in Green (BIG) and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), making connections between BIG’s programs—the Sustainable Square Mile, Grannynomics, and Green Village Building—and NRDC’s guidelines for Leadership in Energy and Environmental … Continued
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Across the country, water utilities, water systems, and local governments are struggling to maintain and rehabilitate their aging infrastructure. At the same time, investment in water infrastructure, including drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure, lags well behind what is needed … Continued
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In the Fall of 2019, the City of Providence released it’s Climate Justice Plan–a report that outlines the goal to not only become carbon neutral by 2050 but also to dedicate resources to frontline communities in leading the charge. The … Continued
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Building on the first 2 webinars in our series on gentrification and displacement that (1) defined the issues and (2) showed how to use data to track them, this webinar focuses on the most effective strategy to preventing displacement: protecting … Continued
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The UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability and the University of Utah created the report, Greening without Gentrification, as an analysis of equitable development strategies being employed when large parks and green space are developed in marginalized neighborhoods. The report shares … Continued
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A publication from the Partnership for Working Families and the Community Benefits Law Center, the guide explains what community benefits agreements (CBAs) are and provides: principles for effective CBAs indicators of potentially weak CBAs case studies on ineffective and harmful … Continued
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Housing is one of the most important solutions to preventing displacement and creating equitable development. As quoted within the document, “Grounded Solutions Network created this toolkit to help communities understand their housing policy options and the approach that will work … Continued
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On June 21, 2019, the Urban Waters Learning Network—in cooperation with Darryl Haddock (Western Atlanta Watershed Alliance) and Jennifer Arnold (Reciprocity Consulting)—hosted the Urban Waters Learning Forum: Addressing Racial Equity in Environmental Spaces. Resources gathered by the facilitators and guiders … Continued
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This year, the team members of the Urban Waters Learning Network are digging deeper into a topic that has long been a concern of our members: the gentrification and displacement of people that we see taking place in our urban communities, oftentimes following efforts … Continued
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This year, the team members of the Urban Waters Learning Network are digging deeper into a topic that has long been a concern of our members: the gentrification and displacement of people that we see taking place in our urban communities, oftentimes following efforts … Continued
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Drawing on experiences of Transit Oriented Development, LA THRIVES and Los Angeles Regional Open Space and Affordable Housing (LA ROSAH) Coalition, created a report outlining five strategies that integrate urban greening (i.e. parks and green infrastructure investments) with affordable housing. … Continued
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The guide–developed by the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership based on the Turning the Corner project–is designed to support the analysis of neighborhood change by government, university, and non-profit organizations. The guide starts by highlighting the importance of data to understand … Continued
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The report describes opportunities for equitable policy-making in municipal and regional settings for urban forestry initiatives. Community-based workforce development and job opportunities are described as well as an example of the economic impacts of a social enterprise. Successful case studies … Continued
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This report counters the notion that “gentrification is inevitable” by offering an alternative approach to development, one that directly involves and benefits the community in which the development is taking place. Focusing on the history and statistics of displacement affecting … Continued
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The report describes the lack of affordable housing and the prevalence of the problem nationwide. Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are proposed as a common solution to the problem, though they are often on the small scale. Proposals within the report … Continued
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The 11th Street Bridge Park Equitable Development Plan was developed in 2015 following a year-long, community-led effort to ensure that nearby residents can benefit from this new civic space planned over the Anacostia River in Washington DC. The Plan was … Continued
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This report begins by outlining the history of development and disinvestment of DC’s Wards 7 and 8, recent housing market trends in the DC area, and resident perspectives on new development. It also outlines the progress of the 11th Street … Continued
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This guide—informed by a Partners for Places 2017/2018 pilot project by the District Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), Georgetown Climate Center, and other partners—outlines a community engagement model in which government and the community collaborate as equal partners. In … Continued
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The report was created by Master of Urban and Regional Planning students at Portland State University for the Living Cully partnership, which is a collaborative effort to create environmental infrastructure investments without displacing the community. The authors state: There is … Continued
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In order to get green infrastructure integration and implementation to the scale needed to maximize its many economic, social, and environmental benefits, we will need to rethink not only how government delivers services, but how communities receive and benefit from … Continued
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This resource from the Prevention Institute addresses the question: “What can people working on “healthy community” issues—like active transportation, parks, healthy food, planning, public health, healthcare, and more—do in their own work to improve community conditions without contributing to gentrification … Continued
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The study done by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin had two focus points for urban residential areas: (1) to identify neighborhoods or groups within neighborhoods that are vulnerable to displacement, and (2) to identify strategies and policies … Continued
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Groundwork Richmond, established in 2010, is one of 20 Trusts within the Groundwork USA network. The organization plays an integral role in developing the greenway, greening the urban landscape, engaging the community, and educating youth. Environmental justice is also central to Groundwork Richmond’s programs, which benefit both the environment and the local community. Groundwork Richmond has formed strong partnerships with local organizations and agencies to provide meaningful job training and workforce development to build the Richmond Greenway and enhance urban forestry.
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To further combat the impacts of CSOs, stormwater runoff, and pollution in urban watersheds, local organizations and businesses formed the RI Green Infrastructure Coalition (GIC) in 2014. The Coalition is made up of nearly 40 local businesses, non-profits, and government offices in the Providence-Metro and Newport-Aquidneck Island areas. They are forming partnerships and using green infrastructure to decrease stormwater flooding, address climate change impacts, enhance water quality, and promote equity in urban watersheds.
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This report compiles informative case studies, focusing on programs that have successfully incorporated artists, art, and culture into their place-based, transformative approaches. These programs aimed to address affordability issues, make connections between people and their environment, promote holistic water resource management, increase community participation, mitigate and remediate damages, integrate community needs into infrastructure, and support community activism.
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Environmental Community Action, Inc (ECO-Action) – a grassroots organization that works with people to fight for their rights to clean air, land, and water – acts as a support system to the communities they serve by providing resources and creating partnerships with other organizations. They have developed many programs designed for educating and empowering the Proctor and Intrenchment Creek watershed communities to advocate for equity and environmental protections. Among their initiatives, ECO-Action is heavily involved in community education and advocacy towards the implementation of green infrastructure projects that address stormwater flooding issues and provide more livable neighborhoods for underserved communities.
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As a result of the Portland community-based collaboration funded through the EPA Urban Waters Program and led by the Oregon Operations Office, the EPA Office of Sustainable Communities provided technical assistance to the Jade District to develop community-based green infrastructure … Continued
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Service learning is a powerful tool for connecting people and their communities to local parks and natural areas. To celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service, the REI Foundation partnered with the National Park Foundation to fund projects that introduce underserved, inner-city youth to their nearby national parks and engage them in service projects to improve them. The project purpose is to foster stewardship among participants, help them to discover opportunities for outdoor recreation, and instill the value of nature and our nations’ parks—both national and local.
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To understand the causes of this disparity, the Building Movement Project conducted the Nonprofits, Leadership, and Race survey with over 4,000 respondents. The study found few differences between white and people of color (POC) respondents in their aspirations or preparation for leadership roles—in fact people of color are more likely to be interested in becoming a nonprofit leader than whites. Survey respondents identified Boards of Directors and executive recruiters as key barriers to the hiring of more people of color executive directors/CEOs.
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This U.S. Water Alliance publication summarizes the overarching and regional challenges that demonstrate the need for more equitable approaches, then outlines the “three pillars of equity” based on USWA’s original research, as well as data from PolicyLink. The report goes … Continued
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“The idea of an integrated systems approach to water is not new. Its full-scale implementation, however, has yet to be realized. There are many signs that water management in the US is entering another great era of change and innovation. … Continued
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By focusing on Philadelphia and comparing this city’s mobility rates with other gentrification and displacement studies, it becomes evident that the effects of gentrification are extremely complex and can affect populations in a variety of ways depending on income level and other demographics.
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This interactive 90-minute webinar is the second in a 2-part series and builds on the first session (recorded HERE). Session 2 explores the concept of unconscious bias and how it prevents us from doing our best diversity, equity, and inclusion … Continued
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Our work to protect and restore the rivers and other waters exists within the context of a society that is increasingly diverse. Nearly 40% of the U.S. population are people of color, and predictions suggest that by the mid-2040s non-whites … Continued
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The Patapsco River flows for 39 miles through central Maryland and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay. The last 10 miles of the Patapsco River form an estuary that is home to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Historically, the Inner Harbor was an important seaport and is still an essential component to Baltimore’s economy by being home to one of the city’s largest tourist attractions.
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Executive Summary: “In an era rocked by climate change and other large-scale disruptions, our cities must be resilient in order to survive and thrive. But what does that mean, exactly? What is known about urban resilience, and what remains to … Continued
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This recorded webinar kicks-off a learning series about Integrated Water Management. The speakers for this first session provide an overview of Integrated Water Management, including context, drivers, examples and opportunities. A series of tools and resources for thinking further are … Continued
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This issue of River Network’s quarterly newsletter describes how various river and water-focused organizations around the country are working to diversify their organizations and become more inclusive in their work. Download this resource
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The book focuses on environmental education programs that contribute to human well-being and environmental integrity in cities.
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This is a comprehensive report on diversity in the environmental movement. It surveyed 191 environmental non-profits, 74 government environmental agencies, and 28 leading environmental grant making foundations to investigate their gender and racial diversity composition. Download this resource
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This report describes the current activities, leading practices, and achievements of sustainable communities. Download this resource
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In a city like New Orleans, community is everything. Walks down the street, one can simply speak to everyone passing by, and everyone would keep an eye out for one another. Everyone was each other’s neighbor. Eight years ago, prior to Hurricane Katrina, walking around the Lower Ninth Ward meant passing several homes on every block.
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Youth have been central to Groundwork’s urban waters reclamation efforts.
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