Rebuilding: One Year After Sandy

Urban planner and the founder of Outside New York, Carter Craft, spoke on Sunday night at Grace Van Vorst Church about rebuilding the areas affected by water damage from Sandy. The essence of his message, as far as I understood, was that water needs to move and flow and it needs access to places where it can do that harmlessly. Inlets, wetlands, canals, etc. Humans have tried to restrict water's natural inclinations and it's not working. He also stressed the need for interaction between people and the water. Boating, fishing, swimming, paddle boarding, etc. A lot of this touches on the notion of who has access to the water's edge, what socio-economic groups "own" the water's edge and restrict "non-owners" from accessing it. https://outsidenewyork.wordpress.com/

http://www.waterfrontalliance.org/

Rebuild by Design is a competition between some of the brightest minds in the design world. They have attempted to come up with solutions to rebuilding the Sandy affected regions in a sustainable way. I went to the presentation at NYU by the ten design groups who have been chosen as finalists. What excited me most about their plans were the strategies that involved the factors Carter Craft talked about....accessibility of water into the water's edges and the interaction of people and water.

Go to Rebuild by Design's website to see updates on their public forums in and around Jersey City.

http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/

EPA Releases New Green Infrastructure Strategy, Focuses on Making Green Infrastructure a Part of Business as Usual for Communities

EPA Releases New Green Infrastructure Strategy, Focuses on Making Green Infrastructure a Part of Business as Usual for Communities EPA has launched a new strategy to expand the use of green infrastructure, with the goal of making green infrastructure a part of business as usual for local communities. The Agency’s 2013 Green Infrastructure Strategy builds on its previous 2008 and 2011 green infrastructure strategies. The new strategy maintains a focus on information exchange and community engagement, while focusing on improving federal coordination, Clean Water Act regulatory support, research and information exchange, funding and financing, and capacity building.

More information:  http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/gi_support.cfm

Jamie Piziali

US EPA - Office of Wastewater Management

Green Infrastructure Program

202-564-1709    piziali.jamie@epa.gov

COSMIC UNITY PROJECT

Feel like being inspired ? Check out this year's Solar Decathlon !!

For those of you who don't know about it, and for those of us who do, the Solar Decathlon is always worth checking out and is always inspiring. California comrad Mary Hunt, the smart touch behind the Ecolutionary Selling blog site, writes about her experience http://www.ecolutionaryselling.com/ Photo Gallery here http://www.flickr.com/photos/solar_decathlon

VERY LOW COST EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY - SJC's Certificate Program in Urban Sustainability for Jersey City

We have just gotten approval to offer the following Continuing Education and Professional Development Credits for this course !! 24 USGBC CEU’S offered for LEED credentialed individuals taking the course

6 Professional Development Credits for those educators choosing the Eco-Schools USA Module

This is the first course of it's kind being offered in Hudson County / Jersey City and is an incredible opportunity to learn about systems thinking, sustainability concepts / practices and to join others to consider how to create successful projects in your neighborhood.  We hope to be working with many of you after the course as we plan and install demonstration projects around Jersey City with cross-section of community stakeholders.

Workshop Series, Fall 2013 - Starts September 30, Ends December 16th

Participation is limited; inaugural rate of $275 is being offered only once and thanks to all the instructors who are working to together on a pro bono basis to land this collaborative enterprise up at Hudson County Community College.

Additional Certifications being offering depending on choice of final module:

• Eco-Schools Certificate: Introduction to School / Extended Campus Sustainability Planning.

• Green Path NJ Certificate: Principles of Smart Growth and LEED for Neighborhood Development

More information here -  http://sustainablejc.org/wordpress/certificate-program/