Resilient Infrastructure Sustainable Communities (RISC)

On June 7th, 2023, Resilient Infrastructure Sustainable Communities (RISC) hosted its second in-person meeting at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Co-hosted by Sanjiv K. Sinha, Ph.D. of CIS (Corvias Infrastructure Solutions) and Bill Schleizer of Delta Institute, topics of discussion included: 1. Regional/Chicagoland Perspectives on #GreenStormwaterInfrastructure (by Cameron Davis and Eira Corral Sepúlveda, Commissioners of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago); 2. Opening Keynote on Disaster Recovery, Mitigation, and Resilience (by Julia McCarthy of FEMA); 3. Value-Added Benefits of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (by Jen McGraw of Center for Neighborhood Technology); 4. Climate Change Preparedness of Great Lakes Communities (by Tom Price of Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc. (ECT), and Dr. Sri Vedachalam of CIS (Corvias Infrastructure Solutions)); 5. Green Jobs and Workforce Training (by R. Paul Herman, FSA and Amir Khaleghi of HIP Investor Inc.); 6. Technical Assistance and Financing for Water Infrastructure (by Ellen Tarquinio and Steve Marquardt of US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Bud Mason of Great Lakes Community Action Partnership); and 7. Scaling up of Stormwater Best Practices/Plans (by Aaron Ward of City of Thunder Bay in #Ontario). H/T Great Lakes Protection Fund for their unwavering support! And let us know if you need anyone's presentations! #climatechange #sustainable #planning #infrastructure #investments #environmental #community #contemporaryart Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange #innovation

Controlled study finds that people living in neighborhoods where the number of trees and shrubs was more than doubled showed lower levels of a blood marker of inflammation than those living outside the planted areas: https://lnkd.in/eDaHkxwP

Grant applications be received thru Sept. 20 for projects that address the urban forestry needs of municipal governments, schools, nonprofit organizations and volunteer groups throughout Michigan: https://lnkd.in/eHXYWYdY

$1.45 million federal project will help communities across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan prepare for floods by building up resilience along the Lake Superior coast using nature-based solutions: https://lnkd.in/gGvUXWYg

Indigenous leaders from across the U.S. and Canada meet in Chicago to discuss the future of water use and environmental health in the Great Lakes Basin: https://lnkd.in/eDqiebi4

Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has updated an online tool that maps which communities may be most susceptible to adverse effects from pollution: https://lnkd.in/ehQyGwwf

With support from a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant, Illinois Extension is expanding its rainfall management outreach by creating an online course that provides communities with the tools, information, and demonstrations they need to establish and maintain green infrastructure projects: https://lnkd.in/gVv234-j

Though the cities of Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Windsor, and Toronto are all urban heat islands, their proximity to the Great Lakes is to their advantage and more must be done to capitalize on it: https://lnkd.in/eTW3GmDH

SEMCOG offered this recent webinar highlighting the benefits and connections between spending time in Michigan's abundant water resources and improved health and wellness: https://lnkd.in/eAzdpaZj

Watershed councils covering the Huron, Rouge and Clinton rivers have created the Rain Catchers Collective to help more residents and municipalities build green infrastructure: https://lnkd.in/e6RecX4T