The State Revolving Fund (SRF) Advocacy Toolkit, created in partnership between River Network and Clean Water For All, was developed to support state and local advocates interested in water infrastructure investment who are seeking to better understand the State Revolving Fund (SRF) process.
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“This portfolio showcases mitigation projects to provide practitioners with examples of activities that integrate the Investment Strategy’s goals and reflect the guiding principles of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA). Beginning in 2020, the Building Resilient Infrastructure and … Continued
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The 2020 Resiliency Framework from the Colorado Resiliency Office highlights cross-sector work as an important component to implementing equitable resilience. The framework also highlights priorities and action steps to achieve them. “Colorado creatively implements forward-thinking solutions that are sustainable … Continued
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Using community-based research, West Street Recovery published the report Survivors as Experts: A Community Evaluation of Disaster Recovery in Northeast Houston to “identify and analyze the barriers to recovery from the perspective of residents living in low income Black and … Continued
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Building Alliances for Equitable Resilience was developed by the Resilient Nation Partnership Network to deliver insights and perspectives to achieving a more resilient nation. The report includes Partner Perspectives on topics like equity vs. equality and overcoming unconscious bias and … Continued
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The report provides information about how six climate change impacts–(1) air quality and health, (2) extreme temperature and health, (3) extreme temperature and labor, (4) coastal flooding and traffic, (5) coastal flooding and property, and (6) inland flooding and property– … Continued
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The report provides an Urban Forest and Health Menu that compiles nature-based adaptation actions from peer-reviewed research. The menu includes nine adaptation strategies that are designed to be used with the Adaptation Workbook–a step-by-step process that helps users consider … Continued
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The City of Seattle, in cooperation with community partners, the Duwamish Valley Action Plan: Advancing Environmental Justice & Equitable Development in Seattle. Priority areas include: Healthy Environment, Parks and Open Spaces, Community Capacity, Mobility and Transportation, Economic Opportunity and Jobs, … Continued
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The report by the Barcelona Laboratory for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability partnered with several organizations to create the report Policy and Planning Tools for Urban Green Justice: Fighting displacement and gentrification and improving accessibility and inclusivity to green amenities. … Continued
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This River Network Equitable Infrastructure Toolkit is a one-stop shop for community stakeholders, advocates, and leaders to: Identify the factors that affect water affordability; Become familiar with water infrastructure funding and financing mechanisms; and Understand the role and impact of … Continued
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. The current report presents the lessons learned by the task force members that can offer insights about water equity to philanthropic leaders, water utilities, and community and environmental leaders.
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This report provides a snapshot of recent water reuse projects and initiatives that have been successful across some of the NEP and Urban Waters (UW) partnership locations.
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The Opportunity on Water: How public opinion, politics, and decades of deep organizing have set the stage for real progress, right now is a new report by the Water Hub that shows how water is “common thread that runs through … 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 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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This study by Duke University Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions seeks to answer the questions: “Why do rural voters and their representatives often oppose environmental regulations? What accounts for this apparent rural/urban divide on attitudes toward environmental policy? Are … 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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The Urban Waters Learning Network tracks the growth of the network on a semi-annual and annual basis. Discover 2019’s numbers on membership, publication of Impact Stories and blog posts, number of webinars produced, and more.
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More than two million people in the United States live without running water, basic indoor plumbing and sanitation. To close this water gap, it is first important to understand it. The report analyzes the quantitative data from the American Community … 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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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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The report examines the importance of environmental issues–like public lands, land and water conservation, climate change, heat and drought, and wildfires–for Latino voters. Each section includes an explanation of the environmental issue and why it is important to Latino communities, … 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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This toolkit was created to guide NAACP units through the process of establishing an Environmental and Climate Justice Committee in order to develop a climate adaptation plan. The action toolkit provides 19 modules ranging from Developing a Community Climate Action … Continued
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“This toolkit is designed to guide NAACP units and their Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) Committees through the process of building equity into the four phases of emergency management: prevention and mitigation, preparedness and resilience building, response and relief, and … Continued
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In 2015, almost 200 United Nations member countries, including the United States, adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals, a unanimous commitment to address global issues by improving quality of human life, while also protecting the planet. Sustainable Development Goal 6 serves … 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 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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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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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 workshop summary provides an overview of the 2018 National Training Workshop sessions and key discussion topics. Links to all available presentations and photographs from the workshop are available on the main website. Direct links to each speaker’s presentation are also provided in the summary PDF.
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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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The Urban Waters Learning Network tracks the growth of the network on a semi-annual and annual basis. View this report to discover this period’s numbers on membership, publication of Impact Stories and blog posts, number of webinars produced, and more.
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The Urban Waters Learning Network tracks the growth of the network on a semi-annual and annual basis. View this report to discover this period’s numbers on membership, publication of Impact Stories and blog posts, number of webinars produced, and more.
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The Urban Waters Learning Network tracks the growth of the network on a semi-annual and annual basis. View this report to discover this period’s numbers on membership, publication of Impact Stories and blog posts, number of webinars produced, and more.
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The Urban Waters Learning Network tracks the growth of the network on a semi-annual and annual basis. View this report to discover this period’s numbers on membership, publication of Impact Stories and blog posts, number of webinars produced, and more.
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The Urban Waters Learning Network tracks the growth of the network on a semi-annual and annual basis. View this report to discover this period’s numbers on membership, publication of Impact Stories and blog posts, number of webinars produced, and more.
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The Urban Waters Learning Network tracks the growth of the network on a semi-annual and annual basis. View this report to discover this period’s numbers on membership, publication of Impact Stories and blog posts, number of webinars produced, and more.
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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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This report provides the latest research on the social, health, and economic benefits of urban green space, with an emphasis on tree canopies. Research shows that more trees and green space in urban areas directly reduce pollution, reduce heat, encourage exercise and related health, lower stress, and improve longevity among residents.
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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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This report on Sustainable Models for Green Infrastructure Maintenance in the Great Lakes Region summarizes the findings of a 2016 convening in Buffalo, NY of local government, land bank, sewer district, nonprofit, landscape, and community and workforce development professionals from … Continued
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This report, issued in 2011 by the American Society of CIvil Engineers (ASCE), provides an overview of existing water, sewer, and CSO infrastructure in the U.S., describes the “water and wastewater infrastructure gap”, addresses the differences in the condition and … Continued
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This report makes an argument for funding the “water infrastructure gap,” showing that doing so would benefit the U.S. economy by netting $220 billion annually and supporting 1.3 million jobs. The Value of Water Campaign documents the number of jobs … Continued
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Focusing on drinking water systems, this report documents the decay of water infrastructure in communities throughout the United States. The American Water Works Association (AWWA) argues that costs will continue to increase, at more cost to consumers, and documents regional … Continued
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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 study was produced by Jobs for the Future (JFF) as part of NatureWORKS, a national initiative to understand the jobs, careers, skills, credentials, and potential of the U.S. green infrastructure workforce; and was funded by the U.S. Forest Service’s … Continued
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Published by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, the report reviews the health benefits of bringing urban rivers back to being an essential element of urban living.
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This Trust for Public Land study shines a light on the successes and challenges of water-smart public parks, providing case studies of cities across the country. The document looks at both the technologies and the political agreements necessary for using … 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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This issue of River Network’s quarterly newsletter explores the topic of turning our cities blue, of moving from gray to green infrastructure, and the related benefits to our communities of restoring the health of our urban waters. Download this resource
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An overview of the extent to which volunteer monitoring efforts are incorporating partnering into their strategies, and how those partnerships work.
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Description of how blue cities can undo the effects of open space and green corridor reduction. CRWA is working to reengineer urban landscapes to function more naturally to reduce flooding and stormwater runoff pollution. Download this resource
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Report describing the process of daylighting streams. Daylighting projects liberate waterways that were buried in culverts or pipes or otherwise removed from view and re-establishes a waterway in its old channel where feasible, or a new channel. Download this resource
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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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A strategic plan to guide restoration, enhancement, and conservation efforts in the estuary and its tributaries; emphasizing wetlands, floodplain connectivity, off-channel habitat, and water quality. Download this resource
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Youth have been central to Groundwork’s urban waters reclamation efforts.
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