Videos

Humans have long disrupted the natural water cycle. Yet we continue to suffer from droughts, floods and other disruptions despite building dams and levees and completing other feats of engineering. What if, instead of further disrupting the water cycle, we sought to repair and replenish it?

Solving today’s wicked sustainability challenges requires system change. But as the 2020 US election illustrated, the nation is so divided and dug in that we need new strategies for leadership. We can’t rely on elected officials, political parties, chief executives, or others in positional authority to lead the systems change we need.

Parks and recreation systems have evolved in remarkable ways over the past two decades. No longer just playgrounds and ballfields, parks and open spaces have become essential green infrastructure with the potential to contribute to community resiliency and sustainability. To capitalize on this potential, the parks and recreation system planning process must evolve as well. This is a 90-minute educational session about how to work within your community to use parks to move the sustainability needle and generate multiple community co-benefits.

US cities are facing the joint challenge of the climate crisis and the lack of housing that is affordable and healthy. In her new book, Gray to Green Communities, affordable-housing expert Dana Bourland argues that we need to move away from a gray housing model to a green model that considers the health and well-being of residents, their communities, and the planet.