Regional Council and NARC Role in Green Infrastructure
The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) has been involved with the concept of green infrastructure since the summer of 2000. In September of 2001 NARC entered into a four year agreement with the Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service to disseminate information about green infrastructure to Regional Councils and Metropolitan Planning Organizations as well as encourage its membership to continue their “on the ground” approach to strategic conservation and restoration efforts.
Regional Councils are critical to the green infrastructure movement because of their comprehensive multifaceted capabilities. Regional Councils can help continue green infrastructure initiatives on the regional level by convening stakeholders, conducting strategic planning, and implementing projects to accomplish sustainable outcomes.
Regional Councils have a broad role to play in green infrastructure and landcare through:
- Regional planning processes for a variety of programs: transportation, water quality, housing and economic development;
- Ability to collect and synthesize complex layers of green data
- Ability to bring local government, business and civic groups together to address broad, regional issues;
- Leadership ability in sustaining support for an issue
- Ability to make the urban-suburban-rural connection on issues of sustainability;
- Able to work in areas that focus on sustainable communities, economic vitality, healthy lands and waters.
Regional councils provide comprehensive planning and technical expertise, on a multi-jurisdictional level for their member cities and counties, in areas such as transportation, community and economic development, hazard mitigation, and the environment. Regional Councils work hard to improve the quality of life for local communities through the management and planning of sewers, water resources, housing, roads, natural resources, conservation areas, and recreation facilities. Many of these planning efforts are tied directly to air quality and transportation programs as well as natural resource inventories that are often integrated into a comprehensive land use program for the entire region.
Regional Councils play a large role at the local level, in convening stakeholders on a multi-jurisdictional scale to work on strategic conservation of natural resources, otherwise known as land care. By bringing together community groups, farmers, developers, local elected officials, and planners, regional councils can create consensus on the most effective green infrastructure/land care strategies. Specifically, regional councils can help form discussion groups within a region on a variety of topics. These discussion groups include partner agencies with working experience on issues such as conservation, restoration, development, public works, and farming. These discussions would identify critical opportunities for conservation, restoration, and preservation and create locally driven opportunities in order to start working towards implementation.
Regional Councils also have the technical capabilities to develop detailed environmental data and mapping, which can serve as the basis for creating community and government driven projects to protect natural lands in the face of imposing development and growth trends. Regional Councils collect and unify local data and use geographic information systems software in order to create a more comprehensive inventory and map of environmental assets in the region. Some RCs will focus their efforts directly on layers of natural inventory, such as woodlands, wetlands, and watersheds. Other Councils may focus indirectly on environmental assets in relation to the built environment and development trends such as transportation, housing, and employment. This data in turn will visually and numerically expose the most critical environmental areas that are needed for conservation and restoration, and will help to direct elected officials and businesses to make more sustainable development decisions.
Throughout the past four years, NARC has held various workshops at its Annual Conferences on the concept of green infrastructure and landcare. NARC has also helped to form a Green Infrastructure Committee to track and discuss important information related to these topics. Additionally, NARC has begun to inventory RC and MPO environmental programs including green infrastructure, landcare and conservation activities.
NARC has also collaborated with four key members on green infrastructure and landcare initiatives in their regions. These members include: Mid-America Regional Council, MO/KS; Land of Sky Regional Council, NC; MIDAS Council of Government, IA; and, Central Mississippi Planning and Development District, MS. Although these projects are different from one another, they all work towards the goals of conservation, preservation, and restoration of natural infrastructure in their regions.
NARC continues to facilitate interaction with these partners as well as its greater membership on the issues of green infrastructure and hopes to build this program to national prominence. NARC as well as the U.S. Forest Service sees the incredible potential for RCs and MPOs in the future debate and implementation of green infrastructure programs. NARC encourages RCs to continue their efforts with green infrastructure and landcare projects in the future.
Email Peggy Tadej, Director of Research and Grants or call 202.986.1032 Ext: 224