At-risk communities are disproportionately impacted both by increased flooding and the policy and market responses to flooding conditions. In this context, what is “social equity” and how is it related to climate resilience for all? How can planners ensure an equitable response to flooding?

As climate conditions change, understanding what data and tools are available to inform planning decisions is critical. This webinar features a climate data & technology vendor panel to introduce urban planners to data and tools to help communities reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and respond to climate impacts.

The Watershed Conference is an opportunity for learning, brainstorming, discussing, and planning solutions to the problems faced by New Jersey’s watersheds. We will focus on the updates to the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, regional solutions to address polluted stormwater runoff and flooding, environmental justice, and the need for community-wide action. Learn alongside municipal representatives, engineers, environmental professionals, watershed advocates, business leaders, and community members through roundtable discussions, hands-on sessions, and networking.

The 2019 report The Promise of Urban Agriculture: a National Study of Commercial Farming in Urban Areas found that planners play a pivotal role in the success or struggle for thriving urban and peri-urban farms, but planners have a mixed understanding of the needs and potential for urban agriculture. As a follow-up to that study, the presenters have paired up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to educate planners on how urban agriculture can be integrated into their other concerns. This webinar will present an overview of the 2019 report and present the first of six modules in a forthcoming professional development course for planners about urban agriculture.

The Watershed Conference is an opportunity for learning, brainstorming, discussing, and planning solutions to the problems faced by New Jersey’s watersheds. We will focus on the updates to the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, regional solutions to address polluted stormwater runoff and flooding, environmental justice, and the need for community-wide action. Learn alongside municipal representatives, engineers, environmental professionals, watershed advocates, business leaders, and community members through roundtable discussions, hands-on sessions, and networking.

From stolen land to rematriation, all land ownership and control is rooted in its value to it based on markets that serve the few, not the many. What does it take to decommodify land? Is it possible? Can land and power be redistributed for collective benefit? This talk will take us on a journey through history to examine land ownershipin the United States and the reverberating impacts experienced in the 21st century.

Assuming we are past the worst of the COVID-19, what happens to our downtowns? Before the pandemic, people were rediscovering the traditional New England town center. You can stop in a few different shops, maybe pick something up for dinner at a local fish market or bakery, and enjoy the building and people. Once COVID hit, people were reluctant to leave their houses, let along go downtown. Some experts, citing research that suggests people like working remotely and don’t want to return to work in an office, suggest that downtowns may be dead. Other suggest that the natural open air character of downtowns means they are well-positioned to adjust to a post-COVID world. This webinar will present the findings of a multi-year research project on this topic.