Online Webcast

This webinar aims to link the importance of the planning process with the financing options needed for implementation. The webinar will provide an overview of planning processes by two Federal Agencies (HUD and DOT) with examples of creative financing tools offered by government to help communities develop large-scale, front-end investments in climate resilient infrastructure. Representatives from the federal agencies (HUD, DOT) will provide an overview of an example of financing resources that enable large-scale climate resilient infrastructure projects.

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.

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.

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.

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?

This session will educate participants on the causes of urban flooding, how urban flooding differs from river and coastal flooding, and how climate change is driving more frequent and dangerous urban flooding disasters. Participants will gain knowledge of how the decisions we make as planners can exacerbate the problem or help to improve outcomes.

Did you know that local sign ordinances can advance or deter the idea of social equity in your community? For example, in Brooklyn, NY, "Old School" large lettering and repetition generates a sense of inclusivity and openness, while brevity, wordplay and other linguistic elements of gentrifying "New School" signage signal exclusion. The authors of What the Signs Say will analyze two critically different types of local retail signage to help planners and local officials examine how sign regulations may contribute to inequity and exclusions. This session will incorporate ethnographic observation, interviews and storefront texts from Brooklyn, New York, to discover signage models and methods that ensure equity, diversity and inclusion.