Name: Green Infrastructure
Author: David Rouse

Course Info

9 video lessons (56 Mins)
Published
2024
Trending
4.31

Preview Course

Browse Course Chapters

1.

1 min
2.

Introduction

3 mins
3.

1 min
4.

Infrastructure Definitions and Examples

5 mins
5.

Green Infrastructure in Philadelphia Case Study

11 mins
6.

Valuing and Financing Green Infrastructure

12 mins
7.

Green Infrastructure and Climate Change

5 mins
8.

Green Infrastructure and Equity

7 mins
9.

Green Infrastructure and Technology

11 mins

What You Will Learn

Understand definitions of green infrastructure across different scales of concern Articulate co-benefits provided by green infrastructure Learn about examples of green infrastructure applications by local jurisdictions Learn how to monetize green infrastructure value through different funding and financing mechanisms Explore the relationship of green infrastructure to critical 21st century issues

Course Description

While green infrastructure is a widely used term with a variety of meanings, two definitions are most common. The first definition, which dates back to the 1990s, is a strategically planned network of natural areas, parks, and other green spaces with conservation value. The second definition, developed more recently by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, uses soils, vegetation, and other natural systems to infiltrate, evaporate, and/or recycle stormwater runoff (i.e., green stormwater infrastructure). Together, these two definitions form a continuum across scales, from site to neighborhood, city, region, and beyond, unified by the environmental, economic, and social co-benefits provided for people and ecosystems. Increasingly, green infrastructure solutions are being deployed by governmental agencies and their partners to address big challenges like climate change, public health, and equity. This course begins by defining green infrastructure, providing examples of different types of green infrastructure at different scales of concern, and identifying co-benefits provided. Philadelphia’s green infrastructure program is presented as a case study that integrates a citywide green infrastructure network with green stormwater infrastructure to address CSO impacts. The course then addresses the monetary valuation of co-benefits and financing mechanisms to leverage the value provided, and concludes by exploring the role green infrastructure can play in addressing climate change, equity, and technological change.