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Managing the Environmental Impacts of Growth Under Climate Change: A Workshop for State and Local Decision-Makers--Workshop Summary
Citation:
n/a, n. Managing the Environmental Impacts of Growth Under Climate Change: A Workshop for State and Local Decision-Makers--Workshop Summary. US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
This is the summary report from the "Managing the Environmental Impacts of Growth Under Climate Change" workshop, organized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development and held November 8-9, 2011 in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Description:
From November 8/9, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted a workshop titled "Managing the Environmental Impacts of Growth Under Climate Change." The Office of Research and Development (ORD) organized the meeting, which was held in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The goal of the workshop was to assess the challenges, ongoing ventures, and prevalence of climate change-based planning across infrastructure sectors. The members of the planning community attending the meeting comprised local planners, state-level planners, private contractors, international development representatives, academics, and federal employees.Through presentations and a panel session, followed by multiple breakout discussions, the workshop participants identified key aspects of integrated planning with an eye toward climate change. Progressive communities around the United States are engaging in new planning projects that consider aspects of both climate adaptation and mitigation, particularly focusing on water?energy and water?transportation interactions. The major challenges to instituting these projects are primarily institutional in nature. Among these challenges, participants frequently identified the following barriers: difficult communication between infrastructure sectors, staff time limitations, real or perceived costs, resistant decision-makers, and entrenched development processes. However, the elements that participants said they need most did not correlate directly to these barriers. Although suggestions varied greatly, attendees generally voiced more support for scenario development tools, codified project metrics, case study examples as guidance, and regional coordinated efforts, perhaps taking the shape as regional authorities.This workshop summary is organized based on the sequence of meeting events. Presentation content, discussions, and other aspects of the meeting were captured through onsite notetaking. Appendix A contains an attendee list for reference. A meeting agenda and Day 2 guiding documentation for attendees are provided in Appendix B. All written meeting notes, including easel notes and shared Post-ItTM notes, are transcribed in Appendix C for the record. In addition, a background whitepaper developed in advance of the workshop can be found in Appendix D. The whitepaper provides an overview of the state of integrated infrastructure planning (IIP) in the United States. It profiles relevant case studies, key players, and existing gaps or barriers. Workshop presentations are provided for download by FTP site; information on how to access materials is provided to workshop attendees through direct communication.