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On Tuesday, October 11th, top environmental experts ranging from leaders in academia, policy, green infrastructure, and community-based organizations held a policy forum at the Buffalo History Museum, the focus of the discussion focused on green infrastructure in the Buffalo-Niagara Region.  The forum was held in a two-panel discussion, both with an equal mix of interests and expertise, and was preceded by a background paper, written by Smitha Gopalakrishnan, PhD scholar, Urban Planning Department at University of Buffalo.  The questions were geared towards developing a deeper understanding on what the role of green infrastructure will play in the sustainable economic growth, and improving the water quality in Western New York.

The Great Lakes Region, more specifically Erie County and the Buffalo-Niagara Region have been suffering from the impacts of stormwater overflows, taking a toll on several communities throughout area.  This panel aids in developing a deeper understanding of recognizing the strides made by the Buffalo-Niagara Region to date, but stresses the importance, and need for a further policy push to help incentivize the implementation of green infrastructure, which is something New York State has yet to adopt unlike the other Great Lakes areas impacted by similar issues.

The first panel, moderated by Lynda Schneekloth, Professor Emeritus at the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, included experts and professionals from: the Buffalo Sewer Authority, PUSH Buffalo, the Army Corps of Engineers, Wendel, and the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning.  The panelists answered the series of questions in a discussion on their innovative green infrastructure work being done respective to their affiliation.  Further discussed was the importance of overall collaboration, and how the City of Buffalo serves as a continued leader in addressing the issues of improving their water quality and maximizing their economic growth.  To tie up the panel, the future of the projects were addressed by linking in the key challenges that are expected; the largest being the need for maintenance funding as well as civic engagement to bring the general public into the conversation, stressing the reasoning for the investment of public funds into green infrastructure projects.

The second panel, moderated by Carley Hill, Safety Director and Environmental Officer, Union Concrete and NYLCV Education Fund Board Member, included experts and professionals from: Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, Go Bike Buffalo, the UB Regional Institute; as well as the Mayor of Williamsville, Brian Kulpa. The focus of this conversation shifted in the large scale picture of green infrastructure will look like, and play, in the future of watershed management and other regional planning efforts.  Specific projects were highlighted, such as the Niagara Street Gateway.  Panelists also stressed the importance of leadership from policymakers and continued public engagement – an overarching theme throughout the entire day – as one of the most significant steps towards enabling the region in maximizing benefits of One Region Forward.

The policy forum was informative for all members in the audience, as well as other panelists, towards understanding how to build a greener, healthier, and more sustainable Western New York.  It also laid the groundwork to continue the conversation in Albany, at the NYLCVEF’s next Policy Forum.

Our policy recommendations stemming from the discussion are available here.

The forum was hosted by the Buffalo History Museum, generously sponsored by Roux Associates and Union Concrete, and featured by WBFO Buffalo.

New York City has made ambitious commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 and to build or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing in ten years. Buildings account for roughly 70 percent of our emissions but affordable housing building owners and developers face a number of obstacles and policy challenges to making their buildings more sustainable.

In 2014-15, NYLCVEF conducted a civic engagement campaign in partnership with the Community League of the Heights (CLOTH), a local community development corporation (CDC) in Washington Heights. The campaign raised support for city funding to support the green preservation of affordable housing. In 2015, through continued conversation with CLOTH’s leadership and our other local partners, we identified a need for further education and engagement with various stakeholders on the issue. In partnership with Enterprise Community Partners and NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, we decided to convene a forum on the many issues related to CLOTH’s important work and affordable housing through New York City.

On February 3rd, the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Enterprise Community Partners and NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service co-hosted a policy forum on the Green Preservation of New York City’s Multi-Family Affordable Housing with generous support from Crauderueff and Associates.

Co-sponsored by NYU and Enterprise, and with generous support from Crauderueff and Associates, NYLCVEF hosted a policy forum entitled “Green Preservation of Multi-Family Affordable Housing” on February 3rd. In conversation with moderators Esther Toporovsky of Enterprise Community Partners and David Hepinstall of the Association for Energy Affordability, panelists from city and state agencies, utilities, and housing developers discussed the myriad barriers and opportunities for advancing green preservation of privately owned, publically supported buildings in NYC.

Each panel featured discussion of the complex and interrelated issues that must be considered when implementing sustainability retrofits for multi-family affordable housing, including education, financing, resiliency, and stakeholder collaboration. Panelists then took questions from the audience of students, issue experts, financial sector professionals, and community leaders.

The audience, as well as members of our second panel that primarily featured advocates and affordable housing developers, delivered a resounding consensus on the need for a “one-stop shop” for technical assistance and other retrofitting programs. Agency representatives discussed recent developments with New York City’s Retrofit Accelerator, designed for just such a purpose – and we believe that effective implementation of the Accelerator’s programs remains a key piece of Mayor de Blasio’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Throughout the fall of 2014, NYLCVEF brought together experts from different industries to discuss three big ways New York City can mitigate flooding, improve green space, and reduce waste. Our Dig Deep for a Greener New York policy forum series focused on Green Infrastructure, Funding an Equitable Park System, and Organic Waste and Composting.

On October 9th, we kicked off the series with our forum on Green Infrastructure. Our panelists from a variety of government agencies and nonprofits discussed how the city can manage combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and use green infrastructure to mitigate flooding. New York City’s outdated infrastructure could benefit greatly from expanding green infrastructure and using it as a climate resiliency tool.

Read our background white paper and recommendations for New York City, and check out pictures from the morning.

Our second forum took place on November 6th and focused on Funding an Equitable Park System. In order to provide a fully-funded city park system the city will have to dramatically expand annual operating costs. Where will the money come from? Our panel provided great ideas on different funding streams to make sure every New Yorker has access to a safe and updated park.

Read our background white paper and recommendations for New York City, and check out pictures from the morning.

Our third and final forum focused on Organic Waste and Composting. PlaNYC2030 set out an ambitious goal to divert 75 percent of our solid waste from landfills. With food making up 35 percent of all waste generated in New York City, composting represents a huge opportunity. More than 100 people showed up for this forum, where some new and exciting ideas were presented about how to make composting work in our city. WNYC wrote a great article about the ideas presented by Councilmember Antonio Reynoso, and you can read more in our white paper and recommendations for the City. Don’t forget to check out the packed house on our Facebook page.