GREEN STREETS, GREEN JOBS, GREEN TOWNS, (G3) INITIATIVE
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INTRODUCTION The G3 Initiative unites a town's green vision with tools needed to accelerate local greening efforts. The result is greater watershed protection, community livability and new green economic opportunities. Building Green Streets and associated green infrastructure projects marry the important concerns that our Chesapeake Bay towns face: jobs, livability and the environment. By doing so, communities that have felt disconnected and disenfranchised from the larger Chesapeake Bay restoration, now gain better access to restoration resources and are recognized as partners in the Chesapeake Bay clean-up effort. Small to mid-size towns are what this country is built upon. Today, there is a yearning for and a need to return to the community spirit, ingenuity, and community network offered by our small towns and neighborhoods. The communities in the Anacostia watershed share the desire and need to boost their local economies, protect water resources, and preserve their small town community spirit. The Green Streets - Green Jobs initiative will empower these communities to stimulate their local green jobs market, protect the environment and enhance their community. It will help enable families to live, work, and play in the same community. Launching the Green Streets – Green Jobs Initiative is a key component of the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order including developing the Pilot Green Streets-Green Jobs Academy. The Green Streets – Green Jobs Academy represents a „virtual resource? and a collaborative network of stewards, practitioners and sponsors, offering community leaders and local stakeholders easy access to technical, planning, policy, funding and job creation opportunities related to the creation of green streets and green jobs. The Chesapeake Bay Executive Order commits to holding the first regional Green Streets-Green Jobs training forum in Anacostia in 2011 and three additional training workshops throughout the watershed in 2011-2103. EPA will work with up to 10 community demonstrations per year for the next three to five years to create Green Streets-Green Jobs plans and designs that support local and Chesapeake Bay water quality and watershed protection plans. These demonstrations will combine integrated, watershed scale planning, context sensitive site design, and construction of sustainable best management practices to enhance each community's sense of place, protect water resources, and grow green economy. We anticipate that community green plans will include a range of sustainable practices (diagram 1.0) such as; enhancing tree canopy along streets and sidewalks by planting native trees, installing energy efficient lighting, and powering those lights with clean energy. Stormwater management features will be integrated into the designs of streetscapes, roads, walkways and bikeways. Other green practices throughout the community will capture, treat and absorb water where it falls. (i.e. rain gardens, rain barrels, and permeable concrete). These efforts combine to create a corridor of green towns protecting the Anacostia watershed, restoring communities, and strengthening sense of place!
1.0 Diagram of practices used in the planning, design and development of a green street
The G3 Forum launches a public-private initiative, Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns, within the Chesapeake Bay and Anacostia watersheds. Restoring the Chesapeake Bay is critical to protecting our nation?s waters as exemplified by the President?s Executive Order on the Chesapeake Bay. The Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns (G3) Initiative is a designated key element of EPA?s Action Strategy to „get boots on the ground?, and significantly reduce pollution to rivers within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Forum brings together small to mid-sized towns from across the Anacostia Watershed and Chesapeake Bay . The Forum will be held on April 29-30, 2011 in Silver Spring, MD. Experts in policy, planning, design and financing will be on hand to help equip community and municipal leaders with the knowledge and technical considerations that will inspire the construction of Green Streets along the Anacostia River corridor and beyond. The G3 Forum sets the stage for EPA?s Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns Academy, a „virtual resource?, and a collaborative network of stewards, practitioners and sponsors, offering community leaders and local stakeholders easy access to technical, planning, policy, funding and job creation opportunities related to the creation of green streets and green jobs. An associated Green Street Project registry will provide a mechanism for project proponents to seek partnerships and mentor other communities.
As the first official project, the Green Streets-Green Jobs Academy worked with the Town of Bladensburg, MD to hold a design charrette on October 25, 2010 which
The purpose of the G3 Academy, comprised of technical, financial, planning and design assistance providers, is to bring the information and technology to the local town in a meaningful way. By tapping into the Academy, local governments and communities protect environmental resources by implementing best management practices and create new green jobs through these greening projects.
The registry will allow project proposers to identify project goals and needs. EPA, in partnership with the Green Street Academy will review and fund eligible projects through a variety of sources, as appropriate. We will target 10 pilot projects per year under this collaborative effort within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Other registered Green Streets-Green Jobs proposals will be shared with major funding organizations to expand the number and geographic extent of implementing on-the-ground best management practices. Dominique Lueckenhoff,
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