Start Date
05/13/2024
End Date
05/12/2025
Description
There are many studies and talks about the benefits of green infrastructures (GIs). Interestingly, most of the audiences/readers are the believers. They are more of “preaching to the choir.” But, at the same time, a significant percentage of the population does not (or does not want to) believe. This percentage seems higher among law/budget makers, both elected and professional. The proof is in how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the limited and unbalanced access to GIs. In addition, while the usage of parks, trails and natural spaces surged, there were a large number of budget cuts, layoffs, hire freezes, furloughs, or program reductions in parks and urban/community forestry since March 2020.
This raises the question: How do we reach these non-believers?
First off, it is hard to ask for more funding in a normal budget year, let alone during a time with budget deficits. So, how can you preserve or expand your urban forestry program? By talking about the benefits? Definitely! But that is not enough. If you can directly connect the benefits with governmental budget line items, you will have a better chance.
Sign up for this educational webinar as the speakers provide tools/resources to green industry leaders on how to persuade your budget makers. Instead of endlessly talking about the big-picture benefits and economics of GI that seem non-related/non-essential to some law/budget makers, this talk gets directly to the thing they care about most: tax dollars!
This course will enable you to position GIs as two-fold solutions by discussing how they save money AND how they generate more tax revenue. Both are directly connected to the line items in a government budget and, if you can assign the benefits of green space with dollar amounts, you can keep your political leaders from falling asleep!
Distance Learning
Yes
Course Equivalency
No
Subjects
Housing & Community Design
Urban Planning & Design
Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Hours
1.0
Learning Outcomes
Learn the benefits of green infrastructure: air quality, water quality, stormwater retention and detention, energy savings, aesthetics, health, and more
Explore the number of ways that green infrastructure can save taxpayer money, from personal-level safety to billion-dollar price tags
Discover the number of ways that green infrastructure can help increase tax revenue (e.g., property value increase directly correlates to property tax increase)
Instructors
Gordon Mann, Dan Whitehead, Wei Zhang
Course Codes
Provider
Zynnovation LLC