Parks have the potential to protect their cities. Through green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), parks can become active defenses against flooding while also enhancing biodiversity, reducing urban heat, improving public health, and creating new green amenities.
As the largest natural spaces in cities, parks hold great potential for GSI but often go underutilized due to various challenges.
Join us to explore how cities like Boston, MA, and Tucson, AZ are bringing GSI to life in their parks through partnerships between parks and water agencies. Discover these real-world examples for collaboration on capital projects, community engagement, planning, and maintenance. Plus, learn about brand new resources from City Parks Alliance to help you make the case for implementing GSI into your city’s parks – a win-win for urban resilience.
SPEAKERS
Blue Baldwin
Storm to Shade Program Manager
Tucson Water, City of Tucson
Blue Baldwin manages the Storm to Shade Program at the City of Tucson, which builds and maintains green stormwater infrastructure on public property throughout the city with a focus on equity and investment in historically underserved areas. Prior to that, she coordinated an academically integrated garden and ecology program in Arizona’s second largest school district.
Greg Jackson
Deputy Director
Tucson Parks and Recreation, City of Tucson
Greg Jackson is the Deputy Director of capital projects for the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department and moved into this position to oversee implementation of proposition 407, a $225M parks and connections bond. He has over 25 years of parks and recreation experience, primarily working in large urban park systems in Florida and North Carolina.
Kate England
Director
Office of Green Infrastructure, City of Boston
Kate England, GIP, ENV SP, is the Director of Green Infrastructure for the City of Boston. She has a background in engineering, landscape architecture, planning and policy and has worked in the public sector in and around Boston for most of her career. Kate was appointed by Mayor Wu in July 2022 to facilitate widespread implementation of green infrastructure (GI) and help pursue the resilience goals outlined in Boston’s Green New Deal.
MODERATORS
Rachel Bennett
Director of Health Equity
MIG
Rachel Bennett is the Director of Health Equity at MIG, where she leads projects at the intersection of public health, environmental justice, and city planning. She co-facilitates the Parks and Green Stormwater Infrastructure Initiative and previously managed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “People, Parks, and Power” national funding initiative to advance park equity.
Gideon Berger
Program Director
City Parks Alliance
Gideon Berger is an urban planner with more than 18 years of multi-sector experience using an interdisciplinary approach to help cities achieve their community development goals. As program director for the City Parks Alliance, Gideon oversees and provides comprehensive strategic direction as a convener, connector, and curator of leading-edge information to position parks for 21st-century urban needs.
Support is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.
Continuing education credits are available for this event:
- General CEUs
- LA CES
- AICP
