New Partnerships & Courses Piloted in 2010

In 2010, the Conservation Leadership Network developed and offered two new pilot courses: Conservation Banking, a course for regulators, users, and bankers; and a course entitled Planning for Climate Change Using a Green Infrastructure Approach. Our Conservation Banking course was piloted in July 2010 in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marine Corps, the Federal Highway Administration, USDA Office of Ecosystem Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Mitigation Bankers Association – an unprecedented convening of interest coming together to facilitate conservation banking! Regulators, users, and bankers alike attended the pilot offering – “learning together today in order to practice together tomorrow.” Due to the success of this pilot, a second national offering is planned for May 16-20, 2011, along with a regional offering in the Pacific Northwest! The Climate Change course, offered in April 2010 provided instruction on how to use the Green Infrastructure approach to plan, adapt, and mitigate for the effects of climate change in coastal communities. While the pilot offering focused on the Chesapeake Bay, the course looked at impacts beyond storm surge to include rising temperatures and increased precipitation and was offered in conjunction with NOAA, National Geographic, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Northern Virginia Planning District Commission along with several other partners. This curriculum can now be customized for any geography! With both of these courses, we welcomed new partners! Additionally, we were invited this year by the European Union Commission to present on Green Infrastructure applications in the U.S. We plan to continue this new partnership by inviting representatives from the EU to present at the upcoming Green Infrastructure conference.