News

Great Lakes Commission announces awards for green infrastructure projects in five Great Lakes communities

Nov 7, 2019 | News and Announcements

Green Infrastructure Champions program to provide knowledge and expertise for expanded green infrastructure investment

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) announced grant awards to five Great Lakes communities to promote green infrastructure under the Great Lakes Green Infrastructure (GI) Champions Program. The program is designed to provide capacity-building resources to create opportunities for green infrastructure investment.

Grants totaling $60,000 have been awarded to the following recipients:

  • The City of Green Bay, WI – $15,000 to evaluate the city’s codes, ordinances, and policies to identify opportunities to install to green infrastructure.
  • The Southern Tier Central Regional Planning & Development Board, NY – $8,000 to develop design standards for managing runoff on steep slopes.
  • The Town of Lincoln, ON – $15,000 to develop a low-impact/green infrastructure design standard and launch a Community Improvement Plan that will expand green infrastructure on residential and private property.
  • Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, MI –$15,000 to host a series of educational workshops in Cheboygan, Michigan, to help identify green infrastructure opportunities in the city. This will include the installation of a project demonstrating green infrastructure best practices.
  • Red Squirrel Conservation Services, ON – $7,000 to develop guidance for green infrastructure on private property and ordinance upgrades to enable increased green infrastructure investment in Kingston, Ontario.

“Addressing the stormwater management and investment opportunities across the Great Lakes Basin is critically important,” said Sharon M. Jackson, chair of the Great Lakes Commission. “The Green Infrastructure Champions Program allows communities around the region to learn from the broader green infrastructure community to identify and implement green infrastructure solutions that work for them.”

Alec Ross, executive director of Red Squirrel Conservation Services, says the grants help to address institutional barriers to provide lasting impact on green infrastructure capacity. 

“Our project, like others in the program, is somewhat unconventional in this space because it’s taking a detailed look at the institutional barriers that exist in our municipal ordinances,” said Ross. “We’re grateful that the Great Lakes Commission and the GI Champions Program has given us this opportunity to identify long-term opportunities for lasting success in green infrastructure implementation.”

In addition to the small grants, the Green Infrastructure Champions Program also includes a mentoring network that is available to all Great Lakes communities—not just grant recipients. The mentoring network pairs emerging champions who have less green infrastructure experience with mentors that have demonstrated success in implementing green infrastructure.

To learn more about the GI Champions Program’s work to support green infrastructure in the region, explore this interactive story map or check out detailed event recaps here.

The Green Infrastructure Champions Program is supported with funding from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.

For more information, contact Reilly Manz, acting communications coordinator, at [email protected].


The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Sharon M. Jackson, Deputy General Counsel for Governor Eric J. Holcomb of Indiana, is an interstate compact agency established under the Great Lakes Basin Compact of 1955. The Commission is authorized by state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin and its residents. The Commission consists of governors’ appointees, state legislators, industry and nonprofit leaders and agency officials from eight states and two provinces. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission office is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org.

Contact

For media inquiries, please contact Beth Wanamaker, [email protected].

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