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Jaime Jennings, 202-232-7933 x44/ jjennings@islandpress.org Katharine Sucher, 202-232-7933 x43 ksucher@islandpress.org

PRESS RELEASE

STRATEGIC GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING A Multi-scale Approach

By Karen Firehock

Washington, DC (September 30, 2015) —In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, it is painfully clear that man-made gray infrastructure alone falls short of our long-term needs in terms of safety, resilience, and cost. As a result, green infrastructure – using natural features such as protective dunes and wetlands to make communities more resilient—is in demand.

But how can green infrastructure projects be better designed and implemented considering the complicated financial and political contexts in which they exist?

This is the question tackled by experienced practitioner Karen Firehock in Strategic Green Infrastructure Planning: A Multi-scale Approach (Publication Date: September 30, 2015).

Firehock brings together experience completing projects and making them successful, offering a detailed yet accessible guide to locating, enhancing or restoring green infrastructure that works to create livable, more resilient communities.

The book presents a six-step process developed and field-tested by the Green Infrastructure Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, which Firehock leads. Well-organized chapters explain how each step, from setting goals to implementing opportunities, can be applied to a variety of scenarios and locations. Diverse case studies, from the arid open spaces of the Sonoran Desert to the streets of Jersey City, make each step of the process come to life.

Strategic Green Infrastructure Planning offers a comprehensive yet flexible approach to conceiving, refining, and implementing successful projects that bring nature back where it has been depleted or protect it where it may be at risk. The book will be a valuable resource ISLAND PRESS | PRESS RELEASE | 1

for planners, developers, conservationists, and others interested in taking a green infrastructure approach to creating more resilient communities.

Karen Firehock is director and co-founder of the Green Infrastructure Center. She has more than twenty-five years of experience in planning and natural resources management, and is an adjunct lecturer in green infrastructure planning at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. She has won multiple awards for her planning work, including a Renew America Award for the Nation’s Best Water Protection Program, a National River Greenways Award, and State Conservationist of the Year award.

Strategic Green Infrastructure Planning

By Karen Firehock Paperback and E-book Publication Date: September 30, 2015 160 pages | Price: $45.00 ISBN: 978-1-61091-692-9 http://islandpress.org/strategic-green-infrastructure-planning Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 800 titles in print and some 40 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. But Island Press does more than publish books. It advances environmental science by nurturing the exchange of ideas across disciplines and sectors, and by helping to create a multidisciplinary literature on environmental problems and solutions. The knowledge created is spread far beyond the range of a limited marketplace through sophisticated communications initiatives that reach journalists, academics, policymakers, practitioners and the general public. Through these efforts, Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice.

Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information and further updates be sure to visit www.islandpress.org. ###

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