Monday Mailing Quote of the Week: Always remember that the future comes one day at a time. ~Dean Acheson Oregon Fast Fact: The John Day River has more miles of scenic waterway than any river in the United States. The river's total length is 281 miles.
Year 22 • Issue 07 02 November 2015 1. EPA Report Covers Stormwater Management Practices for Vacant Lots and Brownfields 2. How Green are Oregon’s Forest Management Practices? 3. The Power of Introverts – TED Talk 4. Economic Impact – Tools and Templates 5. Creating a New Green Space Model for Tomorrow’s Cities 6. Mobilizing Community Partnerships in Rural Communities: Strategies and Techniques 7. New NACo Report: Digital Coast: Tools to Promote County Resilience 8. Recording Available: NCI Charrettes + Design Thinking for Strategic Planning and Policy Work 9. Six Ways To Stay Motivated When You Really Want To Quit 10. November Local Focus Now Online 11. It’s Time To Fix The Broken Food System 1. EPA Report Covers Stormwater Management Practices for Vacant Lots and Brownfields This EPA report presents information to assist communities, developers, and other stakeholders in determining the appropriateness of implementing stormwater management practices that promote infiltration at vacant parcels and brownfield sites. The new guide walks decision-makers through a series of questions to determine whether infiltration or other stormwater management approaches are appropriate for a specific brownfield property. Strategies for reducing or eliminating these risks can include removing contaminated soil or waste materials, treating soils on site, placing a cap or barrier over contaminated areas, bioremediation, or monitored natural attenuation. To access the full report, click here. 2. How Green are Oregon’s Forest Management Practices? “Come out to Rockaway Beach and walk into Jetty Creek and you’ll feel that sense of outrage,” says Kate Taylor who lives in this small northern Oregon coastal town where she and her boyfriend run a fishing and travel guide business. Shortly after they’d settled into their new home there, the couple received a notice saying their water didn’t meet US Environmental Protection Agency water quality standards. Why? Because its source, the Jetty Creek watershed – water that runs off the steep forest slopes above the town – has been 80 percent clearcut and repeatedly sprayed with herbicides. The water requires extensive treatment and that has resulted in toxic levels of decontamination byproduct To access the full story, click here.
Page 1 of 4
3. The Power of Introverts – TED Talk In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated. To access this TED talk, click here. 4. Economic Impact – Tools and Templates Each year the National Center develops new applications of the impact model to policy relevant issues. These applications can be modified to fit other states regardless of geographical or demographical differences and serve as tools for community and state leaders facing rural health related challenges. The model can be applied at the state, regional, county, or zip code level. For more information, click here 5. Creating a New Green Space Model for Tomorrow’s Cities When you think of urban planning and design, the U.S. Forest Service likely isn’t the first federal agency that comes to mind. But with upwards of 70 percent of the world’s population projected to live in cities by 2050, the Forest Service is not only paying attention to urban ecosystems, they’re hoping to help shape urban design and planning around them. Published earlier this month, The Baltimore School of Urban Ecology is a step in that direction. The book argues that rather than see cities as an entity separate from the natural world as humans essentially have since cities were invented, we should look at cities as an integrated part of nature and design them as such. The book was written by Forest Service scientist Morgan Grove, who drew on 20 years of research in Baltimore. Mary L. Cadenasso of the University of California, Davis; Steward T.A. Pickett, of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Gary E. Machlis of Clemson University; and William R. Burch Jr. of Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies co-authored the book. To access the full story, click here. 6. Mobilizing Community Partnerships in Rural Communities: Strategies and Techniques This Report describes how rural communities can develop and maintain organizational and community partnerships with local health departments, community health centers, healthcare organizations, offices of rural health, hospitals, and non-profit organizations. To access the report, click here. 7. New NACo Report: Digital Coast: Tools to Promote County Resilience The National Association of Counties’ new report, Digital Coast: Tools to Promote County Resilience, provides an overview of Digital Coast, a suite of tools that can be used to analyze and communicate about coastal natural resource management issues. Digital Coast, developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, offers powerful tools to assist users in accessing data on coastal vulnerability, simulating projections of impacts, creating visualizations of potential future scenarios, and more. The report goes in-depth on specific Digital Coast tools that address needs related to natural resource management and habitat restoration, land use and planning, and outreach and communication. It closes with an exploration of emerging trends and public policy initiatives in coastal communities and next steps for counties interested in putting Digital Coast tools into action. To access the report, click here. Page 2 of 4
8. Recording Available: NCI Charrettes + Design Thinking for Strategic Planning and Policy Work Originally presented on October 21st, in this 30-minute webinar, Bill Lennertz, NCI Executive Director, shows how NCI is combining the accelerated collaborative charrette workshop process with design thinking ideation exercises to tackle "non-physical" design problems. NCI charrettes typically achieve collaboration by design through the use of architectural and urban design drawing. But how do you achieve the power of collaboration when the problem doesn't lend itself to drawing? How do you get beyond flip-chart brainstorming to more creative exercises? This webinar will show how NCI is engaging stakeholders in strategic planning projects using design thinking exercises that achieve innovative solutions. Key Learnings: • The connection between NCI Charrette System™ and Design Thinking • How to leverage the power of NCI Charrettes and Design Thinking to solve strategic planning and policy issues To access this recording, click here. 9. Six Ways To Stay Motivated When You Really Want To Quit We all hit a wall—a place where we feel like quitting because things get difficult or boring—but quitting isn’t always the right answer. Instead, you have to find internal motivation to keep going when you really want to bail, and that can come down to understanding kinematics, the relative distance between two bodies, says Stanford University Professor Bernard Roth, author of The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life. "If you quit, your new situation will most likely be similar to the one you left behind," he says. "All you change is physical difference. If you think you belong, change the circumstances of your employment by changing how you hold it all." To access the full story, click here. 10. November Local Focus Now Online The Current edition of Local Focus, the League of Oregon Cities Monthly Magazine, is now available online. This month’s cover story: “Social Media & Your City”. Also included in this issue is a recap of the LOC Conference in Bend. To access the current edition of Local Focus, click here. 11. It’s Time To Fix The Broken Food System This week, the countries of the United Nations will sign the most important document they have ever produced. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an unprecedented roadmap for world development that may just transform our future. New York is crowded with people with the best intentions. Hopes are high. The Goals’ predecessors, the MDGs (signed in 2000) halved the number of those in extreme poverty, dramatically reduced the child mortality rate and increased access to clean drinking water to over 90% of the global population. Bill Gates called the goals “the best idea for focusing the world on fighting global poverty that I’ve ever seen.”
Page 3 of 4
So we are looking at a momentous opportunity — but also a huge risk. That risk is that despite the good intentions, the endless discussions, break-out meetings and high-level panels, policymakers will overlook the silver bullet that runs through everything they want to achieve. To access the full story, click here.
Page 4 of 4