1st Announcement of the 2014 Green Infrastructure Conference

 

Green Infrastructure and Water Management

in Growing Metropolitan Areas

14 – 16 January 2014

Patel College of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida

Tampa, Florida, U.S. A.

Call for Abstracts

 

Green infrastructure can be an effective and efficient means of managing stormwater flows and pollutant loading. Beyond these core functions, green infrastructure offers multiple ecosystem services and health and well-being benefits– offering a significant advantage over conventional gray infrastructure . Despite these noted benefits, municipal leaders face significant challenges when attempting to implement green infrastructure strategies in new and existing development.

 

Green Infrastructure in Growing Metropolitan Areas will address the challenges and opportunities surrounding green infrastructure. The event will bring together scientists, engineers, urban planners, and urban natural resource managers to highlight the latest developments in the science behind of green infrastructure, illustrate new and innovative policy, demonstrate innovative engineering techniques, and outline emerging urban design models useful in protecting the water resources within the world’s growing metropolitan regions.

 

Practitioners and researchers from across the full range of engineering, urban and landscape design, natural resource management and social science disciplines are invited to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations. The abstracts should cover one out of the four conference topics:

 

1. Defining the Benefits of Green Infrastructure: Theme will focus on scientific foundation of the use of green infrastructure in managing urban water, including surface water and ground water recharge, as well as identify the gaps in our present knowledge.

 

2. Barriers to Green Infrastructure Implementation: Theme will focus on scientific inquiry and cost-benefit analysis that address the perception that performance is unknown, concerns about regulatory agency acceptance of green infrastructure, maintenance requirements and costs, conflicting legal mandates, and the lack of staff expertise.

 

3. Funding Green Infrastructure Design, Implementation and Maintenance: Theme will focus on investigations into the true economic costs and benefits of transforming a municipal gray infrastructure system into a mixed gray-green system and the implementation costs, as well as long-term maintenance costs of green infrastructure.

 

4. Implementation Strategies for Governments, Communities and Developers: Theme will address the organization and implementation of public policy, including land planning regulation and green infrastructure site development procedures.

 

Submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the Green Infrastructure in Growing Metropolitan Areas scientific committee. The authors of the accepted abstract will be notified by October 15, 2013. The authors must confirm their attendance by registering for the conference by December 15, 2013. The accepted and confirmed abstracts will be published in the conference proceedings of the "Green Infrastructure and Water Management in Growing Metropolitan Regions Conference". After the conference, selected abstracts will be invited to contribute a full-paper to a special edition of a journal.

 

Conference Organizers: University of South Florida’s Patel College of Global Sustainability and the University of Florida IFAS with financial support from the U.S. Forest Service.

 

Abstract Submittal: Download abstract template and submit abstract Here or go to http://usfweb3.usf.edu/PGS/abstractform.aspx

 

Important Dates:

September 15, 2013 Deadline to Submit Abstracts

October 15, 2013 Notification of Abstract Acceptance

December 15, 2013 Deadline for Early Registration

January 6, 2014 Deadline for Registration

 

Registration & Logistics: Click conference website or go to http://patel.usf.edu/patel-center/2014-green-infrastructure-conference/ (contact skoures@usf.edu if you have trouble viewing website)

 

Contact: For questions and conference details please contact Bessie Skoures at skoures@usf.edu

 

 

 

Rob Northrop
Extension Forester

Urban and Community Forestry
University of Florida/ Hillsborough Co. Extension
5339 County Road 579
Seffner, Florida  33584

813-744-5519 x54106

 

Value the Individual - Enrich the Community - Restore the Forest

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