Green Infrastructure Trainees Put Principles into Practice

The Takeaway: Course graduates are given the skills to help lessen flooding and improve water quality in their communities.

Several graduates of the NOAA Office for Coastal Management training, “Introducing Green Infrastructure for Coastal Resilience,” say their newfound skills are improving resilience in their own backyards:

• An Oregon official is pushing for green (or natural) infrastructure methods to make low-lying coastal highways more hazard resilient.
• A Delaware nonprofit leader’s extra plantings and landscape designs are boosting water quality and lessening stormwater on the organization’s extensive properties, and the nonprofit is stepping up its education and outreach efforts.
• A waterfront nonprofit leader, also in Oregon, used her knowledge to advocate for plantings along a dike and marsh, making a city boardwalk more climate-resilient.

Participants in this course recently surged by more than 30 percent—from 255 in fiscal year 2015 to 340 in fiscal year 2016. It is part of the Digital Coast Academy, which offers instructor-led and online courses. A recent survey of academy participants showed that 96 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I gained knowledge and skills that I will apply in my job.” (2017)

More Information: Introducing Green Infrastructure for Coastal Resilience