2022 - 2025
Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub
The Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub (MATCH) was established to build connections across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania, targeting communities disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change due to historic disenfranchisement, coupled with proximity to environmental hazards and underlying social, economic and geographic vulnerabilities. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, MATCH was led by the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH).
2024 (November)
Landscape Architecture: Maximizing the Economic Benefits of Nature-based Solutions Through Design
The University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center developed a brief to help translate the benefit values (monetary) of landscape architects’ work on nature-based solutions. The brief offers an overview of nature-based economic benefits in five key areas: health and livability, expanded investment and sustainable jobs, increased biodiversity, carbon sequestration and improved resilience. A supplementary analysis offers lessons from 175 case studies in the U.S. Five key takeaways from the EFC brief include:
2019 - 2022
Getting the MOST for Maryland Black Mayors
EFC, in partnership with Maryland Black Mayors, Inc. (MBM) created a training program to educate and better connect MBM elected officials and staff with stormwater management solutions. The training program includes in-person workshops, MOST Center online courses, facilitated peer-to-peer discussion forums, and matchmaking with local watershed groups and technical service providers.
2019 - 2020
Financing Urban Tree Canopy Programs
EFC partnered with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to develop Financing Urban Tree Canopy Programs: Guidebook for Local Governments in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This resource is the result of a year-long collaboration between EFC and the Alliance, along with additional partners including the USDA Forest Service, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), and the Chesapeake Bay Program Forestry Workgroup. It draws on input from representatives of local and state government from every jurisdiction in the Bay Watershed.
2023 - 2025
Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ TCTAC)
What is the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers Program (EJ TCTAC)?
2021 - 2022
Emmitsburg Phase I Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study
The Environmental Finance Center assisted the Town of Emmitsburg, MD in developing a sufficient, sustained, and equitable financing strategy for stormwater management.The Town is required to comply with a Phase II National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for discharges from small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4). As a result of evaluating potential future budget solutions, the Town is considering a stormwater utility as a viable alternative to funding its stormwater management program services.
2020 - 2024
Nature in Urban Planning for Better Human Health
Urban planning, public health, and nature are intricately connected. Studies show that exposure to natural environments can reduce stress, improve mental health, increase social cohesion, and promote physical activity – all of which can attribute to positive health outcomes. Understanding the specific elements of nature experiences and their health benefits is crucial for tailoring urban planning efforts to meet community and public health goals.
2022 (February)
Mispillion and Cedar Creek Natural Resource Evaluation and Management Plan
The Mispillion River and Cedar Creeks drain to the Delaware Bay in Kent and Sussex County Delaware. The vast marshes connecting them are part of an international flyway for migrating birds and a horseshoe crab sanctuary, which brings tourist dollars to the area and secures land value for residents. In addition, the marshes act as a “coastal stronghold” for managing the effects of sea level rise, including reducing property damage from flooding. Together, these resources produce multiple benefits to the state of Delaware, and the towns of Milford and Slaughter Beach.
2021 (June)
Ecotourism and Resilience Investment Strategy for the Mispillion and Cedar Creek Watersheds Kent and Sussex Counties, Delaware
The state of Delaware is in the midst of explosive population growth and development at a time when it faces increasing risks of flooding from sea level rise and climate change. A coalition of partner organizations called the Waterways Infrastructure and Investment Network (WIIN) recognized that natural infrastructure (in the form of wetlands, rivers, creeks, open space, and bay beaches) provide a multitude of benefits that can mitigate some of the impacts of climate change while contributing to biodiversity, community way of life, and the economic health of the region.
2024
Economic Benefits of Nature Based Solutions and Landscape Architecture
The American Society of Landscape Architecture (ASLA) believes that landscape architects maximize the benefits of nature-based solutions through design. Nature-based solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss are more than mangroves, forests, and grasslands. Using landscape architecture strategies, they can be woven into places where people live. They take the form of parks, recreation areas, streets, coastal infrastructure, and more. Through inclusive design, they can provide even greater benefits to people and support the healthy urban ecosystems people rely on.