If you have not met Melina Scholefield, Engineer and Manager of Green Infrastructure at the City of Vancouver, here’s your chance. Melina is the facilitator for this 12 week online course through Simon Fraser University.
Green infrastructure and related nature-based solutions are gaining widespread support as effective components of healthy city building as well as climate adaptation strategies. The course provides an overview of how GI systems work, the ecosystem services they can provide, and how they can be employed effectively.
The aim of the course is to foster a network of professionals engaged with the challenges and opportunities of blending nature and infrastructure
The course has four parts that together provide a substantive overview of the current green infrastructure policy, design, and practice and the associated challenges and opportunities.
Part One – The Grey to Green Transition explores the reasons that motivate cities, suburbs, and towns to adopt and expand GI systems, identifies the different types of GI and the multitude of benefits associated with them, and showcases successful employment of specific GI strategies.
Part Two – Design and Implementation discusses the principles and practices behind successful GI design and implementation, identifies targets and guidelines used to regulate GI implementation, and considers the data needed to inform GI design and implementation decisions, and potential sources for the relevant data.
Part Three– Policy and Governance focuses on the policies, institutions, and systems that govern and drive green infrastructure employment in cities around the world, highlights specific tools and regulations for GI, and compares and contrasts GI policies and governance.
Part Four – Planning for Green Cities reviews recent advances and most innovative examples of GI design, science, and practice. This section showcases bold views of what GI will offer cities in the future and how these progressive visions might be realized.
This course is developed and offered by Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Environment’s Professional Programs and Partnerships. Funding for this course is provided by Adaptation Learning Network, an initiative supported through Natural Resources Canada BRACE and the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. The course is part of a series of courses intended to inspire climate action and improve professional capacity for climate change adaptation.
Facilitator: Melina is a professional engineer with over two decades of public and private sector experience. She has a long-standing dedication to sustainability and innovation in the municipal sector, leadership development and collaboration across disciplines. Melina is Manager of Green Infrastructure Implementation for the City of Vancouver. She and her team are leading City’s ambitious and multi-award winning Rain City Strategy, a cross-departmental green rainwater infrastructure and urban rainwater management initiative. In 2020, Melina was named Water Steward of the Year by the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association for her impact within the Canadian water industry.
Schedule
February 15, 2021 – May 3, 2021
Duration: 12 weeks, 30 hours
For further information click here.
