Event Description

You are invited to participate as a presenter at the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Green Infrastructure Conference in Detroit, Michigan. This conference will draw up to 1,000 engineers, landscape architects, water quality professionals, government officials at the local, state, and federal levels, developers, planners, academia, drain and road agencies, conservation and non-profit organizations, and interest groups from around the Great Lakes basin in Canada and the U.S. There will be space for more than 80 speakers to address the topic areas described below. The last day of the conference offers tours of green infrastructure projects across Detroit.

This is the first conference to focus on using green infrastructure across the landscape with a primary goal to protect the surface waters in the Great Lakes region. The location is in the middle of the Great Lakes chain at Detroit’s premier conference location: Cobo Hall.

With Detroit in the rebuilding process, it is finding that green infrastructure can reduce the burden on its combined sewers for less than the cost of storing and treating combined effluent. They are also using green infrastructure to make neighborhoods feel safer and more inviting, and they are increasing green acreage over the top of the thriving industry. This is a great location to share what is happening in your community, and in your area of expertise and discovery.

Conference sessions will include topic areas (tracks) as shown below. Please review the topics to consider the category where your presentation would best fit. Authors may suggest additional topics that are not on the list, but they must fit a general topic area related to Green Infrastructure and the Great Lakes. Proprietary systems are acceptable to present as part of a case study with quantified results.

SESSION TOPICS

Green Infrastructure Technology:

Hydrology: land modification and runoff volume, pollutant loading, modeling & monitoring, groundwater quality impacts associated with GI
Low Impact Development (LID): LID standards and templates, design, construction, maintenance
Green infrastructure BMPs: Rain gardens/Bioretention cells, vegetated roofs and walls, pervious pavement, rainwater harvest/reuse, tree boxes/devices, manufactured treatment systems.
Innovation: research news, university projects, technology, case studies, grey-green hybrid systems.

Economics:

Funding GI: stormwater utilities, innovative/alternative financing, LEED stormwater credits
SRF financing of green infrastructure, financing barriers
Benefits/costs: cost/benefit of using green vs gray, asset management planning, Triple-bottom-line benefits, benefits to the Great Lakes and “Blue Economy,” O & M costs
Frameworks for partnering: Community-based Public-Private Partnerships (CBP3), Stormwater credit trading.

Local Government/Public Works:

Integrated Stormwater Management: planning, design, construction, maintenance
Ordinance and policy development to support green infrastructure, urban forestry, collaborating across departments and jurisdictions
Design Standards and Guidelines; crediting for vegetative areas/tree canopy
Operation & Maintenance: financing/funding, maintaining multiple sites, workforce development/certification
Combined vs. Separated Systems: planning and implementation, using vacant land, conservation
Transportation: Green Streets, Complete Streets, local and regional planning
Meeting federal, state, and local regulations.

Multi-jurisdictional/Regional Scale:

Regional planning and policy considerations, cooperation across boundaries
Habitat, greenways, connectivity, recreation, water towns, placemaking
Sustainability: climate change, hazard mitigation (flood protection), biodiversity, ecosystem resiliency.
Public Engagement, Education, Outreach and Partnerships
Great Lakes Quality and Resiliency
Coastal Green Infrastructure: resiliency, flooding, coastal protection
Wet weather water quality impacts

Miscellaneous Topics: green infrastructure in urban and rural agriculture, industry, global initiatives, volunteer programs.