Green Umbrella in the News

  • September 02, 2022 2:12 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: Northern Kentucky Tribune

    Kenton Co. Parks and Recreation to Sponsor Two Events for Great Outdoors Weekend Sept. 24-25

    Sep 2nd, 2022 

    In celebration of Great Outdoor Weekend September 24-25, Kenton County Parks and Recreation is partnering with several agencies to host two free events to encourage you to come outside and play. Great Outdoor Weekend is presented by Green Umbrella.

    September 24: Maintain the Terrain at Doe Run Lake, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

    Doe Run Lake, 1501 Bullock Pen Road in Covington

    Residents are invited to paddle the lake or hike the trails. Bring your kayak or hiking shoes and enjoy the park all while preserving nature. Garbage bags, gloves and waste removal tools will be provided. Need community service hours? County officials will be available sign any paperwork. Volunteers should meet in the parking area near the boat launch. The event is co-sponsored by Banklick Watershed Council, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) and FORE.

    Registration to participate is not required. Volunteers may register online by September 23.

    September 24: Create and Connect 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

    Lincoln Ridge Park, Shelter House #3, 420 Independence Station Road in Independence.

    Create crafts and connect with nature and each other during a guided hike with scavenger hunts. Bring a water bottle; snacks are provided. Co-sponsored by Kenton County Public Library.

    Register by September 23 at kentonlibrary.bibliocommons.com.

    Events are for all ages. There is no cost, but Kenton County Parks & Recreation collects donations of non-perishable food and personal care items for Be Concerned.

    For more information, please contact Rhonda Ritzi at Rhonda.Ritzi@KentonCounty.org or by phone at 859-525-PLAY (7529).

    Great Outdoor Weekend is Greater Cincinnati’s annual outdoor events sampler, presented by Green Umbrella. Explore our region’s man parks and trails, and choose from over 100 outdoor activities hosted by dozens or organizations — all free and open to the public. Find your adventure here.


  • August 29, 2022 11:22 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    A message from our Executive Director

    I am excited to share today that one of our key programs, Tri-State Trails, is ready to take a major next step in advancing its vision to connect and expand our region’s trail network. The program has evolved to the level of sophistication, leadership and impact to become its own independent nonprofit organization. Wade Johnston, Director of Tri-State Trails since 2015, and I made the announcement Friday night at the program's 10th Anniversary gala.

    This move will enable Tri-State Trails to expand its reach and impact, under the leadership of a focused board and staff, while also expanding capacity at Green Umbrella for our many environmental and equity priorities. Green Umbrella and Tri-State Trails will continue to collaborate and partner on the complex regional effort of decreasing the car-dependency, and therefore climate footprint, of our region.

    Since its inception in 2012, Tri-State Trails has grown into the leading organization advocating for trail and bikeway projects in Greater Cincinnati. Its staff of four provides technical assistance and expertise to many local governments looking to build or expand their pathways for people-powered movement. Our region is seeing a significant increase in demand from communities to connect and expand our trail and bikeway infrastructure, and Tri-State Trails has risen to the occasion.

    Green Umbrella is so proud to have stewarded Tri-State Trails and recognizes that the team is ready for the next leg in their journey. This decision was weighed heavily by our Board of Trustees, which analyzed the opportunity from every angle and ultimately came to the unanimous decision to spin-off the program from an initiative of Green Umbrella to an independent organization. Over the last two years, we have been building out the infrastructure and leadership to ensure the success of this transition for both organizations. We are so excited to finally share the news with you!

    Green Umbrella has been an incubator for many projects over the years, and Tri-State Trails is yet another success story. It follows in the footsteps of organizations like Red Bike, Taking Root, Adventure Crew, and Produce Perks Midwest, all of which got their start under the umbrella and are now independent nonprofit organizations. Wade and I will continue to work closely together over the coming year as all of the pieces of this spin-off fall into place. And we’ll keep you updated as we go.

    Thank you for being a supporter on this journey with us!


    Ryan Mooney-Bullock

    Executive Director


  • August 10, 2022 9:17 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: WLWT

    Traffic Grant Should Help Improve Walking, Bike Access in 3 Cincinnati Neighborhoods

    Todd Dykes

    August 10, 2022

    CINCINNATI —

    Living along Linn Street in Cincinnati's historic West End can be a dangerous proposition for residents like Angela Thompson.

    "You know, the traffic is so – sometimes so fast," Thompson said.

    "A lot of the streets that we have in Cincinnati have been designed around the automobile," said Wade Johnston, director of Tri-State Trails. "They were designed to move as many people, as many cars as possible, as quickly as possible during rush hour."

    That doesn't help people who spend a lot of time walking or bicycling from place to place.

    "It’s a lot of things that the traffic needs to be safe down here," Thompson said.

    Johnston, whose organization supports expanded bike lanes and trails, said $20 million worth of help is on the way.

    "$20 million is a huge deal," he said.

    The massive influx of cash will come from a U.S. Department of Transportation grant program that got a funding boost from last year's Infrastructure and Jobs Act.

    Cincinnati officials plan to use the money to create protected bike lanes and improved pedestrian walkways connecting the West End, Queensgate and Lower Price Hill.

    "From day one, we have been aggressively competing for the infrastructure dollars available – not just for the Brent Spence Bridge but for other projects throughout our city," Mayor Aftab Pureval said.

    For both Johnston and Thompson, the key is the amount of federal money headed to the Queen City.

    "$20 million is not chump change. It’s a lot of cash," WLWT investigator Todd Dykes said while speaking to Thompson.

    "Right," Thompson said.

    "Is it time to invest like that down here?" Dykes asked.

    "Yes, it is," Thompson said.

    "The type of projects that we're talking about, you know, $1 million, $2 million, it doesn't do a whole lot because these are big roadway projects," Johnston said. "They require a comprehensive solution."

    Construction on what's being called the 'State to Central: Building Better Neighborhoods' project is expected to begin in 2025. Between now and then, neighbors will have a chance to let traffic engineers know what they'd like to see happen. The construction phase should take anywhere from 18 to 24 months.

  • July 30, 2022 9:20 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: Cincinnati Enquirer 

    Communities Coordinate Efforts to Avoid Worst Effects of Climate Change

    Savannah Sullivan

    July 30, 2022

    Sometimes it’s hard for me to watch images of melting infrastructure across Europe, fatal flooding in Sudan, sinkholes from storms in New York, wildfires in California and excessive heat across the Midwest with anything but a sense of growing dread. Dread, anxiety and grief are all valid emotional responses to climate disruption. There are many strategies for building resiliency around these emotions, and often one effective antidote is engaging in coordinated frontline efforts to avoid climate change’s worst effects.

    That’s why Green Umbrella is bringing together local governments and community-based organizations from across Greater Cincinnati to form the Regional Climate Collaborative, a 10-county initiative to collectively design and implement equitable climate solutions at the local level. Our cities, villages, townships and counties are often the first responders – they repair the damage from flooded streets, protect their most vulnerable citizens from dangerous heat, and endure the budgetary impacts of an uptick in climate-related disasters.

    These challenges make them especially well-equipped to find solutions. Greater Cincinnati is joining regions across the country – more than 30 so far – that have come together to form Regional Climate Collaboratives. Local governments are uniquely motivated to find solutions in partnership with each other. They don’t have the luxury of arguing over the finer points of policy when floods and heat are upending their residents’ lives and harming the businesses that contribute to their tax base. And those floods, landslides, and heat don’t respect the borders between neighboring communities – a superstorm in Northern Kentucky is likely to damage cities in Hamilton, Clermont, Warren and Butler counties, too.

    Regional Climate Collaboratives build on these networks to share best practices, align efforts, and pool resources in a way that amplifies results. Elected officials can learn from local/national technical experts and then explain policy decisions to constituents, while advocates can build grass-roots support and enlist supporters from neighboring communities. We all benefit when our local governments and associated organizations combine efforts on an issue as critical and existential as climate change.

    Our July 21 launch event is bringing together over 150 participants and speakers from across the region who are working in different capacities to mitigate the effects of climate change. But our launch is just the beginning of an effort we hope will build resilience and environmental capacity across our region. For it to succeed, we need the help of residents, community-based organizations, business representatives and especially local governments across the region to participate in a wide range of opportunities:

    A survey we’re launching will help the Collaborative understand how climate change is affecting communities, their residents and businesses. Please consider taking the survey and sharing it with others.

    The Regional Climate Collaborative is forming working groups to address the most urgent challenges and opportunities that emerge from our survey and other initial efforts – including building local capacity, centering equity, community listening and engagement, and more. We’re also planning to develop a Regional Climate Action Playbook to document best practices and help cities, villages, townships and counties kickstart or advance their work.

    We plan to launch a resilience fellowship program inspired by Indiana’s Resilience Cohort that will embed trained personnel in local governments where they can most effectively lend assistance, conduct community engagement and bring climate efforts to fruition.

    Finally, we need individuals and organizations who value this work and understand the immense benefits it brings to support this Climate Policy work financially.

    The Regional Climate Collaborative will equip those on the front lines of addressing climate change to learn from each other and form collective responses. It will direct help where it’s needed most and where it can have the greatest impact: in the cities, villages, townships and counties where we live and work. Join us to ensure this initiative has the greatest possible impact, both today and for future generations.

    Savannah Sullivan is climate policy director for Green Umbrella.

  • July 26, 2022 11:04 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: WVXU

    Residents in Cincinnati’s Beekman Corridor Make Plans for Resiliency in the Face of Climate Change

    July 26, 2022

    Due to a history of socio-economic segregation, lower-income communities — including those that are predominantly occupied by people of color — have found themselves bearing the brunt of environmental issues. Those issues include the effects of climate change.

    But an initiative by Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Green Umbrella and the City of Cincinnati is looking to tap into the knowledge residents of some of those communities along the so-called Beekman Corridor just west of the Mill Creek have about their neighborhoods. How can places like Millvale, North Fairmount and South Cumminsville become more resilient in the face of climate change? Long-time residents who took part in a climate advisory group have some suggestions for the city.

    Joining Cincinnati Edition to talk more about the Beekman Corridor, Climate Advisory Groups and the City of Cincinnati's Green Cincinnati Plan are Darryl Franklin; Groundwork Ohio River Valley Community Outreach Coordinator Kelsey Hawkins-Johnson; and City of Cincinnati Office of Environment and Sustainability Sustainability Manager Ollie Kroner.


  • July 25, 2022 10:54 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: WVXU

    Want to Take a Fun Summer Road Trip? Consider Getting Out on a Bike

    July 25, 2022

    Nothing says summertime like a good road trip. But you don’t have to jump in your car to get away for the day, the weekend or longer.

    There are plenty of great routes you can bike — if you take a little time to prepare for the ride.

    What do you need to do, physically, to work up to a longer ride? What should you do to make sure your bike is up for the trip? What should you bring? Who should you bring? What kind of bike is best for distance riding? And what are some fun destinations you can reach in a day or over the course of a weekend?

    Our bike experts will walk you through what you’ll need for your next two-wheeled escape. Joining Cincinnati Edition to talk about it are Tri-State Trails Communication and Events Manager Caitlin Sparks; long-distance cyclist Daniel Iroh; and Chair of the Village Green Foundation Board Nate Kemphues.


  • July 23, 2022 3:26 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: Midstory

    Cincinnati, Ohio: A Climate Haven?

    Ester Luna

    July 23, 2022

    From severe heat waves and wildfires to violent flooding and tropical storms, it is no secret that climate change has been waging its world war with ever-increasing intensity. In the U.S., some coastal and Southern states are especially vulnerable.

    California, for example, faces threats from both coastal flooding and wildfires, with high wildfire potential days increasing from 120 each year to almost 150 by 2050. Hurricanes are hitting Florida with growing frequency and intensity, and the state is also prone to flooding from heavy rain and rising sea levels. Mississippi and Texas are highly susceptible to extreme heat and coastal flooding.

    These disruptive weather events have led climate experts to predict that decades-long patterns of migration out of the Snow and Rust Belts to the Sun Belt may halt, and even reverse in the coming years. As Sun Belt states go from sunny and warm to dangerously volatile, experts anticipate that people will instead flock to areas with more stable climates.

    Enter climate havens.

    The term — which is almost exclusively used by academics and journalists — refers to a location that is unlikely to be severely affected by climate change in the coming years. These places could be entire states or countries, but they are most often cities whose infrastructure could support a significant population increase in a short amount of time as climate refugees from coastal and Sun Belt states relocate to safer areas en masse.

    Climate experts generally name the upper Midwest, the Northeast and some of New England as the most promising sites for climate haven cities.

    As average temperatures in less insulated U.S. regions soar, the climate in the Upper Midwest is projected to remain relatively temperate, according to Brent Sohngen, professor of environmental and resource economics at the Ohio State University. The region will be less susceptible to heat waves and the insect-borne diseases that may accompany them, like Zika and malaria. With its proximity to the Great Lakes, the Upper Midwest is also unlikely to experience the fresh water shortages that are becoming increasingly common across the world.

    As such, climate experts, real estate developers and journalistic publications alike have taken to uncovering the most promising climate haven locations in the U.S. Many of the cities named — like Duluth, Minnesota or Buffalo, New York — boast of long Great Lakes coastlines and easy freshwater access, but for Cincinnatians, it’s been an intentional push.

    Most parts of the Midwest and the Northeast have a relatively low climate risk index, compared with coastal, Southern and central states.

    According to Savannah Sullivan, climate policy director at the Cincinnati-based environmental sustainability nonprofit Green Umbrella, their status as a potential climate haven boils down to commitment.

    “We have had…both elected public sector staff and partner organizations really acknowledge that [climate change] is…increasingly part of the political world,” she said.

    Some say the city experienced its first (albeit small) wave of climate in-migration when approximately 2000 former New Orleans residents fled to Cincinnati after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most of these evacuees chose Cincinnati because they had family there, Sullivan said. But the episode catalyzed many city-wide climate and green infrastructure initiatives in the years that followed, like the 2030 District and the Cincinnati Energy Aggregation Program.

    The city’s climate resilience agenda was addressed in the 2018 Green Cincinnati Plan, spearheaded by ex-mayor John Cranely in partnership with the Office of Environment and Sustainability and other government, corporate and non-profit organizations. The plan outlines goals and action items for “reducing the risks of climate change, growing green-sector economic opportunity, and improving comfort and quality of life for all citizens.” The next iteration will be published in 2023.

    While cities like Duluth and Buffalo have also put forth climate plans, the 2018 Green Cincinnati Plan explores the climate haven concept in greater detail. Section 4 of the plan outlines general recommendations to help the city establish itself as one such refuge, bringing Cincinnati’s one step closer to its overarching goal of climate resiliency.

    The plan’s authors propose to “cultivate [Cincinnati’s] reputation as a safe location for risk averse businesses” in hopes of attracting new residents and enterprises from climate-vulnerable areas.

    They also suggest adding beds and increasing food reserves in homeless shelters and temporary shelter homes to prepare for a spike in use by climate migrants, stating that FEMA and private insurance companies would be responsible for these disaster-related expenses. A subsection of the plan titled also mentions increasing affordable housing and creating more jobs for current and newly arrived residents who are economically disadvantaged.

    Authors calculate that Cincinnati could feasibly absorb 100 new families per year. Housing them would cost around $600,000 annually, but these expenses would likely be reimbursed by FEMA or the prospective residents’ insurance, resulting in a 1:1 cost-benefit ratio for the city.

    According to Sohngen, Cincinnati is currently well-positioned to become a climate refuge. Housing stock is relatively cheap and, thanks to the flourishing warehousing and transportation industries in the area, the economy is slowly beginning to grow after decades of post-industrial decline.

    But ensuring that housing remains affordable if climate migrants do pour into Cincinnati may be a challenge.

    “The drawback of being an appealing city that is currently affordable for folks to move to is that this induces rapid growth, and, therefore, potential for yet another layer of gentrification,” Sullivan said.

    Cincinnati may become a popular climate destination precisely because of its cost-effective housing, but a sudden influx of peopleーespecially wealthier onesーcould drive neighborhood values and housing prices up, making parts of the city less accessible for current low-income residents.

    “Cincinnati, like every other city in the Midwest, does have equity issues,” Sohngen said. “They’ve got a lot of poor neighborhoods and some of them are getting gentrified, pushing relatively not so well off people into other neighborhoods…All that gets exacerbated if your population is growing.”

    Cincinnati is also at risk of localized flooding due to inadequately-sized pipes in certain areas, which could “harm housing, infrastructure, and businesses” according to Sohngen. He said that the city should implement more green infrastructure and water infiltration systems like parks or roadways, but that “it’s hard to say they have to do that for the potential influx of peopleーthey really have to do that no matter what.”

    Although these infrastructural challenges have yet to be addressed, Cincinnati has made significant strides in implementing recommendations from the 2018 Green Cincinnati Plan pertaining to financial equity.

    “There have been several really successful, equitable programs that lend to the creation of the type of infrastructure that we need to be a climate haven,” Sullivan said. Through the Climate Safe Neighborhoods Project, Green Umbrella and Groundwork Ohio River Valley have encouraged “significantly more robust community engagement that is elevating the voices of historically underserved communities in ways that Cincinnati’s never done before.”

    While working at the City of Cincinnati, Sullivan developed a program that helps “community members who might not have had access to key energy efficiency resources to not only draw their bills down, but keep them safe during extreme temperature events”.

    To ensure that diverse voices are included in future planning, Sullivan confirmed that a newly created Equity Committee was involved in the plan’s 2023 update.

    While some cities are preparing for the possibility of a significant influx of climate migrants, the climate haven scenario is still mostly hypothetical.

    Sullivan stated that while “we can track the publications and case studies on environmental migration…the migration itself is very nascent” when it comes to Cincinnati.

    But should the time come, Cincinnati is positioning itself to meet the needs of both “those who are seeking climate havens voluntarily, and folks who are…disrupted from sudden onset of disasters without preparation,” Sullivan said. “If we’re not doing it in a welcoming, inclusive way, are we doing it?”


  • July 19, 2022 10:41 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: City Beat

    Cincinnati's 34-Mile CROWN Urban Trail Loop is One Step Closer to Completion

    By Allison Babka

    Aug 2, 2022



    The Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network (CROWN) surpassed a major milestone in June when it secured $6 million of an $8 million goal to complete segments of a 34-mile mixed-use walking/biking path.

    Led by Tri-State Trails (an initiative of regional sustainability alliance Green Umbrella), Wasson Way, Ohio River Way and a public-private partnership, CROWN aims to connect over 100 miles of pre-existing and to-be-constructed trail systems while boosting economic development, improving transportation options, stimulating businesses and promoting healthy activities.

    CROWN launched in August 2020 and has broken a lot of ground since. As it stands, 17 of the 34 miles are complete, five additional miles are completely funded and 12 miles await funding, says Tri-State Trails Director Wade Johnston. A number of public and private partnerships have come together to support CROWN, most notably United Dairy Farmers and Kroger Health (each contributing $1 million) and a capital campaign cabinet co-chaired by Wym and Jan Portman.

    “We’ve been interested for decades in connecting people to the outdoors,” says Jan Portman. “Not only for physical, but mental health. We have dreamed about this kind of urban loop in this city. It’s such a great idea; it connects with so many priorities for so many groups of people, like transportation. But I think most importantly, the CROWN is going to connect people to places that they care about and places that can improve their lives, like universities and grocery stores and parks and the arts and healthcare centers.”

    Currently mid-construction with various segments complete and open for recreation, Cincinnati’s first urban trail loop will enclose and connect more than 50 communities — that’s more than 356,000 people, according to CROWN’s website.

    It’s also notable that CROWN will serve as a “hub,” Johnston says, to access the Little Miami Scenic Trail, Ohio River Trail, Mill Creek Greenway, Wasson Way and Murray Path. It also will include downtown’s Smale Riverfront Park, which was named one of USA Today’s top 10 river walks in 2021, and Riverfront Commons in Northern Kentucky.


    The Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network (CROWN) surpassed a major milestone in June when it secured $6 million of an $8 million goal to complete segments of a 34-mile mixed-use walking/biking path. - Photo: Provided by Wade Johnston

    The Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network (CROWN) surpassed a major milestone in June when it secured $6 million of an $8 million goal to complete segments of a 34-mile mixed-use walking/biking path.

    “The CROWN loop will take advantage of some of the great things in Cincinnati that are unique to the Midwest,” says Wym Portman. “We have a beautiful river, we are connecting to one of the best park systems in America, and we have arts and culture connections to the art museum and Cincinnati Ballet and more.”

    As more segments begin to open for recreation, the benefits are revealing themselves. Jan and Wym Portman attribute the opening of a walk-up window at Busken Bakery along Wasson Way to the development of the trail, as well as a recently announced apartment project by PLK Communities LLC.

    “We call that ‘bikenomics,’ where we are seeing the economics of how much people care about trails and want to be close to them and are willing to support businesses along the way,” Jan Portman says.

    At about $1.5 million per mile (excluding bridges or retaining walls) Tri-State Trails’ Johnston says CROWN is a $50 million project that will leverage $42 million in federal funding in addition to the $8 million target in private donations.

    CROWN now needs to secure the remaining $2 million of that $8 million and has launched promotional programs such as July’s Ales for Trails to help.

    In July, a visit to MadTree Brewing Company, Fifty West Brewing Company, Streetside Brewing, Listermann Brewing Trail House, Big Ash Brewing, Dead Low Brewing or North High Brewing Company can benefit CROWN. Each brewery — all located along existing and planned parts of the path — paid CROWN a fee to participate. Ales for Trails offers a Trail Hop Card (like a passport) that can be obtained at one of the breweries or downloaded on CROWN’s website. Buy a beer, get a stamp. Get stamps from all seven breweries by July 31 to get a free Ales for Trails T-shirt and a chance to win a grand prize raffle.

    Johnston sees Ales for Trails as a part of CROWN’s goal coming to life, as it benefits both patrons and trail-adjacent businesses. He also notes countless coffee shops, ice cream parlors, restaurants and retail spots that exist on the path as possible participants in similar programs in the future.


    “This is what I envision will be the first of many types of programs like this that celebrate what is connected by the trail,” he says. “One of the things I’ve thought about is how along the Ohio River Trail there’s like five different local barbecue joints like Montgomery Inn Boathouse or Eli’s BBQ.”

    He says it’s especially important that anyone can participate in these initiatives by walking or biking instead of driving, which positively impacts the environment as well as individual health.

    “One of the coolest things about the trail network in my opinion is just seeing our city from a different perspective that you cannot see from your car,” Johnston says.

    Part of the trail that’s currently walkable is the portion of Wasson Way from Marburg Avenue in Hyde Park to Montgomery Road at the edge of Xavier University’s campus. ArtWorks’ 300-foot mural “Electric Avenue” dances along a portion of the path on the Duke Energy complex beside Montgomery Road. It colorfully celebrates sustainability, energy, movement and nature and was unveiled in summer 2020.

    While parts of the trail will highlight recreation, others — like the connection to the Uptown Innovation Corridor when Wasson Way is fully complete — highlight one of CROWN’s most pivotal benefits: equitable transportation options.

    “The connection to Uptown is going to touch Avondale, Evanston, Walnut Hills, and it’s going to link the trail into the Uptown Innovation Corridor, and that to me is a game changer,” Johnston says. “Because all of a sudden, the trail will connect to our region’s second largest employment hub, and you have all these densely populated residential areas along Wasson Way that are now going to be connected to the hospitals and the university and all the job opportunities in that area.”

    Specifically, according to Wasson Way’s website, 83,000 residents can benefit from this specific segment of CROWN plus gain walkable access to the 70 shops and restaurants in Rookwood. As of press time, three of the six phases of Wasson Way are finished, with phases four and five (1.25 miles, beginning at Marburg Avenue and ending at Old Red Bank Road) scheduled to be completed by winter and phase six (0.8 miles, beginning at Woodburn Avenue and ending at Blair Court) by 2024.

    The goal is to have the trail completed by 2025.

    “There are all kinds of destinations along the trail that are a part of our park system and all these different business districts that will be close by to the trail network,” says Johnston. “It’s such a cool way to celebrate the history and culture of our city.”

    To learn more about CROWN’s progress or to donate, visit crowncincinnati.org.


  • July 18, 2022 10:49 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: WVXU

    New Green Umbrella Collaborative Seeks to Bring the Tri-State Together on Climate Solutions

    By Tana Weingartner

    July 18, 2022

    Green Umbrella is launching a Regional Climate Collaborative to help governments, organizations and communities across the Tri-State work together on climate solutions.

    Climate Policy Director Savannah Sullivan says the collaborative will "serve as a network for public agencies to better understand our regional climate impacts, as well as prepare them to advance adaptation and mitigation solutions in their communities."

    She says that includes sharing information and best practices, creating opportunities to work together on projects, and get assistance with technical issues and securing funding.

    All municipalities, businesses, community members and governments in Green Umbrella's 10-county region — some 200 entities — are able to participate. The region includes: Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties in Ohio; Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties in Kentucky; and Dearborn and Franklin counties in Indiana.

    Sullivan notes local municipalities and local officials can sometimes be the first to experience and deal with the effects of a climate impacts. She points to issues such as extreme heat, flooding and severe storms.

    "These events increasingly are upending everyday life and the infrastructure that communities depend upon. While efforts to adapt to these impacts are certainly already underway, many local governments face severe funding and capacity constraints."

    Enter the Greater Cincinnati Regional Climate Collaborative to help find and fund communal solutions.

    Working together can also help out when an issue in one community affects another community. Sullivan uses stormwater as an example.

    "Climate equity issues exist across jurisdictional boundaries. If you're downhill from your neighboring jurisdiction, you will receive their stormwater in addition to yours. So how can you collaborate to figure out how to address the stormwater with your neighbor that you're receiving?

    "Similarly, as developers began favoring land that is less exposed to climate impacts, we will have to grapple with the effects at a regional level of climate gentrification, displacing marginalized community members within and outside of their current city," she adds.

    Examples of the collaborative in action are already underway. Sullivan points to Colerain Township, where local leaders as well as the chamber and several companies wanted to work on sustainability and climate issues, but lacked staffing and resources.

    Together they created "Team Up to Green Up."

    "Over the last year, we have already seen them take action to create an Adopt-a-Block waste program, where they worked with the township government and community partners and Rumpke to get folks to sign up for waste pickup along key corridors in Colerain. They have also taken steps to accelerate a street tree program to address extreme heat and beautification needs."

    They also recently got approval to build out a solar array to capture solar energy.

    Green Umbrella intends to kick-start the work by asking people to participate in a survey to help understand people's lived experiences, their needs and where their interests lie.

    "In order to transform public sector action, we really need a big picture of what are the impacts and how can we take steps towards a shared vision," says Sullivan. "From there, we look forward to creating different working groups."

    Another first step will be creating a "regional action playbook," which Sullivan defines as "a menu of tailored sustainability climate actions that people can pick and choose from as they figure out what they're able to implement in their jurisdiction."


  • July 12, 2022 1:27 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Source: Soapbox Cincinnati

    Ales for Trails to Raise Awareness and Funds for the Crown Network

    July 12, 2022


    During the month of July, 10 beer makers in the Cincinnati region are participating in the annual Ales to Trails campaign to raise awareness about plans for the CROWN network.

    Tri-State Trails, the organization behind the CROWN plan, won’t receive any money from beer sales. Instead, each of the breweries has donated money to support the project and to help raise awareness. Tri-State Trails will accept private donations on its website.

    Visit Spectrum News 1 here to find out which breweries are participating and how you might become one of 100 winners of an Ales for Trails Buff and get entered into raffles for a chance to win brewery merchandise and gift cards.

    Read Soapbox's spring feature The Queen City receives her CROWN to learn more about the community-wide effort to develop an immense and inclusive multiuse trail.

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