The heat of summer has cloaked us in its heavy warmth and clouds of mosquitoes. My mornings are spent traversing the hillsides of local parks – clearing the trails of spiderwebs and dodging flying insects as they buzz past my ears. I often find these predictable rituals immensely meditative (even if slightly trying at times). During one of these mornings of contemplative meandering, I came across a fellow hiker who informed me that they had completed their civil duty and cleared the trails ahead of me! If I am being honest, I was grateful not to experience sticky silk adhering to me as I made my way along the trail.

I feel as though we are doing a similar thing in the Alliance at present. We spent the last year clearing the trails for our collective path, and now that we have a sense of direction as to where we want to place our collective efforts, we are removing our spiderwebs and charging forward. Read on to see how we are refining our goals!

Cheers,

Claire Carlson

Greenspace Alliance Manager

Hello! My name is EllieAna Shanklin, and I have the pleasure of working as the Greenspace Alliance Conservation Planning Intern for the summer. While not a Cincinnati native, I’ve lived in Cincinnati for most of my life and am constantly inspired by the plethora of climate-forward organizations and initiatives in the region. I graduated from Ohio University in May 2025 with a degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Spanish.

This summer, one of my projects includes making greenspace policy recommendations for community comprehensive plans throughout the tri-state area, and for the ThriveTogether Playbook. This project aims to improve access to and conservation of greenspace throughout the region. This work is so important to advancing our region’s climate action goals, including social cohesion, flood mitigation, and air quality improvements.

I’m excited to continue learning about the work of Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance and contribute to this meaningful program. Reach out at ellieana.shanklin@greenumbrella.org if you’d like to connect!

We wrapped up Q2 with our second “Pause & Reflect” Meeting of the year. These quarterly convenings have been intentionally designed to allow partners within the Greenspace Alliance to step back and reflect on the work we have been pursuing together. The Alliance focuses on areas within conservation that a single organization may not be able to tackle day-to-day, but are important to land protection and restoration within the region.

We spent the morning contemplating the following: what has been going well, what has not been going well, is there opportunity for forward movement, and how does the Alliance’s work connect to members’ day-to-day roles. After a fruitful discussion, we dispersed into our three Working Groups and continued reflecting on the prompts and design next steps to progress our collective goals. Our next steps are as follows:

The RPP/Policy and the newly renamed Greenspace Implementation & Funding (GIF) Working Groups will meet in July to determine the next collaborative event to host as an Alliance and to design regional projects that can be submitted for funding in the future.

If you are an organization interested in participating in the Greenspace Alliance, learning more about our Working Groups, or joining in for a meeting, please contact Claire at claire@greenumbrella.org.

Give a Hoot for Oxbow - Invasive Plan Removal Saturday, July 18, 8-10 am, Oxbow Nature Conservancy

Do you give a hoot for Oxbow? Join in for one of Oxbow’s biggest conservation challenges: tackling invasive plant species. Activities will include cutting/pulling honeysuckle, Japanese chaff flower, Japanese stiltgrass, and garlic mustard. The goal of this volunteer series is to improve wood duck habitat in the Oxbow region!

Wednesday, July 22, 3-4:30 pm, Anderson Township

Join the Greenspace Alliance and Anderson Township Staff for a Meet A Greenspace Hike exploring the Forestlake Drive to Eight Mile Road Greenway! This hike is an opportunity to explore one of Anderson Township’s protected greenspaces. It will be a moderate to strenuous 1.6-mile out-and-back hike exploring a woodland and a creek bed (that may have water in it!).

Participants and guides will meet at the northern end of Forestlake Drive (2253 Forestlake Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244). Parking is available on the west side of Forestlake Drive, and participants should avoid parking in the cul-de-sac.

If you want to make a day of it, join Anderson Township Staff and Green Umbrella for their July Green Drinks at Wandering Monsters Brewing immediately following the hike!

Reply to this email to reach Claire, or for questions regarding membership, visit here or email membership@greenumbrella.org