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 1) Coastal Adaptation Services and Outreach 2) Renewable Energy Project Facilitation Services and Outreach 3) Training on Demand Module Development 4) New England Governors’ Land Conservation Initiative, Phase 2 5) Maine Quality of Place Initiative, Phase 3 6) The NCI Library of Case Studies
1) Coastal Adaptation Services and Outreach.At least 100 coastal towns in New England will be impacted by sea level rise and increased storm surge from climate change, necessitating development of new modeling tools to help allocate adequate financial resources for preparation. A new tool is in development by the EFC that helps towns evaluate, for any adaptation scenario they might consider, what the upfront costs are versus the range of likely damages will be for real estate in town, under various sea level rise and storm surge scenarios over the next century. The tool (COAST, or Coastal Adaptation to Sea level rise Tool), has been piloted in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, is being refined in other New England towns. 2) Renewable Energy Project Facilitation Services and Outreach.A pressing need in the climate change arena is installation of new renewable energy generation capacity. However, local resistance to new, large-scale permits for this in New England is among the most challenging bottlenecks. Portland ME, one of the larger municipalities in Northern New England, is actively exploring permitting of several new renewable energy installations. The EFC is working with Portland and one private developer to help them install substantial new renewable generation capacity (solar, wind, geothermal, or other appropriate technology). 3) Training on Demand Module Development.A number of variables that go into municipal-scale energy projects, especially those involving renewable energy production, are subject to comparison to current fossil energy market conditions. They also need to be integrated into current electric infrastructure. Capital investment plans must be subject to public scrutiny and, when possible, include the cooperation of local private businesses that may also benefit from such energy projects. To expand on services offered on climate change adaptation and renewable energy generation, we are developing a Training on Demand Module on distributed energy implementation frameworks for Region 1 that will guide municipalities through the process for installing renewable capacity both as a public entity and in cooperation with the private sector. Delivery of this framework, or components as needed, will occur via one or more workshops and/or via the Training On Demand portal available on the NE/EFC’s website. 4) New England Governors’ Land Conservation Initiative, Phase 2.In September 2008 the New England Governors (meeting with the Eastern Canadian Premiers) acknowledged the centennial of their predecessors’ 1908 meeting to plan early land conservation efforts throughout the region. (This followed a White House gathering of all the nation’sgovernors convened by President Theodore Roosevelt to plan a national effort.) The governors issued a commemorative resolution and established a new, blue-ribbon commission on land conservation (CLC, chaired by the EFC’s Richard Barringer) to develop a set of recommendations for appropriate, collaborative efforts to advance land conservation throughout New England. This work continues through 2010. 5) Maine Quality of Place Initiative, Phase 3.The late-2006 Brookings Institution report, Charting Maine’s Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and Quality Places, called for stronger regional land use planning as part of a multi-pronged development strategy of streamlining government, investing in place-based jobs and innovation, and protecting Maine’s “quality places” and national “brand.” In Spring 2007 Gov. John Baldacci created a special council to examine the relationship between Maine “quality of place” and job creation, and to make appropriate recommendations to realize its promise, if any. In May 2008 the council delivered to the Governor its findings and recommendations to advance this innovative approach to economic and community development, landscape protection, cultural and downtown revitalization, and workforce development. Gov. Baldacci subsequently signed an Executive Order to create a standing Maine Quality of Place Council (chaired by the EFC’s Richard Barringer) to oversee implementation of this initiative and develop legislation to institutionalize it throughout Maine state government, its regional councils of government, and its six federally-designated economic development districts (EDDs). Enabling legislation for this strategic initiative has been developed and introduced to the 124th Maine Legislature; interagency agreements have been reached with regional agencies to implement those portions of the strategy not requiring legislative action; funding has been identified that engages the private and philanthropic sectors in the next, planning stage of the initiative; and now in the offing are planning grants to regional councils for asset identification and mapping and development of investment strategies and priorities; and implementation awards competition is anticipated in 2010. Work products for the coming year will include, for each of Maine’s six EDDs statewide, and through broad citizen participation, identification of unique and marketable Quality of Place assets that offer the greatest potential for job creation; a strategy and prioritized roadmap for public, private, and philanthropic investment to strengthen these assets and grow the economy sustainably; and a set concrete actions, timelines, and benchmarks to implement each of the six strategies. Legislation will (it is hoped) be in place to align state agency missions and funding streams with the strategies. Private and philanthropic sources will have been identified for implementation grants to carry these forward; and standards and procedures, developed for the awards competition. Effort will be made to synthesize learnings from this initiative for publication and extension to other New England states. A graduate student will provide organizational and research support. 6) The NCI Library of Case Studies.To now, the EFC posts on its website case studies as part of its Next Communities Initiative (NCI). The EFC is continuing development of this case study series, as the basis for both establishing the causes and smart growth developments that occur on the New England landscape and the means by which they are achieved. It is also developing the library into a book on smart growth leadership for small towns. |
