Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
Incentive-based ecological programs have a checkered history. By providing incentives for voluntary environmental improvement, landowners and communities have the power to choose what changes they want (rather than having changes imposed on them), improvements can occur despite no regulatory requirements, and those changes tend to be enduring because landowner and community buy in leads to better stewardship. However, most incentive programs allocate resources inequitably, funneling public money to improvements in higher income, wealthy and predominantly white communities. But this need not be the case. In 2012 our partners at ECOSS asked community members from several underserved racial and cultural groups in South Seattle what barriers to participation they experienced with Seattle and King County’s RainWise program that pays for rain gardens and cisterns on private property. Two major factors were identified: 1. Financial barriers (e.g. the program doesn’t pay for the whole project cost) and 2. Communication and Engagement barriers (e.g. outreach and messaging was almost always in English). Since 2014, we have developed 3 equity-driven incentive programs and partnered with ECOSS’ multicultural outreach team on outreach to address those barriers. These ongoing programs have reversed the pattern of inequitable public resource allocation such that 75% of funds from these incentives go to limited income landowners and non-profit community organizations. The strategy is simple: 1. pay more where the need is greatest and 2. fund outreach and communication that comes from within communities. We want others to expand, copy and improve on these programs across the Salish Sea region so that environmental improvements are environmentally and socially restorative.
Session Title
Green Infrastructure
Conference Track
SSE10: Contaminants
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-traditionals-155
Start Date
26-4-2022 1:30 PM
End Date
26-4-2022 3:00 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Sustainability--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Environmental health--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Environmental innovations--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Incentivizing Green Infrastructure Equitably
Incentive-based ecological programs have a checkered history. By providing incentives for voluntary environmental improvement, landowners and communities have the power to choose what changes they want (rather than having changes imposed on them), improvements can occur despite no regulatory requirements, and those changes tend to be enduring because landowner and community buy in leads to better stewardship. However, most incentive programs allocate resources inequitably, funneling public money to improvements in higher income, wealthy and predominantly white communities. But this need not be the case. In 2012 our partners at ECOSS asked community members from several underserved racial and cultural groups in South Seattle what barriers to participation they experienced with Seattle and King County’s RainWise program that pays for rain gardens and cisterns on private property. Two major factors were identified: 1. Financial barriers (e.g. the program doesn’t pay for the whole project cost) and 2. Communication and Engagement barriers (e.g. outreach and messaging was almost always in English). Since 2014, we have developed 3 equity-driven incentive programs and partnered with ECOSS’ multicultural outreach team on outreach to address those barriers. These ongoing programs have reversed the pattern of inequitable public resource allocation such that 75% of funds from these incentives go to limited income landowners and non-profit community organizations. The strategy is simple: 1. pay more where the need is greatest and 2. fund outreach and communication that comes from within communities. We want others to expand, copy and improve on these programs across the Salish Sea region so that environmental improvements are environmentally and socially restorative.
