Presentations on Request: We’ll Come to YOUR Town!

GVI’s Extension Education faculty have a wide variety of education workshops available on request.  Most deal with come combination of community planning and other natural resource issues, and are targeted to municipal boards and commissions, local land trusts or other interested community organizations.  Most combine PowerPoint or other visual aids with written handout materials.  There is no charge for these presentations.  Topics include:

Natural Resource Protection

• Developing a Natural Resource Inventory – Develop a natural resource inventory for your town that can be used to identify resources for protection and areas for community growth. (stephen.broderick@uconn.edu or holly.drinkuth@uconn.edu)
• Co-Occurring Resource Analysis – Work with this new computer aided analysis to determine areas of multiple and high priority resources for protection. (holly.drinkuth@uconn.edu or Michael.altshul@uconn.edu)
• Becoming a Conservation Community – How to get pro-active in conserving natural resources as your town grows. (stephen.broderick@uconn.edu or holly.drinkuth@uconn.edu)
• Greenway Mapping – Help your community plan for future greenways that create a network of trails and habitat corridor protection. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu or holly.drinkuth@uconn.edu)

Community Planning

• Building Sustainable Communities Through Planning – How to plan for and protect green infrastructure and accommodate new community growth. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu or susan.westa@uconn.edu)
• Planning for Our Future – An overview of the community planning process. (susan.westa@uconn.edu)
• Planning for Open Space and Greenways – What your town can do to plan for and protect open spaces - using land use regulations and other tools. (susan.westa@uconn.edu)
• Development Alternatives in the QSHC – Alternatives to today’s development patterns are presented with examples that preserve our rural character and open spaces and create a sense of community. (susan.westa@uconn.edu)
• Visioning – Using imaging and mapping, this tool can be used to develop consensus about the future of your community. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu or susan.westa@uconn.edu)
• Future Land Use Mapping – This hand-on workshop will assist you in analyzing existing land use in your town and in locating areas and patterns of future growth along with areas for conservation. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Economics of Land Use – How land use decisions ultimately impact the mill rate of your town. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu or boblevite@hotmail.com)
• How to Conduct a Buildout Analysis or a Cost of Community Service Study – Learn how to develop tools that will help your town better understand the impacts of community land use decisions. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)

Community Design

• Building Sustainable Communities Through Development – Offers low impact development alternatives including alternative pavement and stormwater system designs, narrower roads and the benefits of plants. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Conservation Subdivisions – What are conservation subdivisions and what can they do for your town? (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Win Win of Subdivision Design - Learn the ins and outs of conservation subdivision design and how to use this tool to connect green corridors and protect natural resources in your town. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Reviewing Conservation Subdivisions – This hands-on workshop walks you through the review process from initial discussions with a developer to reviewing the submitted plans.  Be prepared when these projects come before your board. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Design Guidelines – Develop design guidelines to guide development in your village, downtown or commercial center. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Commercial Development & Rural Character – How to have economic growth through commercial development without losing rural character. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Main Street Revitalization – Community image and spirit are affected by how the town’s center is perceived.  Find out what revitalization techniques have worked in other communities. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)
• Exploring Sustainable Designs, Communities and Plans – Work with students from UCONN’s Landscape Architecture Program who incorporate real-life projects into their studio-based courses. (paula.stahl@uconn.edu)

Landowners

• Forest Stewardship Short Course – Teaching landowners how to manage their forests. (stephen.broderick@uconn.edu)
• Protecting Family Lands – Are you interested in protecting your own land?  This workshop presents the different options available to landowners. (stephen.broderick@uconn.edu or holly.drinkuth@uconn.edu)

Land Trusts

• Easement Monitoring – Land trusts and communities will learn how to effectively monitor and steward conservation easements they hold on protected land. (boblevite@hotmail.com or ruth.cutler@hotmail.com)
• Standards and Practices – This course will help land trusts get up to speed on changes to the Land Trust Alliance’s Standards and Practices.  Learn what is to be expected of the new accreditation program being developed by the LTA. (boblevite@hotmail.com)