Later this week, Sustainable Long Island will be conducting a rain garden build at East Islip High School as part of the Reduce Rain Runoff program funded by the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute.

 

This rainwater capture and storm water management program will implement conservation practices and emphasize the importance of more wisely and carefully using Long Island's natural resource of water.

 

Sustainable Long Island will be working with East Islip Green Academy students to construct two rain gardens at a central courtyard within the High School. These rain gardens have been designed by students under the guidance of Rusty Schmidt - our rain garden consultant for the project.

 

The rain gardens will be maintained by the incoming students into the Green Academy and will be used as a pilot for other easily implementable green infrastructure projects.

 

Stay tuned for more details and a full recap of the rain garden build! For now, take a quick read of Sustainable Long Island's recent Reduce Rain Runoff editorial piece in this month's issue of the Corridor Magazine (pages 14-15).  

Neighborhood Public Information Meeting - West End
Monday, June 15, 2015 | 7:00pm-9:00pm
West Elementary School
91 Maryland Ave, Long Beach, NY 11561

Neighborhood Public Information Meeting - North Park
Thursday, June 18, 2015 | 7:00pm-9:00pm
Long Beach Martin Luther King Center
615 Riverside Blvd, Long Beach, NY 11561

 

Sustainable Long Island is proud to participate in a panel discussion at the upcoming "Community Engagement in the Design Process" conference jointly organized by the New York Metro Chapters of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the American Planning Association (APA), and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).  

 

Now in its third year, the 2015 Conference held on Friday, June 12, at the RAB Lighting Showroom in New York, NY will explore the role played by community groups in collaborative planning and design processes.  

 

This event will investigate how design professionals, public sector agencies, non-profits and related organizations can effectively engage the public to inform context-specific decision making for the betterment of projects. Participants will hear from experienced practitioners and stakeholders in a morning panel discussion. The afternoon session will examine case studies and end with an insightful guided tour of a project site.

 

The event's agenda features Sustainable Long Island's Executive Director Amy Engel presenting on a panel discussion from 10AM - 12PM alongside: 

Sustainable Long Island is seeking volunteers for two different projects on Global Community Day hosted by Citibank on Saturday, June 13, 2015.

City of Long Beach Tree Planting
Project work includes planting new, healthy trees consistent with the City's Tree Master Plan (for example: the planting of Cherry and Golden Rain trees at the West End Community Center).

Suffolk County Project
Beautification Efforts at the Seatuck Suffolk County Environmental Center

Project work includes volunteers conducting a variety of cleanup work, including planting of Long Island native plants; removing older plants, weeds, etc.; moving dirt, supplies, wood, etc.; and possible small pond restoration.

 

If you would like to volunteer on either project, please contact info@sustainableli.org for more information!

Each year, tens of thousands of Citi volunteers, along with their friends and families, join together for Global Community Day - an opportunity to use their time, skills and expertise to make a difference in their cities. In 2014, more than 70,000 volunteers worked alongside community partners at service projects across 479 cities in 93 countries in the days leading up to and including Global Community Day. The annual activities focus on a range of local needs - from urban revitalization to environmental conservation to literacy and education.

 

Meghan Z. Gough, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University tackles these issues in her new research published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

 

Discussion about the conflicts between livability and sustainability was introduced more than a decade ago and some would say are still not fully understood, limiting agreement on the policies to promote these ideals. Now we see there is an important nexus between the two concepts that may assist in the other's success. Livability interventions serve as incremental steps that collectively increase the potential for long-term sustainability.

The acknowledgement that public values and perceptions of livability can trump their long-term sustainability concerns, can inform the design of livable cities that are also sustainable. Consumers should have a right to both "livable" and "sustainable" communities, but what do these concepts mean?

 

It is easiest to understand livability when placed in comparison to sustainability. When we talk about sustainability, most research embraces the notion of balancing the long-term interests of economics, environment, and equity while also recognizing the demands of current and future generations. In practice, however, implementation largely favors one principle over the other two, often with social equity prioritized less.

Read more here...