Local environmental advisory council members and municipal leaders are invited to attend a community-focused workshop and networking on September 14 at The Discovery Center, a unique wildlife sanctuary on a protected reservoir in East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. 

Join fellow municipal colleagues/community volunteers in the region to explore ways of creating more sustainable, connected, and natural communities for the benefit of people, birds, and other wildlife. Includes breakfast, lunch and optional pre-workshop bird walk.

This solutions-oriented workshop includes green infrastructure, policy, and community outreach tracks that will highlight tools and resources designed for municipal use and will provide a platform to share insights on managing our local resources in ways that support system-wide sustainable landscapes that we all need.

County, municipal, and environmental advisory council presenters will describe plans, ordinances, projects, and other initiatives implemented in their communities.

Interactive sessions will enable attendees to ask questions, describe their own sustainability, community greening, and stormwater management programs, and think through how they can work collaboratively to continue to advance those efforts.

With generous support from the Elmwood Park Zoo, the workshop is being organized by PA Audubon, PA Environmental Council, and the PA Land Trust Association.

Mini Grants

Attendees will also be eligible to apply for a mini grant of up to $1,500 to support new project ideas that come out of the workshop or existing projects related to workshop themes.

This workshop is $10.00 and includes breakfast, lunch, and complimentary tour of the facility. Attendees may also opt for an early morning bird walk with PA Audubon experts from 8:00 to 9:15 a.m.

Click Here to register or for more information.  Questions should be directed to Valerie Peckham, of Audubon Pennsylvania by sending email to: vpeckham@audubon.org or calling 610-666-5593 x114.

For more information on programs, initiatives, other upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Environmental Advisory Council Network website.  The EAC Network is a project of the PA Land Trust Association.

Environmental advisory councils (EACs) are officially created arms of Pennsylvania’s municipal governments that focus exclusively on environmental conservation and improvement.

Consisting of three to seven selected members, EACs act as advisors to the governing boards that appoint them and to the local planning commissions, giving municipal governments a pool of hometown talent to draw upon when they make decisions affecting the environmental resources in their communities.

EACs undertake a wide variety of projects and information-gathering tasks, providing energy and objective, in-depth analysis about environmental resource issues.

Since municipal ordinances and decisions advised by sound science often prove successful and enduring, EACs can be a huge benefit to the communities that create them.

Any municipality or group of municipalities in Pennsylvania may create an EAC by ordinance, making this resource available wherever it may be needed.

(Photo: The Discovery Center, East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.)

[Posted: August 22, 2019]

8/26/2019