NFWF Regional Collaborative Spotlight Series – SESSION 5
Join Chesapeake Bay restoration practitioners and stakeholders for the final session of a five-part series to explore and elevate understanding of what constitutes effective, regional-scale collaborative approaches for Bay restoration, including the key factors that contribute to their success and how collaboratives evolve, adapt, and mature to sustain progress. We especially welcome stakeholders who are interested in NFWF’s Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) Grants Program, as they will gain insights on what makes for a competitive, INSR-ready collaborative restoration proposal.
About Session 5 “Agricultural and Rural Collaboratives: The Shenandoah Valley – Operating Resources, Relationship, and Effective Process” For years, the Shenandoah Valley has been a focal point for collaborative approaches, dating back to the Waste Solution Forum, a successful agricultural and environmental conservation joint effort to convene partners around building stronger solutions for livestock and manure management, and the catalyst of the Smith Creek Partnership, one of three 2010 “showcase watersheds” in the Chesapeake Bay, demonstrate how dedicated and focused collaborations can accelerate water quality improvement. Both the partners that launched the Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley as well as Virginia Tech Extension and researchers, have made great strides in advancing collaborative approaches and yet, this portion of the Potomac River Basin remains a critical hotspot for nutrient pollution. The building, re-building, and re-imagining of collaboratives requires an understanding and appreciation of past efforts with an eye towards how to do the job better and sustain it over time.
Presenters:
Kate Wofford, Executive Director, Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley
Rory Maguire, Professor and Extension Specialist, School of Plant and Environmental Science, Virginia Tech
Liz Feinberg, Principal, CalVan Environmental (moderator)
