Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability is hosting a new five-webinar series — “Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience Leadership Series.” The series is co-hosted by the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and the University of the District of Columbia’s College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences.

The free series will introduce participants to climate change adaptation and resilience leaders working in policy, innovation, and technology, and climate justice and social equity from across various scales of government and other sectors. These experts will share cutting-edge examples of how they are putting effective innovation and equitable climate adaptation into practice.

The first webinar will discuss Climate Adaptation Policy at the State and Local Level. Deliberate, proactive climate action is a deviation from business-as-usual and requires boldly challenging the status quo. At the heart of climate action are individuals: courageous leaders who may come from any part of society. Climate action requires revising, or creating new, law, policy, or regulation to incentive adaptation action and penalize maladaptation. In this webinar, hear from individuals who exemplify visionary leadership and are moving their jurisdictions forward through groundbreaking climate policy. Register for the webinar at register.gotowebinar.com.

Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability is hosting a new five-webinar series — “Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience Leadership Series”. The series is co-hosted by the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and the University of the District of Columbia’s College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences.
The free series will introduce participants to climate change adaptation and resilience leaders working in policy, innovation and technology, and climate justice and social equity from across various scales of government and other sectors. These experts will share cutting-edge examples of how they are putting effective, innovative and equitable climate adaptation into practice.

The first webinar in the new series focuses on Climate Policy.

Panelists for the first webinar include

Michael McCormick, California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research
Guy Williams, President & CEO of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice and Project Director of the Detroit Climate Action Plan.

This session will be moderated by Elizabeth Graffy, Professor of Practice at the Arizona State University’s Center for Science, Policy & Outcomes and Senior Sustainability Scientist at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.

Subsequent webinars will address Innovations in Climate Solutions, and Climate Justice and Adaptation plus other timely and impactful subjects.

More details about this webinar and the entire series will be posted over the next several weeks.

Habitat Restoration

Our volunteer group meets the second and fourth Thursday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon at the HPARD Greenhouse.

We propagate plants from locally collected native seed. A typical workday may include seeding pots, bumping up trays into 1-gallon containers, separating seedlings, and weeding pots. We will also have special seed collecting trips, invasive species removal workdays, and planting events in our restored prairies!

We are also beginning to conduct semi-annual vegetation transects and monthly bird surveys at our current and future restoration sites. If you’re good at identifying plants or birds or if you would like to learn more about them, come join us!

If you’re interested in volunteering for the NRMP, email kelli.ondracek@houstontx.gov.

In a total of 10 classes (25 hours of instruction), this series covers everything you want to know about growing vegetables. Topics include the advantages of organic and ecological approaches over chemicals; vegetable garden design; irrigation and drainage; soil fertility, mulches and composts; organic pest control; seeds, transplants, where to get them and how to plant them. The last half is a detailed discussion of selecting, growing and using the many varieties of vegetables, annual herbs, and melons.

Those who complete the class will become certified Organic Vegetable Specialists.

This is a series of ten classes and may not be taken individually. Assignments for the class include the reading of Dr. Bob Randall’s book, Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers for Metro-Houston. Cost of the book is $45.

SCHEDULE

Thursdays, 2018 from 6:30pm to 9pm

Class 1 – January 18

Class 2 – January 25

Class 3 – February 8

Class 4 – February 22

Class 5 – March 8

Class 6 – March 22

Class 7 – April 5

Class 8 – April 19

Class 9 – May 3

Class 10 – May 17

For an in-depth schedule, go to Spring 2018 class schedule and description.

DIRECTIONS AND PARKING

I-45 S, exit Cullen, go south, enter University of Houston campus, proceed through Elgin, Holman, Entrance 14 and Entrance 13, Cougar Place, turn left at Wheeler, take first right into driveway – park to the left of Lot 9C(although it says permit required, we have permission) Follow Urban Harvest signs back to Wheeler at Cullen. Walk north along Cullen, pass entrance 13 Cougar Village and follow the Urban Harvest signs to the classroom

For more classes by Urban Harvest, view their Upcoming Classes.

In making the most of our small spaces, it’s a good idea to think about an edible landscape. Presented by Angela Chandler, this class will discuss the basics of good landscape design based on sound gardening principles and aesthetic beauty. Included will be instruction on how to design the basic components of the garden space and how to accomplish much of this through the use of food plants – from traditional vegetable crops to edible flowers, fruit trees and more. There are no refunds on classes.

PARKING – There is paid-parking attached to The Museum, or you can park in nearby parking lots or the street for free.

For more information, visit urbanharvest.org.

H-GAC is hosting a series of seminars and hands-on workshops to learn to use H-GAC’s interactive web applications for community and transportation planning. Participants will have access to computers to participate in an interactive session to master the use of these online applications.

A webinar option is also available; however, hands-on activities will be presented to in-person attendees only.

• Seminar 1: Demographic Explorer and Snapshot - Thursday, March 22
  
• Seminar 2: Regional Employment Snapshot & Commute Patterns - Thursday, April 26
• Seminar 3: Activity-Connectivity Explorer - Thursday, May 24

Seminar 1 focuses on the Demographic Explorer and Snapshot which provides quick and easy access to US Census American Community Survey data

Learn how to customize the data displayed to fit your needs:

• Draw and select an area of interest
• Query the data for more information
• Perform market analysis
• Summarize and download data
• Directly use the demographic snapshot tool and maps for presentations

For more information, visit h-gac.com.

Join a staff naturalist to learn how to identify invasive species, the importance of
monitoring and how to properly remove and control their spread. Ages 12+. Reservations required beginning April 18, 2018.

All Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center programs requiring reservations are limited in size and open to one family per phone call. Group reservations are not allowed unless otherwise indicated. Preferential reservations are given to Harris County residents. Persons not residing in Harris County may attend a space-limited program if spaces are available.

All programs and events are free of charge unless otherwise noted and open to the public regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, physical ability, national origin, or religion. Anyone requiring special assistance to participate in these programs should contact the nature center. Programs meet at the Nature Center unless otherwise noted. Solid shoes are recommended for all walks. Call 281-446-8588 for reservations or information.

Habitat Restoration

Our volunteer group meets the second and fourth Thursday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon at the HPARD Greenhouse.

We propagate plants from locally collected native seed. A typical workday may include seeding pots, bumping up trays into 1-gallon containers, separating seedlings, and weeding pots. We will also have special seed collecting trips, invasive species removal workdays, and planting events in our restored prairies!

We are also beginning to conduct semi-annual vegetation transects and monthly bird surveys at our current and future restoration sites. If you’re good at identifying plants or birds or if you would like to learn more about them, come join us!

If you’re interested in volunteering for the NRMP, email kelli.ondracek@houstontx.gov.

In a total of 10 classes (25 hours of instruction), this series covers everything you want to know about growing vegetables. Topics include the advantages of organic and ecological approaches over chemicals; vegetable garden design; irrigation and drainage; soil fertility, mulches and composts; organic pest control; seeds, transplants, where to get them and how to plant them. The last half is a detailed discussion of selecting, growing and using the many varieties of vegetables, annual herbs, and melons.

Those who complete the class will become certified Organic Vegetable Specialists.

This is a series of ten classes and may not be taken individually. Assignments for the class include the reading of Dr. Bob Randall’s book, Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers for Metro-Houston. Cost of the book is $45.

SCHEDULE

Thursdays, 2018 from 6:30pm to 9pm

Class 1 – January 18

Class 2 – January 25

Class 3 – February 8

Class 4 – February 22

Class 5 – March 8

Class 6 – March 22

Class 7 – April 5

Class 8 – April 19

Class 9 – May 3

Class 10 – May 17

For an in-depth schedule, go to Spring 2018 class schedule and description.

DIRECTIONS AND PARKING

I-45 S, exit Cullen, go south, enter University of Houston campus, proceed through Elgin, Holman, Entrance 14 and Entrance 13, Cougar Place, turn left at Wheeler, take first right into driveway – park to the left of Lot 9C(although it says permit required, we have permission) Follow Urban Harvest signs back to Wheeler at Cullen. Walk north along Cullen, pass entrance 13 Cougar Village and follow the Urban Harvest signs to the classroom

For more classes by Urban Harvest, view their Upcoming Classes.

Join Security and Sustainability Forum (SSF) and Island Press in a 90-minute webinar about the emerging field of energy democracy, a movement that frames the struggle of working people, low-income communities, and communities of color to take control of energy resources and use those resources to empower their communities. Energy poverty is a shocking political reality in the United States and is more important than ever to combat as we face the impacts of climate change.

The webinar will be led by Denise Fairchild, the inaugural president of the Emerald Cities Collaborative, and a co-editor of Energy Democracy. Denise has dedicated over 30 years to strengthening housing, jobs, businesses, and economic opportunities for low-income residents and communities of color, domestically and internationally.

Register at register.gotowebinar.com.