Community-Led Green Infrastructure

The Goal:

Have a competitive, implementable plan developed by year’s end that will reduce climate impacts including flood and excessive heat risk in these neighborhoods.

The Partners:

Melia, Pines Village, Rosedale, and Academy Park Neighborhood Associations; Evans + Lighter Landscape Architecture; and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

The Work:

Learning how to populate a Miro board, understanding specific site conditions within the context of larger systems, and waterflow mapping are all part of the work we’re engaged with as we embark on “Strengthening Community through Climate Resilience Planning in the ‘Gateway to New Orleans East.'”

This community-led green infrastructure planning effort is underway with leadership from the oldest and westernmost neighborhoods in New Orleans East. Community Advisory Team members representing  the  subdivisions of Melia, Pines Village, Rosedale and Academy Park are collaborating throughout the year with  Evans + Lighter Landscape Architecture staff to center resident knowledge and leadership in identifying flood-prone areas, co-designing neighborhood-scale stormwater and green infrastructure solutions, and strengthening advocacy for equitable public investment. 

This Greater New Orleans Foundation and New Orleans Community Support Foundation-led initiative, supported by federal funding, aims to reduce stormwater flooding and advance environmental well-being through development, implementation, and evaluation of community-led green stormwater infrastructure projects focused in vulnerable and underserved communities in the Greater New Orleans region.

The Progress:

We are well on our way to developing our plan. After two productive design workshops with our neighborhood leadership team, we’re planning the first of two community meetings to share our progress and gather feedback on the draft plan.