Build Climate Resilience Through Restored Urban Ecosystems

This presentation reveals how successful collaboration between planners, of natural resources, parks, economic development, and private sector development is resulting in the build-out of an extensive system of integrated habitat, public places, restored streams (surface stormwater), and shoreline at the 52-acre Minneapolis Upper Harbor Redevelopment site. When completed the Upper Harbor project will provide improved climate resilience; and a significant increase in social, economic, and environmental benefits to a *Minneapolis Green Zone community that historically has been disconnected from the benefits of the Mississippi River. The presentation will track how the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) worked with the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, and private developers (the “Partners”) to fully integrate natural systems as an essential part of the site’s infrastructure design, in a manner that supports a healthy built environment and reduces long term operations and maintenance costs for developers. The presentation will also touch on the public-private partnership that is collaboratively supporting the current capital projects underway, future construction phases, the performance of the system overall, and the degree of effort required by Partners’ planning, engineering, landscape design, legal and, senior leadership teams.

*https://www2.minneapolismn.gov/government/departments/health/sustainability-homes-environment/sustainability/green-zones/