STAY COOL Hosts Webinar on “Nature-based Climate Solutions”

The City of San Diego, in its Climate Resilient San Diego Plan, defines Nature-based Solutions as “projects to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, while addressing societal challenges, improving human well-being, and providing bio-diversity benefits. A nature-based solutions approach can help the city protect against climate change risks, such as heat waves, storms, and coastal flooding.”

On May 26, 2022, STAY COOL for Grandkids and its co-sponsors San Diego Audubon Society and St. Bart’s Environmental Stewardship Team hosted a webinar titled “Landscapes for Life: Nature-based Solutions for a Changing Climate”. Special thanks go to Peg Engel and Sarah Benson with STAY COOL, who were instrumental in putting this event together.

Our three speakers are all experts in nature-based solutions and each of them discussed the work that they and their organizations are doing in the City of San Diego and other parts of the San Diego region. They are:

Paul Watson, President and CEO of Global Action Research Center The Global Action Research Center. Paul talked about the Ocean View Growing Grounds, a multi-purpose Community Garden located in Southeast San Diego. OVGG is sited on a 27,000 square foot piece of property in a densely populated, low-income community of color that lies between an Interstate (I-805) and an auto repair shop on a busy bus line – a piece of nature in a neighborhood identified as a brownfield, a food desert, and a food swamp. It is a place to grow food, connect with neighbors, learn new things about healthy living and share your knowledge while sitting in nature in the middle of an urban neighborhood. As a Climate Justice Learning Hub, it is also a place for people to learn about the impacts of climate change on their community and how they can make their community resilient and to have a voice in policies related to Environmental Justice. Paul also discussed a current community education and collaboration project, Environmental Justice Advocates Academy, that he and his colleagues from Global ARC are currently conducting.

Brook Sarson, Co-owner and CEO of CatchingH2O Home – CatchingH2O, heads a company specializing in Rainwater and Greywater Harvesting as well as Ecologically rich and drought-tolerant landscaping. Brook has a background in engineering and Permaculture Design. Her goal is to enhance community resilience by empowering individuals to create decentralized water solutions throughout the county. She has installed hundreds of thousands of gallons of rainwater collection and several hundred greywater systems. Brook’s presentation Water conservation solutions with Brook Sarson. – YouTube provided an overview of the work being done by Catching H20 in San Diego County, and Catherine Henning with Catching H2O was available to answer questions.

Joseph Rivera, Interim Conservation Manager with the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy (SDRVC). Joseph supports planning, coordinating, and implementing the SDRVC Citizen Science and Next to Nature (N2N) Programs, as well as recruiting, training, and supervising SDRVC volunteers and docents. Rivera has an AA in Earth Science and Natural Science from Los Angeles Valley College and a BS from UC San Diego in Environmental Systems. In his presentation, Joseph talked about the Next to Nature (N2N) Program Next to Nature Certification Program – San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy (sdrvc.org). Through this program, “SDVRC and the Green Infrastructure Consortium (GIC) are partnering to encourage the creation of sustainable eco-beneficial landscapes by assisting homeowners and others to develop areas using nature-mimicking approaches that enhance habitat for nature, optimize water resources (rainfall, runoff and irrigation), conserve energy, and more, in order to preserve the integrity of our natural spaces and increase connectivity across the landscape.” Here is a link to a video with highlights of this innovative program. Next to Nature Highlight Reel – YouTube.