This 30 hour (over twelve weeks) online course is for policy makers, professionals, and students seeking to understand green infrastructure (GI) and its potential for managing the impacts of urbanization and climate change. The aim of the course is to foster a network of professionals engaged with the challenges and opportunities of blending nature and infrastructure.

Green infrastructure and related nature-based solutions are gaining widespread support as effective components of healthy city building as well as climate adaptation strategies. The course provides an overview of how GI systems work, the ecosystem services they can provide, and how they can be employed effectively.

The course has four parts that together provide a substantive overview of the current green infrastructure policy, design, and practice and the associated challenges and opportunities.

• Part One – The Grey to Green Transition explores the reasons that motivate cities, suburbs, and towns to adopt and expand GI systems, identifies the different types of GI and the multitude of benefits associated with them, and showcases successful employment of specific GI strategies.
• Part Two – Design and Implementation discusses the principles and practices behind successful GI design and implementation, identifies targets and guidelines used to regulate GI implementation, and considers the data needed to inform GI design and implementation decisions, and potential sources for the relevant data.
• Part Three– Policy and Governance focuses on the policies, institutions, and systems that govern and drive green infrastructure employment in cities around the world, highlights specific tools and regulations for GI, and compares and contrasts GI policies and governance.
• Part Four – Planning for Green Cities reviews recent advances and most innovative examples of GI design, science, and practice.  This section showcases bold views of what GI will offer cities in the future and how these progressive visions might be realized.

This course is developed and offered by Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Environment’s Professional Programs and Partnerships with funding from Natural Resources Canada and the Adaptation Learning Network. The course is part of a series of courses intended to inspire climate action and improve professional capacity for climate change adaptation.

For more details, including course outline and to register, click here.