Summit - Northen Virginia's Common Wealth

Recognizing Our Region’s Treasured Landscapes Workshop

• The Workshop was a public outreach event that served to inform and engage Northern Virginia residents regarding green infrastructure.
• Participants were invited to place a sticker on a “Zip Code” map of the Region to represent where they came from. The map showed a wide geographic range of participants, with most being from Fairfax County.
• Karen Firehock, Executive Director of the Green Infrastructure Center presented on the basic principles and benefits of green infrastructure based planning. Laura Grape, of NVRC, explained how these benefits relate to Northern Virginia’s quality of life.
• Mike Nardolilli, President of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust spoke on the Trust’s mission to “Save Nearby Nature” and explained voluntary conservation opportunities.
• Participants rotated between 4 different stations. Each station had a different focus used theme-specific maps, specifically Cultural Resources, Water Resources (Assets and Impairments), Nature Based Recreation, and Favorite Places to show the relationship between human-related interests and natural habitat areas. Participants identified assets that could be mapped, envisioned corridors that had multiple assets, and proposed policy-related ideas that could improve planning and conservation processes. Several cross-jurisdictional areas were stressed as being critical components of the Region’s green infrastructure network.