Get Smart Growth: New Publication Promotes Resource Protection in Indiana

Posted June 1st, 2009 in News, Sustainable Community Planning

Planning with POWER’s latest publication—Smart Growth and Protection of Natural Resources in Indiana—responds to a problem persistent in urban and residential development in Indiana as well as other states.

“Local land use planning in the past has not incorporated natural resources,” said POWER project leader Robert McCormick. “Typically, housing is scattered in a sprawled fashion without regard to environmental impacts. As a result, we have seriously degraded our water and other natural resources.”

The goal of smart growth—an idea promoted by the U.S. EPA Smart Growth Network (SGN) in 1996—is to protect communities’ natural resources and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods through mixed-use development, transportation accessibility, and protection of open spaces.

With help from Planning with POWER, smart growth development is already underway in Porter County and is under consideration in a handful of other Indiana counties. POWER’s new publication provides details on smart growth development in Indiana and outlines methods for implementation, including SGN’s “Ten Principles of Smart Growth.”

Planning with Power—a statewide educational program that links land use planning with watershed planning at the local level—is coordinated by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Purdue University Extension. The project is designed to empower communities to prevent and solve natural resource problems resulting from changing land use in growing watersheds and to empower local officials to incorporate watershed protection measures into comprehensive land use plans.

For more information or to download the publication, visit Planning with Power or contact Robert McCormick at 765-494-3627.

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Explore the history, impact, and educational power of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).

eeLEARN: MWEE 101 is a free, self-paced online course that walks you through the MWEE framework with examples, planning tools, and downloadable resources that you can use immediately.

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Explore the history, impact, and educational power of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).eeLEARN: MWEE 101 is a free, self-paced online course that walks you through the MWEE framework with examples, planning tools, and downloadable resources that you can use immediately.Start learning today at the link in bio.

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Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective.

Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

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This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective. Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

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Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action.

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Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.

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Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer! Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action. ✨ What’s inside?Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materialsEngaging videos and visualizationsEasy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.🔗 in bio for more.