On November 2, 3, and 10, the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia's GSI Partners will offer its third annual GSI Operation and Maintenance Course for landscape professionals to learn best practices and advance their skills and working knowledge of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and sustainable stormwater management.
GSI practices require regular maintenance to ensure they continue to perform as intended, which in turn, helps to ensure that the stormwater regulations driving Green City, Clean Waters are being met. As the number of installed best management practices (BMPs) increase on public and private properties, and as more operation and maintenance agreements continue to be enforced, the need for GSI maintenance is increasing. This growing need creates a significant business opportunity for local landscape professionals to get involved. This course intends to both address the growing need for GSI maintenance and to equip landscape professionals interested in developing their service portfolio in the operations and maintenance of public and private green stormwater infrastructure projects so they can best take advantage of the emerging opportunities.
The three-day course features two classroom days and one field day and will provide landscape contractors and grounds managers with an understanding of the importance of operations and maintenance (O+M) of vegetated stormwater management practices, as well as of the tasks involved. Students will leave this course with a basic understanding of the regulatory context of stormwater management, BMPs and their components, how to maintain the vegetation and above-ground components using adaptive and prescriptive management techniques, and how to diagnose and respond to safety and performance issues.
This course was developed by SBN's Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Partners. Please join us!
To learn more about the course, click here.
GSI Partners’ Continuing Education Grants are available for members interested in taking this course*. Learn more about the Continuing Education Grants here.
*The $375 per person fee for the course includes all course materials as well as breakfast and lunch for all 3 days.
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The GSI Partners, a signature program of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN), is a network of local businesses in the green stormwater infrastructure industry, including firms in GSI design, construction, and maintenance, as well as material supply. Green City Clean Waters, the City of Philadelphia’s comprehensive nature-based stormwater management plan, sets a 25-year vision for environmental, social, and economic benefits for our city and region. SBN supports this triple bottom line plan, and is working to support its successful implementation.
SBN approaches this work through a number of activities designed to support the growth of the local industry and the advancement of innovation. We connect our members with each other, prospective clients and other collaborators, and decision-makers, as well as to meaningful content and resources; we promote our members to each other and to prospective clients, as well as promote the triple bottom line benefits of green stormwater infrastructure; and we advocate on our members’ behalf while also incorporating feedback from other key stakeholders.