On January 24, 2014, the Yale Urban Ecosystem Services Symposium welcomed a packed auditorium at Kroon Hall with nearly 25 speakers and 340 participants (200 in person and 140 by webinar). Many participants represented the local community and region, and included Yale students, staff, faculty, and representatives from local agencies such as the CT DEEP.
The symposium, subtitled “New Tools to Guide Ecosystem Management in an Urbanizing World,” explored the application and utility of urban ecosystem services scholarship by bringing together academics and city managers to address the major questions and merits of urban ecosystem services across global, regional, city, and community scales.
The event was presented in partnership by the Hixon Center for Urban Ecology of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the NYC Urban Field Station, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the USDA Forest Services, and the Yale Office of Sustainability.
Carter Strickland, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection delivered the keynote address. Strickland spoke about the NYC Green Infrastructure program and the benefits of green infrastructure in terms of reduced stormwater runoff, reduced energy demand through a moderated heat island effect, improved air quality, increased property values, and reduced frequency of combined sewer overflows.
The morning session covered models for monitoring and quantifying urban ecosystem services. Afternoon panels covered the urban micro-climate, stormwater infrastructure, coastal adaptation, and the role of social and cultural processes in urban ecosystems.
If you missed the event, you can watch videos of the presentations by livestream.