GREEN + HEALTHY CAMDEN
Green + Healthy Camden is a multi-partner initiative to support climate preparedness, equity, health, and park and open space planning throughout Camden, New Jersey. Led by The Trust for Public Land, the project team is providing key planning, decision-making, and park creation support to drive equitable green infrastructure implementation across the city and in particular at schools and other public spaces.
Parks, open space, and multi-benefit green infrastructure all serve to enhance climate resiliency and improve quality life for residents in Camden. An environmental focus is crucial to supporting equity, because climate challenges such as extreme heat, stormwater runoff, and riverine flooding often disproportionately impact low-income residents who have the least resources to cope with these added stressors.
Together, the Green + Healthy Camden partnership is bringing cutting-edge science, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) planning, and fostering collaborative networks to drive park, open space and green infrastructure solutions to help secure a climate-resilient future for the residents of Camden.
Our Climate-Smart Cities process bring together a team of experts to research, design, and build the infrastructure and tools that help increase our resilience to climate change. Our strategy is to:
The Climate Challenge
Like many cities that rely on a combined sewer system to manage stormwater and wastewater, Camden has been plagued by combined sewer overflows that threaten water quality. In Camden, however, it is particularly severe: even relatively small rain events can lead to significant flooding and sewer overflows that send raw sewage into the streets and peoples’ homes. Heat is another major challenge facing residents of Camden. According to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Camden County had a historical average of 6 days a year reaching 100° or hotter. By mid-century that will increase to 35 days a year and by late Century, 61 days a year. Click the above link to learn more and visit the Camden Collaborative Initiative, one of several efforts to address the growing environmental and health challenges throughout Camden.
Partnerships
This project would not be possible without the critical support from our diverse and knowledgeable Technical Advisory Team. The advisory team worked to ensure the Decision Support Tool draws from the best available data and that the tool is designed to meet the needs of local practitioners. The following organizations and entities are represented on the Technical Advisory Team: Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, Camden City School District, Coopers Ferry Partnership, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Rowan University, Drexel University, and the New Jersey Tree Foundation.
Parks for People – Camden
Working in partnership with public agencies and local nonprofits, staff at the Trust for Public Land are helping Camden residents create vibrant green spaces and high quality neighborhoods they envision for themselves. With multiple projects underway and more planned, The Trust for Public Land is transforming barren asphalt schoolyards into high-quality green schoolyards and creating innovative park projects that manage stormwater runoff. Click the above link to learn more about our work throughout Camden.
New Jersey Conservation BluePrint for Camden
Camden Conservation Blueprint is a part of Green + Healthy Camden, a consortium of organizations and publicly available mapping tools developed to support climate preparedness, equity and health, as well as park and open space planning in Camden. The Blueprint is an easy to use, data driven interactive map that includes key information about public health and demographics, as well as detailed information about the condition of recreation facilities and how accessible parks are for residents.