EcoNetwork Topic Area Descriptions

Community Health issues include the design of sites and neighborhoods for active living; economic opportunities throughout the community; access to essential services for all neighborhoods; and access to afford- able and healthy food. Safety issues include crime prevention, design for safe active transportation modes, and natural hazards such as flooding or severe storms/wind.

Active Omaha
Become an active community that supports healthy lifestyles with multiple and diverse environments to promote physical activity for all people in every season.

Safe Omaha
Become a safe community in which all people have community pride and opportunities to play, work, live and thrive.

Healthy Omaha
Become a safe community in which all people have community pride and opportunities to play, work, live and thrive.

Resource Conservation addresses the city's sustainability and adaptability for future conditions in the use of energy and material resources, renewable and sustainable energy systems, and a sustainable economy. Resource Conservation also includes the quality and supply of water, land, and air resources.WaterConserve and protect the high quality of water resources for future generations through educational, technological and policy solutions.

Air and Climate
Develop and implement action-oriented strategies that pursue continuous improvement of air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, incorporate climate change resilience and measure progress regularly; report these findings to the community to stimulate the appropriate action(s).

Energy
Meet energy demand by continuously improving efficiency and by encouraging the supply of diversified, renew- able and sustainable energy systems.

Materials: Purchasing, Waste/Recycling
Maximize the use of standardized processes that promote environmentally-preferred, appropriate purchasing and that aggressively divert materials from the landfill toward a zero waste goal that also promotes the concept of rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle.

Human Resources: Green Jobs, Technology
Promote market transformation, new business attraction, existing business improvements, workforce development, behavior and leadership in order to maximize the social, environmental, and economic benefit of resource and energy conservation.

The Urban Form and Transportation section addresses how urban form--the pattern and density of the city's development--relates to conservation of the natural environment, consumption of energy for transportation, and to the ability to have choices of transportation modes. Transportation issues include reducing dependence on the private automobile, increasing the use of active transportation and transit, and encouraging transit-oriented development.

Large-Scale City Form
Develop a city form that both reduces both the per capita cost of providing city services and establishes the density necessary to support more energy-efficient forms of transportation.

Land Use and Development Policy
Generate development at higher residential densities and true mixed uses that produce more diverse environments and reduce the number of necessary automobile trips.

Land Development
Create individual developments with components that are connected, walkable, and accessible to all modes of transportation, by providing safe, defined, and pleasant routes from the public realm to destinations, based on the needs of each mode. Through redevelopment and change to underutilized areas, establish densities that sup-port transportation alternatives.

Transportation Network
Develop a transportation network that moves people and freight within and through the metropolitan area efficiently, maximizing access and minimizing vehicle miles traveled, energy consumed, and pollutants emitted.

Transit
Develop a public transportation system that offers a degree of coverage, convenience, and amenity, that both provides transportation equity for dependent customers and makes transit an attractive option for discretionary passengers.

Active Transportation
Provide a high level of citywide access and continuity to pedestrians and bicyclists, making active transportation a realistic and integral part of the city's transportation network.

Building Construction concerns the design, construction, and operation of buildings in ways that promote efficient use of energy, resources, and water; site-planning for sustainability; and ensuring indoor environ- mental quality. New construction, building renovation, and infill development/ redevelopment in existing areas of the city are addressed.  Both residential and non-residential building types are addressed.

Non-Residential - Renovations
Take full advantage of the city's building resources and tools to maximize the functional, economic, and cultural value of existing buildings and sites and to improve their environmental performance.

Non-Residential - New Construction
The design of new non-residential building projects will result in sustainable structures and sites that efficiently use land, materials, energy, and water while they also inspire creativity, increase productivity, and enhance the quality of life in the city.

Residential - Renovation / New Construction
Promote the renovation and construction of healthy residential properties that minimize waste and the consumption of energy and water. Create "regenerative" residential communities that produce renewable energy, feed people, promote clean water, improve health, incorporate waste into the nutrient cycle and demonstrate sustainable living.

Building Sites - Residential / Non-Residential
Minimize the consumption of land and maximize the sustainability of building sites through effective use of techniques such as infill development, increased density, building orientation, landscaping, storm water retention, urban agriculture and other sustainable practices.

Natural Environment involves many of the topics that are traditionally considered "environmental issues." Included in these issues are natural resources (land, water, and air/climate), natural features and ecosystems, wildlife habitat, the landscape, and experience-based qualities of environment, such as sound and visual quality.

Land
Ensure that land use and development patterns safeguard natural ecosystems and resources while providing for the long-term health of the community's economy and social climate and the people in the community.

Visual Resources
Preserve natural areas and views that contribute to a scenic setting and distinctive character for the city and metropolitan area. Minimize adverse impacts of air and light pollution on daytime views and night-sky views, balanced with providing for public safety.

Natural Habitats
Preserve, protect, and restore natural communities, ecosystems and their processes and habitat throughout the city and metropolitan area and provide for the needs of native species in balance with human habitation.

Urban Landscapes
Promote the use of native plants in landscaping; eliminate noxious/invasive plants; ensure the health of the city's plant community; and improve the value of the urban landscape for non-pest wildlife.

Air and Climate
Ensure that all areas of the community have a level of air quality that promotes both the health of the people in the community and the natural environment. Enhance the microclimate throughout the community. Take responsible actions to minimize the community's impact on climate change and to mitigate changes that are predicted for the Midwest region's climate.

Acoustic Environment
Ensure that all areas of the community have a level of air quality that promotes both the health of the people in the community and the natural environment. Enhance the microclimate throughout the community. Take responsible actions to minimize the community's impact on climate change and to mitigate changes that are predicted for the Midwest region's climate.

Water
Preserve and restore natural hydrologic features and their functions; provide opportunities for people to experience and connect with natural water features; reduce the impact of urbanization on storm water quality and quantity; ensure the safety and security of the community's water supply; and ensure that water supply and demand is balanced and sustainable both for the community's long- term needs and in consideration of potential climate change impacts.

Natural Resources Planning and Inventory
Protect, enhance and restore habitat and natural ecosystems to levels of function that confer resilience and adaptability and support biological imperatives for clean water and air, food, shelter and public safety.

Green Infrastructure
Design and maintain a strategically planned and managed green infrastructure network composed of natural lands, working landscapes and other open spaces that conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide associated benefits to human populations.

Land Use in Watersheds
Protect and restore the natural systems that underpin watershed health and hydrological integrity.

Water Quality and Supply
Design and maintain an integrated water, storm water, and wastewater system that reduces pollution and protects and restores ecological systems, minimizes energy use and maximizes efficiency, and provides equitable distribution and pricing.

Agriculture and Aquaculture
Conserve and maintain land and other natural resources necessary for agriculture and aquaculture in ways that ensure accessibility, affordability, vitality and continued availability for use by current and future generations.

Resource Lands
Conserve and maintain lands that provide raw materials, renewable natural resources in such a way that allows for sustained harvest and maintains land vitality.

Biodiversity & Invasive Species
Preserve and restore regional biodiversity, with a focus on promoting native species and avoiding and eliminating invasive species.

Ambient Noise and Light
Minimize and manage ambient noise and light levels to protect the integrity of ecological systems and public health without compromising public safety and cultural expression.

Waste Minimization
Minimize waste and optimally recycle material resources to protect natural systems by reducing resource extraction, greenhouse gas emissions, and air and water pollution.

Comprehensive Planning
Provide a long range vision for the future growth and development of the community that addresses economic, environmental and social problems and opportunities within the community; ensure public and encourage private investments are supportive of that vision.

Excellence in Design
Encourage the siting and design of public and private projects to minimize environmental impact, maximize financial efficiency, optimize social equity and benefits, and improve public health.

Interconnected Land Use
Encourage diverse, accessible, and proximate land uses to promote active living and access to vital services including employment, education, and healthy food.

Compact & Complete Communities
Create compact communities with a range of services that allow for amenities and transportation options; afford equitable access to the ingredients of what makes for an economically and socially viable neighborhood; reduce the community's carbon footprint.

Design for People
Create human scale built environments that provide comfort, safety, accessibility and are pleasing to all human inhabitants.

Housing
Foster the preservation, construction and maintenance of an adequate supply of healthful, affordable, resource efficient, and inclusive housing. Residential development should be available to all ages, abilities, incomes, and household sizes and be located in environmentally safe areas near public transportation, jobs, and critical goods and services.

Public Space
Invest in, program and optimally maintain diverse and interconnected public spaces that feature equitable, convenient, and comfortable access, encourage safe and healthy behaviors, minimize hazards, are culturally appropriate and attract and serve all populations.

Transportation
Reduce vehicle miles traveled and associated greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant emissions by enhancing the availability of, and access to, diverse transportation choices, including nonmotorized modes and transit; create safe, affordable mobility and physical activity opportunities for all; and provide and optimally maintain infrastructure that efficiently and affordably moves people and goods locally and regionally.

Land Conservation
Shape the settlement pattern and protect critical community resources by acquiring, conserving, and managing important landscapes in perpetuity.

Historic Preservation & Cultural Heritage
Promote the preservation and reuse of historic resources, including buildings, structures, sites, neighborhood districts and cultural landscapes to assist in the retention of local, regional and national history and heritage, reinforcement of community character, and conservation of material resources.

Codes, Ordinances and Requirements
Ensure that planning guidelines, zoning codes, building codes, and health codes consider community and site context, improve ecological integrity, are based on life cycle costing, foster social equity, and reward innovation.

Public Engagement in Planning and Design
Provide regular, meaningful, and equitable opportunities for citizens to shape the future of their communities.

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation
Achieve greenhouse gas emissions and criteria air pollutant reductions in both municipal operations and the community at large, with attention given to reduction and prevention of inequalities.

Climate Adaptation
Improve the response and resiliency of all communities to climate change impacts on the built, natural and social environments with an emphasis on public health and historically underserved populations.

Energy Supply
Provide an affordable and secure energy supply that increases the development and use of renewable, least toxic and less carbon intensive sources.Energy UseProvide affordable and secure energy for all while minimizing demand and consumption.

Resource Efficient Buildings
Enhance the energy performance and resource efficiency of a community's building stock throughout its lifecycle.

Alternative Fuels and Infrastructure
Support low carbon and high resource efficiency transportation options through the development of supporting infrastructure, fuel purchasing and local fuel production.

Industrial Sector Energy Use
Reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in industrial sector operations and throughout the lifecycle of the products manufactured.

Agricultural Climate Impacts
Encourage the efficient use of resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural and farming processes.

Enterprise Support
Enhance traditional business retention, expansion and attraction activities to work with individual businesses of a range of sizes and types to increase overall economic vitality, environmental and human health, and social responsibility of business enterprises.

Industry Sector Development & Revitalization
Support the growth of new industry sectors, and the transition of existing industry sectors, toward practices, products and services that increase environmental performance, human health and social responsibility.

Market Development
Increase overall market demand in local and export markets for value added products and services that increase environmental performance, human health and social responsibility.

Neighborhood & Community Based Economic Development
Spur community and neighborhood level economic development and redevelopment in ways that develop and manage the community's resources for its residents' benefit on a sustainable and inclusive basis.

Economic Localization
Strengthen and diversify local economies by developing localized networks for economic exchange and increase the total number and market share of locally owned, socioculturally diverse and neighborhood and community based businesses.

Land Redevelopment and Revitalization
Reclaim and repurpose vacant, obsolete or contaminated land and buildings to improve community health and safety, increase environmental quality and provide economic benefits.

Food System
Strengthen local and regional food systems and support and encourage an economically viable, environmentally sound and socially equitable food system throughout the food production, use and disposal life cycle.

Employment Opportunity
Promote diversity and social equity in the workplace, maintain and vigorously enforce anti-discrimination and employment statutes, and provide recourse for those discriminated against in their pursuit or retention of employment.

Employment Benefits
Promote the adoption of affordable health, retirement and other benefits for all workers in all sectors, and provide such benefits to municipal employees.

Labor Rights
Protect all workers' right to organize and bargain collectively to implement progressive and fair labor policies.

Living Wages
Ensure that every worker earns a living wage-one that allows workers and their families to afford a decent standard of living, including housing, transportation, and other basic needs without depending on public subsidies.

Supportive Workplaces
Cultivate family friendly workplaces including flexible scheduling, job sharing, easily accessible childcare, and maternity/paternity leave.

Workplace Learning & Career Paths
Enable career advancement and wage improvement of a community's employee base via professional development, mentoring and academic learning; provide on the job training to improve worker safety, productivity and job satisfaction.

Workforce Development Comprehensive Planning
Use industry and workforce data, coordinated with local economic education development strategies, to drive workforce investments, decision making, goal and priority setting and progress measurement.

Workforce Training
Prepare participants for success in the marketplace and workplace by providing quality, affordable and accessible training that imparts the technical, personal, and team skills leading to demonstrable outcomes with respect to successful employment access and retention.

Resources for Success
Offer support services and tools to help ensure all residents, particularly those with barriers to employment, can successfully enter and complete training programs.

Educational Opportunities
Engage all people, from birth through adulthood, with access to high quality public education.

Educational Environments
Design, manage and operate high quality facilities and learning settings, accessible to all students and community members that appropriately serve their target community, create safe and lasting connections to the community at large, and expand assets for historically underserved communities.

School Community Engagement
Drive successful education inside and outside the classroom by building a strong school community learning partnership and mutual ownership of educational success.

Ecological Literacy
Provide residents with the informational and material resources they need to think critically about and address environmental problems and solutions, and include the environment as an important consideration in their work and daily living.

Arts & Culture
Engage all audiences with a diverse offering of arts and cultural opportunities and allow for regular participation and creative self-expression; use these resources as platforms to address social, environmental, educational and economic development issues in the community.

Arts & Cultural Civic Support
Establish civic leadership and support in cultivating a broad range of arts, cultural and heritage resources and activities.

Social & Cultural Diversity
Celebrate and respect diversity and sensitively utilize the diverse perspectives and traditions embodied in the social, cultural and economic diversity of a community's residents.

Neighborhood Vitality
Support the function and identity of neighborhoods by encouraging communication, strengthening community bonds, local participation and interaction, and enhancing sense of place.

Civic Literacy & Engagement
Encourage communication and promote meaningful participation in civic life within and among neighborhoods and the larger community; create civic participation that is accessible to all, with barriers to full participation eliminated.

Financial Literacy
Empower citizens to make informed choices about the risks and benefits of financial decisions by enhancing understanding of financial concepts and products.

Health System
Establish and maintain a local health system that monitors and improves community health and provides equal access to affordable, quality health services.

Health & Safety Literacy
Provide programs and curricula that encourage health and safety, and provide opportunities to gain knowledge, skills, and values essential to leading physically and mentally healthy and safe lives.

Workplace Health & Safety
Implement workplace policies, procedures, and process and physical modifications that minimize workers' exposures to hazardous conditions, create a healthy working environment, and promote nutrition, physical activity, and stress management.

Food Access & Nutrition
Ensure community food security and equitable physical and economic access to safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food at all times for every resident across a community; provide opportunities for residents to grow their own food; educate residents about nutrition and food-from farm to plate.

Drinking Water Quality
Ensure access to safe, high quality, affordable drinking water for all communities.

Outdoor Air Quality
Ensure that outdoor air quality is healthy for all segments of the human population and for the natural environment.

Indoor Air Quality
Ensure that indoor air quality is healthy for all segments of the human population.Toxics ReductionReduce toxic exposure and manage materials streams to minimize the use and production of toxic substances throughout product and material life cycles.

Natural & Human Hazards
Plan, deploy and maintain physical and social infrastructures such that vulnerability to natural and human hazards and disasters is reduced for all members of a community and ensure that communities are adequately prepared to respond to crises, response is effective and coordinated, and recovery is accelerated.

Emergency Prevention & Response
Utilize long term preventive and collaborative approaches to reduce and avoid emergency incidents; respond to emergency incidents with strategies that minimize response time and harm to humans, property and the environment.

Safe Communities
Create safe, peaceful and thriving communities where all government sectors actively collaborate with citizens as empowered partners to foster pro social behaviors, prevent and reduce crime, and promote nonviolent conflict resolution.

Active Living
Create opportunities for and promote the integration of recreation and physical activity in to people's daily routines and the built environment.

Government Transparency
Require that local decision making processes are transparent and evident to the public through the provision of information, participatory tools, education, and an open process.

Revenue Generation
Ensure that public revenue sources are economically sustainable, promote equity and redress existing inequities, and foster healthy ecosystems now and into the future.

Public Expenditures & Financial Investment
Ensure that local government procurement, expenditures, and financial investments support best practices in social responsibility related to employment, environment, and community development.

Infrastructure Investments
Equitably distribute infrastructure, amenities and services, and redress prior disinvestment, to foster community health and create communities of opportunity.

Social Cohesion
Strengthen communities by encouraging communication, partnerships and trust within and among residents, government, and the larger community.

Human Services
Ensure safety net programs are available so that all residents lead lives of dignity and guarantee basic needs are met.

Poverty Prevention & Alleviation
Prevent people from falling in to poverty as well as proactively enable those who are living in poverty to obtain greater, lasting economic stability and security.

Civil & Human Rights
Promote the full enjoyment by individuals and groups of their political, social and economic civil rights.

Cultural Practices
As relevant to the location, the community integrates traditionally practiced livelihoods and cultural activities in its use of public facilities and areas, governance of private property, planning and development policies and strategies, as well as in other areas of civic life, as appropriate.

Environmental Justice
Develop and enforce government policies and practices that not only contribute to reducing polluted and toxic environments for all residents but also lead to an equitable distribution of the positive and negative environmental effects on the health and wellbeing of communities.

Equity Literacy
Advance the wellbeing of all individuals, particularly the least advantaged, by ensuring citizen and government understanding and skill to support equity in the community.

Adjudication & Restorative Justice
Administer fair and equitable adjudication; involve the community and those convicted of crimes in repairing individual and community scale harm caused by those crimes.

Community Empowerment
Ensure that community members have the skills, resources and assurances needed to participate and lead in defining and implementing decisions affecting individual and community wellbeing.

Equity Assessment & Planning
Identify and analyze patterns of access to foundational community assets, as well as exposure to harms and hazards, and use that information to remedy disparities in access and exposure within and between neighborhoods and populations.