UF/IFAS Extension Initiative 4: Sustainable Communities

Developing and Managing a Community Outreach and Dissemination (COD) Core for a Multi-Institution Grant Project

Angela B. Lindsey, Nadia Bahadori, and Samantha Goldenberg

Ten Strategies for Working With Your Home Owner Association to Convert to a Florida-Friendly Yard

Gail Hansen and Claire Lewis

Policies that Address Sustainable Site Development

Marisa Romero and Mark E. Hostetler

Policies that Address Sustainable Building Practices

Marisa Romero and Mark E. Hostetler

Policies that Address Sustainable Landscaping Practices

Marisa Romero and Mark E. Hostetler

Covenants, Codes, and Restrictions that Address Environmental Issues in Residential Communities

Mark E. Hostetler

Evaluating Green Communities: Top Eleven Questions to Ask

Mark E. Hostetler

Perceptions of Florida-Friendly Landscapes: Linking Visual Quality and Environmental Health through Landscape Codes

Gail Hansen, Laura Warner, Paul Monaghan, Emily Ott, Tim Fogarty, Claire Lewis, and Esen Momol

Protecting Natural Areas During Development: Four Spatial Considerations to Maximize their Benefits

Basil V. Iannone III, Tina McIntyre, Alexander J. Reisinger, Eban Z. Bean, Abbey Tyrna, and Brooke L. Moffis

Designers, builders, and managers of sustainable urban areas must consider location and proximity of conserved land, built infrastructure, and designed urban ecosystems such as stormwater ponds and ornamental gardens. This publication introduces four key spatial considerations and discusses their implications for conservation of native plants and animals and the biodiversity and ecological benefits provided by urban landscapes. Planners, builders, and managers must recognize and conserve spatial differences in habitat types and understand how the size, shape, and location of conserved lands and urban ecosystems affect plant and animal welfare and movement. The publication  lists multiple free tools for visualizing and measuring spatial aspects and stresses that conserved areas and designed ecosystems must be properly managed to reap benefits from good spatial planning. People can use the information to improve the design, construction and management of sustainable urban areas.

Strategies to Assess and Enhance the Community Food Environment

Alicia Papanek, Catherine G. Campbell, and Karla Shelnutt

This document aims to enhance understanding of how community food environments (CFEs) are assessed and to present common strategies used by nonprofits, community organizations, Extension, and local and federal governments to improve CFEs. Written by Alicia Papanek, Catherine G. Campbell, and Karla Shelnutt, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, May 2023.

Developing Land in Florida with Fire in Mind: Recommendations for Designers, Developers, and Decision-Makers

Martha C. Monroe, Jennifer M. Fill, Raelene M. Crandall, and Susan Marynowski

Fire protection is a necessary consideration when building homes and designing neighborhoods in Florida. The type, amount, and structure of vegetation surrounding the development and individual houses will affect the risk that homes will catch fire. Architects and developers can significantly reduce wildfire risk for those living and working in Florida by using fire-resistant materials and managing the landscape around developments. This publication details specific recommendations for planning and designing defensible developments, including wildfire mitigation planning, vegetation management, and home construction, and how to balance the risks with the costs of risk mitigation strategies.

Disparities in Community Food Environments

Alicia Papanek, Catherine G. Campbell, and Karla Shelnutt

This publication reviews types of food environment disparities and their implications for food and nutrition security. Written by Alicia Papanek, Catherine G. Campbell, and Karla Shelnutt, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, May 2023.

Cost Estimates for Producing Sargassum spp. Compost

Trent Blare, Afeefa A. Abdool-Ghany, and Helena M. Solo-Gabriele

This publication examines the costs that the city of Ft. Lauderdale incurred to establish a sargassum compost facility. The objective of this analysis is to provide insights to other municipalities and small businesses around south Florida who are considering starting similar composting operations with the expectation that sargassum composting will provide them with more space in their landfills while maintaining their beaches’ tourist appeal. The data for this analysis were collected through interviews in 2021 with several individuals in municipalities and small businesses, which use a wide range of sargassum management strategies. We found that Ft. Lauderdale saves at least $326,000 annually by operating its own composting facility.

Barriers and Opportunities for Pollinator Gardening in Homeowners’ Associations

Laura A. Warner, Colby Silvert, John Diaz, Cody Gusto, Rachel Mallinger

Pollinator gardening has rapidly become recognized as an important component of conservation to combat the issues that have resulted from rapid urbanization. Residential yards can support pollinators and help to restore their habitats. Thus, an opportunity exists for Extension and other practitioners to encourage greater engagement in pollinator gardening. However, research has indicated unique perceived barriers exist among residents in homeowners’ associations (HOAs). By focusing on perceived barriers, Extension and other practitioners can encourage positive adoption changes among residents and HOA stakeholders. Findings in this article suggest many HOA dwellers are unsure whether they are permitted to engage in pollinator gardening, and they may perceive that this approach to landscaping is incompatible with neighborhood norms. These barriers must be addressed at the resident and HOA leadership levels  to help more people engage in gardening to support pollinators.

Scenario Planning for Managing Ecosystem Services and Natural Resources

Jiangxiao Qiu and Lorna Bravo

Florida is experiencing environmental challenges such as climate change, sea-level rise, and urbanization that make it difficult to develop management and policy actions to conserve our ecosystems and their goods and services, which are vital for human well being. Scenario planning is a useful tool to explore and cope with the uncertainties surrounding the future consequences of decisions, but it remains underused in Extension practices. This publication provides an overview of scenario planning and the conditions under which scenario planning can be useful. It explains how to construct and develop effective scenarios for decision making and provides illustrated, real-world examples across different scales. The goal is to introduce the concept of scenario planning to Extension and elaborate its potential to be incorporated into existing Extension programs to help develop robust, sustainable solutions to manage agriculture, ecosystem services, and natural resources in Florida.