REIMAGINE URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AS AN ECOSYSTEM: “My research is the first systematic review of the use and definition of the green infrastructure concept in local government plans in the United States,” stated Zbigniew Grabowski, principal author of ‘What is green infrastructure? A study of definitions in US city planning’
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective (REPRODUCED BELOW), and the Story Behind the Story.
The edition published on May 20, 2025 featured the story of Dr. Zbigniew Grabowski, systems thinker and thought leader who advocates for a socio-ecological approach to urban green infrastructure that intertwines Indigenous knowledge. To follow his passion, he has made the leap from professor and researcher to executive director of a stewardship sector alliance that champions co-governance of a watershed.
Reimagine urban green infrastructure as an ecosystem
In 2022, Dr. Zbigniew Grabowski burst onto the local government scene in the United States with What is green infrastructure? A study of definitions in US city planning. Three years later, I wondered, how is this seminal piece of research playing out. To find out, I reached out to Zbigniew for an update.
Zbigniew Grabowski looked at green infrastructure through a social lens
Curious to learn more?
Download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Design With Nature Framework for Integrating Across Infrastructure Systems, published on February 15, 2022.
A source of inspiration for Z: Michael Blackstock and his Blue Ecology
Zbigniew Grabowski has made the leap from professor and researcher at the University of Connecticut to executive director of the Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed.
“My work is about a new paradigm that addresses root causes of water quality issues by moving away from the modernist project of humans as separate from nature,” says Z.
“Because academic systems are not really lined up with deep transformative action, I was not able to develop an intersectoral program based on the doctoral work that I had done.”
“The Mystic River Watershed Alliance is tribally co-governed. We are essentially co-created by the local tribes and area residents to serve as a bridge between communities and engage in a collaborative watershed regeneration action planning process.”
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
“Zbigniew Grabowski is a systems thinker and thought leader,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director. “He is passionate about his mission to reimagine urban green infrastructure through a social lens. He says, I work towards transforming human-ecosystem relationships through the lenses of culture, infrastructure, and everyday life.”
Twenty years ago, British Columbia was recognized as a green infrastructure leader
“The story behind the story of Z’s seminal work on United States green infrastructure practice is eye popping. When Tim Pringle and I met with Z in 2022, we had an Aha Moment. I recall saying, bingo!”
This gem quote showed just how far ahead of the game the Partnership was in 2005. We were already there with a provincial government mandate, Design With Nature objectives for community development, and a program for peer-based learning. But in the 2010s, British Columbia lost momentum, resulting in unfulfilled promise which is playing out as organizational amnesia.
Setting the scene for a future story about Zbigniew Grabowski and Michael Blackstock
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Making the case for an ecosystem-based approach
“Zbigniew Grabowski and I concluded that the stories of our experience in making the Ecological Accounting Process and Blue Ecology real to British Columbia audiences can help him…just as his story can help us…by providing external frames of reference for judging progress in advancing an ecosystem-based approach,” concluded Kim Stephens,
Curious to learn more?
Download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Caring for the land means going beyond just doing enough. Published on January 20, 2024, it features Michael Blackstock and Tim Pringle in a conversation about interconnecting Blue Ecology and EAP.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Reimagine urban green infrastructure as an ecosystem
— an extract from “Synthesis Report on EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, a BC Strategy for Community Investment in Stream Systems “(released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability, June 2022)
EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, is an expression of Blue Ecology. Both are about a restorative framework and mindset. This means restoring the interconnectivity and function of natural systems in a way that truly represents their importance.
Tim Pringle developed the EAP methodology and metrics to make real this guiding philosophy which he framed in the 1990s: use and conversation of land are equal values. It has been a decade long journey for Tim to test, refine and mainstream application of EAP in the local government setting.
In the Synthesis Report on EAP, the essence of Tim’s conversation with Zbigniew Grabowski in January 2022 is distilled into a 2-page summary which is reproduced below. Two ideas explored in their conversation are highlighted: Design With Nature; and Socio-Ecological Systems Context.
Green Infrastructure Continuum idea defines the British Columbia journey
The Partnership for Water Sustainability uses the term ‘green infrastructure continuum’ to frame how green infrastructure understanding and the state-of-the-art around it are building on experience and evolving over time.
The continuum idea provides context for milestones on the green infrastructure journey in B.C. EAP is one point along the continuum.
EAP is the latest evolution in a process that began in the 1990s.
“The Riparian Deficit is a measure of land use intrusion along streams. A comparatively low value is a positive indicator of the effectiveness of streamside setback regulation,” explains Tim Pringle.
“The Riparian Deficit is equivalent to the well-known Infrastructure Deficit that currently drives Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery in British Columbia.”
“Having a number for the Riparian Deficit provides environmental planners with a point of departure for balanced inter-departmental conversations about the services that natural and constructed assets each provides.”
Conversation with Zbigniew Grabowski about moving towards a more inclusive definition of green infrastructure in the United States
Analysis of 122 plans from 20 major cities by Dr. Zbigniew Grabowski of the Cary Institute found that many plans fail to explicitly define green infrastructure. When they do, they tend to focus on stormwater management. A conversation with Dr. Z allowed the Partnership to compare and contrast US and BC experience and connect dots.
IDEA ONE: Design With Nature objectives for community development
The key takeaway from Dr. Z is that the green infrastructure state-of- the-art in the United States is now close to where BC was in 2005 when the Partnership developed a “Design With Nature” framework for a whole-system approach that integrates across infrastructure systems.
In the meantime, the Partnership work has continued to progress along the green infrastructure continuum as we evolve the systems approach. EAP is the latest evolution and may be the gold standard.
More than engineered infrastructure
Synchronicity with British Columbia experience
In 2022, the synthetic definition of green infrastructure put forward by Zbigniew Grabowski and his colleagues echoed the “design with nature” framing put forward by the Partnership in 2005.
Green infrastructure (GI) refers to a system of interconnected ecosystems, ecological-technological hybrids, and built infrastructures providing contextual social, environmental, and technological functions and benefits.
As a planning concept, GI brings attention to how diverse types of urban ecosystems and built infrastructures function in relation to one another to meet socially negotiated goals.
IDEA TWO: Socio-Ecological Systems Context
“So, what led me to look at green infrastructure through the systems lens? It resulted from thinking about how the social processes shaping landscapes are inseparable from people’s relationship with nature, the ecosystem itself, as well as what infrastructure is present on the landscape.”
“It is not just about ecological assets. It is also about these hybrid ‘built assets’ as well as the range of technological innovations.”
Look at Green Infrastructure through a Social Lens
“We had this moment of realization about the diversity of plans when it clicked in our minds about analyzing all the plans in terms of three big buckets: something that is very stormwater-focused, something that is very land-focused, and something that is trying to integrate the two.”
Re-imagining green infrastructure as an integrated system
His revelation describes the essence of EAP and what the Partnership for Sustainability is striving to accomplish by advancing this foundational concept: Drainage infrastructure and the stream system together provide the municipal Drainage Service.
Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series
To download a copy of the foregoing resource as a PDF document for your records and/or sharing, click on Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Reimagine urban green infrastructure as an ecosystem.
