CFAR Spring Workshop
Green Infrastructure and the Polycrisis
(April 9-11th, 2026)
There has been much discussion in recent years of the 21st century as a time of polycrisis, involving complex entangled problems such as climate change, social inequality, economic instability, unsustainable resource use, energy insecurity, pandemics, migration and political conflict. Advocates of this analytic approach suggest the need for holistic responses that appreciate the systemic interdependency and feedback loops that connect different crisis areas together.
Green Infrastructure (GI) as a nature-based solutions paradigm has been coming into focus since the 1990s and has received significant attention from both scholars and practitioners for its ability to positively impact multiple overlapping social, environmental, economic and health issues, among them, stormwater management, climate adaptation, heat stress, biodiversity, local food production and soil depletion, improved air and water quality, even sustainable energy production.
In this workshop we want to assess to what extent GI is capable of providing an integrated response to various aspects of the polycrisis. Where, specifically, can GI help and what are its limits? How should GI interventions be most effectively implemented and scaled? What success stories should we be sharing and what cautionary tales should we be studying?
Speakers will include experts in GI drawn from a wide range of fields including: architecture, civil engineering, environmental studies, geography, policy and urban planning. CFAR plans to release a report or white paper based upon the proceedings from this workshop.
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Draft Workshop Program (**Unless otherwise noted, all presentations will take place at Rice University in Kraft Hall 130**)
April 9th
| 830a-9 | Breakfast |
| 9a-930 | Welcome and opening remarks |
| 930a – 11 |
Panel A: Green infrastructure, governance and policy Melissa Keeley (George Washington U) “Learning from Green Infrastructure Policy and Implementation in Washington DC” Sara Meerow (Arizona State U) “Green infrastructure governance, goals, and gaps in U.S. and German cities” |
|
11a – 1230p |
Panel B: Green infrastructure and complex systems Marccus Hendricks (U Maryland) “Planning for Hybridized Infrastructure and Water-Based Polycrises: Social, Technological, and Public Health Lessons from the SIRJ (pronounced surge) Lab” Bridget Wadzuk (Villanova U) “Systems Thinking for Multifunctional Green Infrastructure” |
| 1230p – 2 | Lunch with Houston area community organizers and leaders |
| 2p – 4 |
Panel C: Green infrastructure, community and inequality Fushcia Hoover (UNC Charlotte) “Just Planning with Green Infrastructure; myth, mystery or future” Joowon Im (UT Arlington) “Green Infrastructure: Community-Engaged Processes and Small-Scale Interventions” Susan Rogers (U Houston) “Design as a Strategy for Change: GI and the Community Design Resource Center” |
| 4p – 5 | Walking tour of green infrastructure on Rice’s campus |
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April 10th
| 830a-9 | Breakfast |
|
9a-11 |
Panel D: Green infrastructure, land use and ecology Rui Zhu (Texas Tech U) “Green Infrastructure on Vacant Land: Mechanisms, Context, and Limits in Addressing the Polycrisis” Jesal Shah (Harris County Precinct One) “A Green and Resilient Harris County” Albert Pope (Rice U) “Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Urbanism” |
|
11a-1230p |
Panel E: Green Infrastructure as Catalyst Sayd Randle (Singapore Management U) “Green infrastructure and unintended forms of flourishing” Alessandro Rigolon (U Utah) “Green infrastructure as a catalyst: Overcoming inequities via policy and systems change” |
| 1230p-2p | Lunch |
| 2p – 330p | Writing workshop |
| 330-4p | Coffee break |
| 4p-5p | Closing remarks and discussion of next steps and publication plans |
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April 11th
Green Infrastructure Tour of Houston
(location details and scheduling still TBD but roughly 9a-12p)