Nature is Infrastructure
Workshop Series
Learn how to effectively incorporate natural assets in your asset management planning with our four-part workshop series!
COST
$350 per workshop
PARTICIPANTS
Includes 3 -15 staff members
Delivery
Workshops are 3 hours and held virtually*
WHO: These workshops are suitable for Canadian local governments of any size or capacity who are interested in developing a natural asset management plan.
WHAT: Participants will identify the first steps to meaningfully incorporate natural assets in their broader asset management framework and support cost-effective, climate-ready planning in their community.
Why Include Natural Assets in Asset Management?
Natural assets, including natural areas like wetlands, forests, grasslands, and shorelines are important infrastructure assets, supporting services that communities rely on every day.
Currently, most asset management plans focus solely on built or “grey” infrastructure. However, a growing number of governments across Canada have started to account for natural assets and the services they provide, recognizing that investing in their maintenance, enhancement, and conservation can be part of a cost-effective, climate-resilient approach to infrastructure planning.
Natural assets can help address some of the current infrastructure and climate change challenges by:
- Contributing directly to core municipal water, wastewater and stormwater services by helping to manage water quantity, mitigate flooding and improving water quality
- Supporting non-core services like recreation, public health, and cultural heritage by improving air quality and providing beautiful outdoor settings for leisure activities and socializing
- Contributing to moderating urban heat, food security (e.g., by providing pollinator habitat), and sustaining biodiversity
The Nature is Infrastructure Workshop Series will help your local government staff learn how to meaningfully include natural assets as an asset class that is best suited for your context. Theses workshops are based on the leading research and best practices from NAI’s guide Nature is Infrastructure: How to Include Natural Assets in Asset Management Plans.
Workshop Details
These workshops provide practical guidance to help individual local governments advance natural asset management in ways appropriate for their local context. They are intended for local governments who have some experience in asset management and are looking to expand their efforts to include natural assets / natural infrastructure.
Each workshop is based on the leading research and best practices from the Nature is Infrastructure guide. Delivery will be tailored to your local government’s needs.
Workshop 1 is a pre-requisite. While completing all four workshops is suggested, the participating local government may opt out of Workshops 2, 3 and / or 4 depending on their priorities and capacity. We suggest that the same staff participants attend all sessions for continuity as each workshop will build on the outcomes of Workshop 1.
Workshop 1: Defining Priority Services and Scope for Natural Asset Management*
Start including natural assets in your asset management planning! In this workshop, your local government staff will draft an appropriate scope for the organization’s first natural asset inventory and plan. Participating staff will work with NAI to:
- Explore their local government’s unique service delivery context
- Identify types of natural assets they wish to include in their inventory
- Discuss the priority ecosystem services provided by the assets they wish to sustain and manage
*Workshop 1 is a prerequisite for the other workshops because it provides an opportunity for our experts to gain a good understanding of your government’s local context so that we can help you determine an appropriate scope for natural asset management in your community.
Length: Three (3) hours
Objectives: By the end of the workshop, you will have developed an outline of priority ecosystem services to manage based on your context and a draft scope for your natural asset inventory based on the national standard for natural asset inventories.
This information can be used as a basis to structure your inventory in accordance with the national standard for natural asset inventories.
Workshop 2: Assessing the Condition of Natural Assets
Condition assessment is a core component of asset management. The purpose of an asset condition assessment is to inform an organization’s maintenance and renewal budgets. Knowing a given asset’s condition helps determine how much (or little) investment will be required for the asset to continue to provide the key services for which it has been acquired, secured, or created.
While the focus of this workshop will be on natural assets owned and/or managed by the local government, we will also discuss the importance of considering natural assets owned by others in the area, and how their condition (and management or lack thereof) can impact your natural assets.
Join this workshop to:
- Develop a better understanding of the current good practices for assessing your local government’s natural assets for condition
- Identify what information you have (or could easily get) that can be used to compete an assessment
- Confirm key data gaps and/or missing technical competencies you may wish to fill
- Determine a preliminary approach for assessing the condition of your natural assets with the available (or readily available) data and mapping
Length: Three (3) hours
Objectives: By the end of the workshop, you will have a better understanding of an approach for completing a high-level condition assessment of their natural assets, and specific data and/or competency gaps they need to fill (if any) to undertake such as an assessment.
Workshop 3: Identifying and Prioritizing Risks to Natural Assets
Natural asset risk assessments aim to systematically determine and assess threats that pose risks to the integrity, functionality, and longevity of natural assets. Examples of key risks to natural assets include threats like erosion and flooding, wildfire, invasive species, excessive recreational use, and encroachment from urban development or expansion.
Join this workshop to identify top risks to natural assets today and with future climate change considerations. This is an important first step in natural asset management that supports local governments in including natural assets in climate risk assessments, adaptation plans, land use policies and plans and asset management plans. This workshop can be undertaken whether or not the local government has a natural asset inventory / registry in place.
Length: Three (3) hours
Objectives: By the end of this workshop, you will have estimated the top risks to natural assets and identified gaps in existing data and information that need to be addressed through further study, more proactive monitoring or a more comprehensive risk assessment for priority natural assets.
Workshop 4: Determining Replacement Costs and Valuing Natural Assets
Natural asset valuations, which includes approaches like replacement costs and ecosystem service values, are not representative of nature’s inherent value, but can be a useful measure for decision-making, especially when comparing against built alternatives.
Join this workshop to:
- Understand the benefits of natural asset valuation
- Understand how to effectively apply valuation in decision-making based on existing good practices in the municipal sector
- Identify which which priority natural assets to document replacement costs for and which, if any, ecosystem services to value (e.g., some local governments may focus on only one natural asset type initially, like the urban forest or wetlands; others may choose to value a select number of ecosystem services based on their current priorities, such as nature-based recreation, public health, stormwater, etc.)
Length: Three (3) hours
Objectives: By the end of the workshop, you will have a draft approach to document replacement costs for natural assets and a potential scope for an ecosystem service valuation based on your local government’s current needs and priorities.
Requirements & Application Details
Canadian local governments of any size or capacity are invited to apply. The workshop series is intended for those who are interested in including natural assets as a part of their asset management planning.
Looking for an introduction to natural asset management? We recommend that teams who are new to NAM start with the Natural Asset Management Roadmap Program.
Cost & delivery
- Registration is a flat rate of $350.00 per workshop. Workshop 1 is mandatory
- Includes three (3) to 15 participants
- Workshops are three (3) hours long and delivered virtually*
*NAI can deliver in-person workshops to those wishing to take all four workshops over two consecutive days. However, the local government will be required to cover travel expenses for two NAI team members to attend. If interested in a quote, please reach out to Laura Wilkes at lauraw@naturalassetsinitiative.ca
Who should be involved
Natural asset management requires input and coordination among staff in various roles and different areas of expertise. It is recommended that you have a cross-functional group of at least three (3) and up to 15 participants.
While it may vary depending on the size and structure of your local government, participants should ideally include staff representatives from the following departments:
- financial planning, land use planning
- water / wastewater / stormwater
- parks and recreation / urban forestry / natural areas management
- sustainability / climate change
Time required
A small amount of advanced preparation is recommended to ensure your local government gets as much as possible out of the workshops.
NAI suggests that your local government designates a project lead to complete a short questionnaire (to be provided by NAI) in advance of each workshop. It is estimated that no more than a few hours will be required to complete each questionnaire.
For any questions regarding the Workshop Series, please contact lauraw@naturalassetsinitiative.ca
For those interested in additional preparation, Nature is Infrastructure: How to Include Natural Assets in Asset Management Plans is available at no charge and can be reviewed prior to and/or during the workshop series in whole or in part.
Space is limited: if your organization is interested in part or all of this workshop series, we recommend registering as early as possible.
