What we do
Help communities manage rain where it falls.
Engage communities
Our hands on projects get people involved and aware while transforming the urban landscape in a real way, by managing rain where it falls. Current projects include:
- Depave Paradise. Groups of volunteers tear up areas of unused pavement by hand and replace them with green space.
- Rain Garden Groundbreakers. Neighbourhoods at risk take action to retrofit their homes with rain gardens and other measures to reduce basement flooding.
- RAIN Home visit. A professional advice service provided by certified RAIN Guides, who have advanced technical knowledge but come across as friendly, encouraging peers that engage homeowners understanding rainwater issues on their property and finding best solutions to address trouble spots.
Build capacity
- Publish the monthly Umbrella Stormwater Bulletin
- Organize frequent webinars and presentations at conferences
- Facilitate trainings with world-renowned experts on how to get moving to retrofit communities for managing rain where it falls
- Subjects of training and outreach include policy changes and levers, financing, community engagement, green infrastructure construction, planning strategies and successful case studies
Support policy change
- Review and provide input to policy changes and serve on advisory committees for updating stormwater management requirements
- Created the Soak it up! Toolkit which showcases a range of policies and programs for managing rain where it falls
- Presentations and workshops to municipalities who want to learn more
- Steering committee member of the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition and chair of the stormwater subcommittee
Connect stakeholders
- Undertake a collective impact approach to address the issue of urban flooding in Ontario
- Chair stormwater subcommittee of the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition
- Engage practitioners and decision-makers in the potential for implementing right-of-way green infrastructure
