The Indiana County Board of Commissioners and the Office of Planning & Development has secured funding to expand Broadband Internet services in select regions of Indiana County. Byron Stauffer, Executive Director Indiana County Office of Planning & Development, will provide project updates on Broadband expansion and other economic development projects in Indiana County.

Indiana County Office of Planning & Development: https://icopd.org/

Speakers Brian Hillard, Government Relations of the Sustainable Energy Fund, and Elaine Evosevic-Lozada, Manager of Special Projects & Finance at Allegheny County Economic Development, introduce the C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) program.
Enabled by Pennsylvania Act 30, C-PACE enables partnerships between County governments and financial institutions to provide low-cost, long-term financing to commercial property owners for energy efficient equipment, renewable energy, and water conservation projects.

The Sustainable Energy Fund on C-PACE: https://thesef.org/our-programs/c-pace/

Henry McKay, Pennsylvania Program Director at Solar United Neighbors (SUN), announces the roll out of the third Indiana County Solar Co-Op. McKay shares that the Co-Op now includes installations for solar panels, batteries, and Electric Vehicle Chargers!

Indiana County Solar Co-Op: https://www.solarunitedneighbors.org/co-https://www.solarunitedneighbors.org/co-ops/pennsylvania/indiana-county-2022-solar-and-ev-charger-co-op/

Local water restorations advocates Adriene Smochek (Board of Directors of Evergreen Conservancy), Cindy Rogers (President of Evergreen Conservancy); Shaun Busler, Biologist and GIS Professional from BioMost, Inc.; Robert Nymick, Manager of the Central Indiana County Water Authority, and Borough Manager of Homer City.

Evergreen Conservancy: https://evergreenconservancy.org/

BioMost, Inc.: https://www.biomost.com/

Homer City: http://www.homercity.com/

Marie Thomas-Olson from the Indiana Community Garden and Chevy Chase Food Forest shares the benefits of food forests and how community members can offer their support.

Indiana County Community Garden: https://www.indianacommunitygarden.org/

Chevy Chase Food Forest: https://chevychasecenter.org/chevy-chase-food-forest/

Dr. Jerry Pickering, retired Professor of Biology shares updates on the Confluence Park Project.

Dr. Brian Okey, Professor of Geography, talks about the environmental fieldwork happening in the surrounding community.

BA Herrington, MFA, Professor of Woodworking in the Department of Art and Design and Director of The Wood Center at IUP, shares information on the Wood Center at IUP's Harvest-to-Use initiative.

Dr. Joe Townsend, Professor of Biology, shares his experiences researching sustainability issues in international settings.

Allegheny Arboretum: https://www.iup.edu/arboretum/index.html

Confluence Discovery Park 2030 Master Plan: https://www.iup.edu/arboretum/files/iup-cdp_masterplan_spreads.pdf

IUP Department of Geography: https://www.iup.edu/geoplanning/index.html

Woodworking at Indiana University of Pennsylvania: https://www.iup.edu/art/undergrad/studio/woodworking.html

IUP Department of Biology: https://www.iup.edu/biology/index.html

Ramiro Davaro-Comas, creator and director of a unique traveling artist residency program, Dripped On The Road, will be presenting a talk about the programs October 2020 residency in Indiana, PA. The talk will touch on the history of the residency program, its October 2020 project in Indiana, PA that brought 14 new murals to town, and the Creative Sustainability initiative they launched to curb emissions and environmental waste, while continuing to create public art. The talk will also feature video segments from their upcoming documentary, in which community members and artists are interviewed about their process and impact on the Indiana community.

Dripped On The Road is a traveling artist residency program dedicated to fostering a unique creative environment for its resident artists while enhancing the visual atmosphere of communities through public art.

This one of a kind program invites selected artists to:
- Travel a predetermined route around the U.S.
- Create public murals in a diverse array of cities and communities.
- Camp at national & state parks to create small works on paper.
- Collaborate with a variety of arts/community organizations on workshops, talks, and panels.
- Create Sustainably by using environmentally conscious materials and planting trees for every project completed.

Pennsylvania is home to a surprising amount of biodiversity, including 22 salamander species and over 400 bird species. Human-caused climate change is happening in Pennsylvania and impacting the state’s plants and animals. We’ll discuss some of the benefits of biodiversity, impacts of climate change on migratory birds of PA, and ways individuals and communities can take action to support birds and biodiversity and to reduce climate change.

This session will be presented by four team members from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and University of Pittsburgh’s Climate and Rural Systems Partnership, who are funded by the National Science Foundation Award #1906774 and #1906368.

As the Conservation Forester for The Nature Conservancy, Kevin Yoder promotes sustainable forest management throughout Pennsylvania. His career has revolved around the integration of wildlife management and forestry, with an emphasis on sustainably managing privately-owned forestland. Kevin is interested helping landowners manage their land sustainably and developing tools and programs that help fund conservation on private lands.
Did you know that forests play a critical role in helping mitigate climate change? Trees take carbon dioxide from the air, store part of the carbon in the wood, and release oxygen. Landowners can manage their forests to store more carbon while also improving wildlife habitat and growing more timber. Landowners can also enroll in programs that pay them to implement certain practices that improve forest carbon storage. Kevin Yoder, Conservation Forester with The Nature Conservancy, will present on forest carbon management and opportunities for landowners to get paid for sustainable forest management.
One of the programs being launched in Pennsylvania is the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP). The FFCP is a new way to unleash globally significant climate change mitigation through America’s family forests. The American Forest Foundation (AFF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are working with leading U.S. businesses, state and federal agencies, other non-profits, and America’s 21 million family forest owners to capture and store more carbon to meet climate goals.
The FFCP represents an opportunity to engage rural landowners with new types of incentives, benefitting family forest owners by helping offset the cost of the needed forest management practices and offer opportunity for income. The program is designed to remove one of the most significant barriers for family forest owners—the high cost of forest of management activities, while also providing technical assistance and professional guidance to landowners on the best options for their forests.
The FFCP incentivizes specific forest management practices which have been scientifically demonstrated to enhance carbon sequestration. Through the program, private landowners will work with professional foresters to implement one or more practices that align with the landowner’s management goals. The practices are consistent with sustainable forestry, provide more suitable wildlife habitat, and support long-term production of forest products.

The FFCP is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and American Forest Foundation.

Join Ed Johnstonbaugh from Penn State Extension for an informative presentation on Biodigesters. Learn more about what they are, how they work, and how they measure-up as a renewable energy source.

PENN STATE EXTENSION Website: https://extension.psu.edu/

SPEAKERS: Henry McKay, Pennsylvania Program Director at Solar United Neighbors (SUN)

Mark Szybist, Climate & Clean Energy Program Senior Attorney at Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.

Ed Johnstonbaugh, Education Program Associate at Penn State Extension

Robert Routh, Public Policy and Regulatory Counsel at Clean Air Council

ORGANIZATION LINKS

Solar United Neighbors (SUN)
https://www.solarunitedneighbors.org/

Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
https://www.nrdc.org/

Penn State Extension
https://extension.psu.edu/

Clean Air Council
https://cleanair.org/

What it is like to be powered by solar in Indiana County? Join our panelists and find out! We’ve gathered solar panel owners from across the county to share their experiences and answer your questions.

INDIANA COUNTY SOLAR CO-OP Website: https://coops.solarunitedneighbors.org/coops/indiana-county-solar-co-op/

Simple choices can have far reaching impacts. Have you ever thought about what it takes for food to arrive on the shelf at the market? Have you ever wanted to know where your food dollar is going? Agriculture and food are paramount to our lives beyond what we actually put into our mouths. Join Curtis Swiantek from the Indiana County Conservation District for a session on how the choice of where you buy your food can greatly affect your community and the environment. Walk away from this session with an idea of how you can build the local economy while persevering our resources.

INDIANA COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT
Website: https://www.iccdpa.org/

Conservation on farms can provide water quality, carbon sequestration, and other benefits at a large scale. Practices that build soil health benefit farmers directly by reducing costs and increasing crop resilience to weather extremes. Over one-third of cropland in Indiana County is rented. Lease terms can incentivize (or dis-incentivize) renters from implementing conservation practices. This session is for landowners to learn more about how they can play a role in promoting conservation and climate change mitigation on their rented ground.

CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Website: https://carnegiemnh.org/educator/crsp-2/

Do-It-yourself energy saving tips and an overview of Community Action, Inc.’s Weatherization Assistance Program. Presentation will include participant eligibility, scope of program services, and desired outcomes.

COMMUNITY ACTION, INC.
Website: https://www.jccap.org/
Resources Page: https://www.jccap.org/Links

Panelists from The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, and Pennsylvania Consultant for Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) will explore the effects energy policy, consumer demand, and technology have on our local and regional workforce. A brief presentation by each panelist will conclude with a question and answer session with the public.

SPEAKERS
Shawn Steffee, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 154
Website: https://boilermakerslocal154.com/

Aric Baker, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 459
Website: http://www.ibew459.org/

Rachel Gleason, Pennsylvania Coal Alliance
Website: https://www.betterwithcoal.com/

Sharon Pillar, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)
Website: https://e2.org/

Since 2010, Coalfield Development has been the catalyst of true transformations for people in Appalachia by creating over 250 new jobs, training over 1,200 people, leveraging more than $20 million in new investment to the region, and revitalizing over 200,000 square feet of formerly dilapidated property. They believe in developing the potential of places and people as they experience challenging moments of economic transition by unlocking people’s creative power to transform perceived problems into opportunities in the communities we call home.

COALFIELD DEVELOPMENT Website: https://coalfield-development.org/