&EPA
www.epa.gov/research
science   in   ACTION
INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
     PLACES  Program Helps Communities onto the Path of Sustainability
     Research Value:

     Land use changes from natural to
     more man-made environments
     that are done with no community
     level planning, shorten the life
     span and lessen the quality of life
     of a community.

     Land use decisions are largely
     responsible for loss of ecosystem
     services that sustain us and
     provide us with quality of life.
     These include the air we breathe,
     the water we drink, plants and
     animals that sustain us and add to
     our quality of life, and provide
     the raw materials on which all of
     our economy is based. Because
     development usually involves
     many small land use changes by
     individuals over time, not guided
     by a larger plan, these necessary
     ecosystem services are being lost.
     A community armed with a
     master plan with a number of
     alternative strategies that
     consider the natural, social, and
     economic needs of the
     community can secure these
     services and thus a long future
     with an excellent quality of life.

     PLACES (Planning Land And
     Communities to be
     Environmentally Sustainable) is
     an EPA program that encourages
     and enables communities to
     voluntarily get their development
     strategies on a path that will
     sustain the environmental
     services that are necessary to
     protect the environment and
     human health.  This program is
            modeled after popular green
            building programs such as
            Leadership in Energy &
            Environmental Design (LEED),
            Smart Growth, Sustainable Sites
            Initiative, Green Globes, etc. that
            focus on site development,
            except that it is applied to entire
            communities.
            Research Details:

            Because all land uses will
            degrade ecosystems that sustain
            human life, development
            decisions must account for their
            effects on ecosystems. This
            requires: (1) that local and
            regional ecosystem functions and
            processes be identified,
            establishing a context for making
            site-level land use decisions that
            minimize impacts on ecosystems;
            and (2) a way to counteract the
            cumulative effects on ecosystems
            that will inevitably occur, but are
            beyond local property boundaries
            and, therefore, beyond the reach
            of site-level land users. Because
            this task is beyond the ability of
            any individual land user to
accomplish, this program focuses
on the smallest form of social
institution that has the authority
and means to act,  i.e., the
community.

EPA Land management
researchers created the PLACES
program to enable communities
to voluntarily:
                                            Identify the natural systems
                                            context for making land use
                                            decisions so that each land use is
                                            aligned with the natural systems
                                            that sustain human life
                                            Develop public/private community
                                            programs to counteract
                                            incremental and cumulative
                                            environmental impacts so that
                                            natural systems remain functional
This program is designed to solve
environmental problems in the
planning process, so that the
environment is not compromised,
and costs to resolve
environmental problems are
largely avoided.


Outcomes and Impacts:

The PLACES program is an
evolving one whose guidelines
are expected to undergo
modifications as they are
applied to more communities
where the science of human-
environment relationships can be
developed.
           U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
           Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL)
           Land Remediation and Pollution Control Division (LRPCD)

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Through programs like PLACES,
the EPA has shown a
commitment to sustainability and
working with entire communities
for maximum effect.
The PLACES program is
building upon the successful
collaboration of the EPA, Kansas
State University,  and EPA
Region 7 with the town of Stella,
Missouri to help it adopt more
sustainable development policies.
This EPA program has shown the
ability to facilitate the awakening
of a community's sense of place
so that they make decisions that
lead to a better quality of life.
The program enables community
planning decisions informed by
an awareness of the natural
aspects of each unique place.
Sustainability efforts in Stella
illustrate how the town can
improve social and economic
systems while maintaining intact
and functioning ecosystems.
Some of these efforts include
development of a park, rain
gardens, habitat protection,  and
more monitoring of local water
quality.
Another test of PLACES begins
this year under the aegis of the
US/German Bilateral Work
Group in the town of Biedenkopf
in Germany. The EPA is
currently seeking additional
candidate communities in the
U.S. to participate in this
program.
LAND RESEARCH PROGRAM
WEB SITE: www.epa.gov/nrmrl/lrpcd

CONTACTS
Technical Inquiries.
Verle Hansen, 513-569-7326, EPA/
ORD/NRMRL/ LRPCD/RRB
hansen.verle(@,epa. gov

Communications Inquiries
Roger Yeardley, 513-569-7548.
EPA/ ORDMRMRL/ LRPCD
veardlev.roger(@,epa.gov
    REFERENCES
Hansen, Verle. 26 June 2009. Planning
Sustainable Land-Use: The Experience of
Stella, Missouri. Presentation to the
Workshop on Institutionalizing Sustainability
Assessment: The Case of Land-use Decisions,
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research- UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.

Hansen, Verle. 7 May 2008. Considering
Environment, Economy,  and Society in Land-
use: A Caste Study — Stella, Missouri.
Presentation at 2008 Brownfield Conference,
Detroit, MI.

Hansen, Verle. 2 August 2007. Starting Small
in Stella: Learning How to Plan for
Sustainability. Paper and presentation to
"Forum on the application of sustainability
theory to urban development practice",
College of Design, Art, Architecture, and
Planning, University of Cincinnati.
                                                                                            EPA/600/F-11/005
                                    National Risk Management Research Laboratory
                                    Land Remediation and Pollution Control Division
                                                                                          www.epa.gov/nrmri

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