Final CIFA Conference Update

Posted on by

It’s finally here! This November 11-12, the Council of Infrastructure Finance Authorities (CIFA) is holding their annual national conference in Portland, and the Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority is doing their best to support this effort.  Specifically, I am helping to organize an Oregon-focused plenary session for the conference, as well as a tour of some of the sustainable infrastructure that exists around Portland.

For the plenary session that will take place on Wednesday November 12 at 9 am, we will be bringing together a number of excellent speakers to present the work they’ve been involved with in regards to Oregon’s natural hazards resiliency. Dr. Kent Yu (Former Chair of the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Committee), Josh Bruce (Director of the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience), and Larry Eaton (GSI Water Solutions, Inc.) will talk about the infrastructure issues associated with natural hazards and discuss what lessons other infrastructure professionals from around the country can learn from the work taking place in Oregon.

For the sustainable infrastructure tour taking place immediately after the plenary from 10 am – 1 pm, the entire tour will take place within the Pearl District’s Brewery Blocks. We will get a tour from Gerdling Edlen, the firm that designed this Eco-district, as well as a presentation from the Portland Water Bureau about some of the reservoir projects they are working on. On top of getting to see the nation’s first condominium to receive LEED Gold Certification and explore some of the most innovative storm water management strategies to date, tour attendees will also get to experience some local Portland culture by getting to explore the Brewery Blocks. Click here for more information about the tour.

The 2014 CIFA Conference is being held at the Hilton Double Tree. Click here for more information about the conference.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
This entry was posted in Geoff Ostrove, Natural Resources Policy Fellow, Uncategorized by Geoff Ostrove. Bookmark the permalink.

About Geoff Ostrove

Geoff (MCRP, 2013, Community & Regional Planning; MS, 2012, Communication & Society, Univ. of Oregon; BA, 2010, Communication, Humboldt State Univ.) is a doctoral candidate in Media Studies at the University of Oregon. His primary focus is on integrating communication theory into the world of community planning and analyzing the political economic factors that influence our perception of land use and development. Geoff is currently working with the Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority (IFA) through the Oregon Sea Grant's Natural Resources Policy Fellowship. His masters project for the Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM) focused on the need to acknowledge the polyrational nature of our communities in order to implement effective public engagement campaigns. Geoff was honored with the University of Oregon's 2013 Public Impact Award, as well as IAMCR's 2013 Urban Communication Research Grant. He was also named one of Humboldt State's Emerging Scholars in 2010. His wide range of research interests include: intercultural communication, religious studies, critical theory, political economy, rhetoric/public address, and urban planning & natural resource management.

One thought on “Final CIFA Conference Update”

  1. It’s interesting how “resilience” has become a such a useful concept around which to plan for the future. I am curious if the speakers will address the natural hazards along the coast, such as tsunamis.

Leave a Reply