PROPOSED AGENDA

February 17 (cancelled due to weather forecast), 20 & 23

Virginia CBLP Kickoff Meetings

PRE-MEETING INFO SESSION – 8:15-8:45 am

Come early if you need more background!

8:30 – 8:50  – Meeting Sign-in

Coffee and morning snacks provided - thank you co-hosts and VA DGIF!

9:00 – 9:20 - Welcome & Meeting Goals

Welcome and brief summary of meeting purpose, the goal of the CBLP certification, preliminary strategy of CBLP Consortium for development and piloting the CBLP certification program, primary goals of meeting.

9:20 – 10:20 – Circle/Roundtable Group Discussions to:

• Review and refine program goals and mission statement

Develop and pilot a CBLP certification program and meet the need for consistently trained and certified landscape professionals who are qualified to properly design, install and maintain conservation landscapes and small scale stormwater management practices.

• Determine minimum qualifications to earn certification such as experience and tests. 
• Define objectives of curriculum and exam including list of skills and proficiencies. 
• Refine the list of practices that should be covered by certification 

10:20 – 11:00 Groups Report Out to Meeting at large (10 minutes each)

11:00 – 11:30 Focus Topic Selection and Break

Before taking a break, attendees will use “dots” to vote on priority topics for focused small group discussions at stations.

11:35 – 12:40 - Focused Discussions at Stations 

Attendees will self-select their focus topics and go recording stations where a facilitator will record input, participants can stay at the station for the entire time or rotate to another station once they have provided their input or at 15 minute intervals. Participants can hold discussions within these small groups or just record their information and move on.

12:40 – 1:00 – Report Out – Next Steps

Attendees with “dots” select priorities – can ask station facilitator for clarification. Station facilitator will fill out form with details and photos of notes will be taken to record information for compilation and consideration.

1:00 - 3:00 – Option! Bring a Lunch - Stay to Socialize & Continue Discussions

 

JOIN US! Virginia partners and collaborators are meeting to inform curriculum and exam development for the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) Certification initiative. The CBLP certification program will meet the Baywide demand for conservation landscaping professionals qualified to properly design, install and maintain small-scale stormwater best management practices!

Virginia CBLP Consortium partners (Wetlands Watch, Virginia DGIF Habitat Partners, and the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council) are convening working groups of Virginia collaborators at 3 locations in February: Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and Charlottesville (see locations at left).

NATURE AND PURPOSE OF Virginia CBLP Workgroup Meetings

This Bay-wide certification will only work if it meets the needs of our collaborating partners, the Landscape Professionals to be certified and the consumers who will use their services. Although a great deal of work has already been done to establish training programs and guidance for landscape professionals, there is a need to bring consistency across jurisdictional boundaries and guarantee a high level of competency to graduating or certified professionals as well as their potential clientele. 

These February meetings will begin the process of assembling our Virginia partners to identify Virginia certification curriculum and programmatic priorities and interests and ensure that these needs and priorities are addressed as the CBLP workgroups refine curriculum and exam content, programmatic and administrative strategies and pilot programs. Through small and large group discussions and pre-meeting surveys, meeting participants will work on and consider the following tasks:

• Coordination and Communication strategy for partner collaboration, including goals, roles, responsibilities, and time commitments of different partners  and project schedules and deliverables.
• Core Competencies to Certify: Refine preliminary list of practices and core knowledge, curriculum content, hands-on experience needs, best existing training guidance manuals and BMP protocol. Virginia specific versus Baywide qualifiers.
• TARGET AUDIENCE FOR CERTIFICATION and list of existing trade certifications to align with.
• Virginia-specific priorities for a Bay-wide certification. Discuss potential conflicts or barriers to success.

Who should attend these Virginia meetings:

• You or your organization has already pledged to collaborate in the development and piloting of the CBLP in Virginia.
   
• Government, SWCDs, VCE, trade organizations, NGOs, educators from community colleges and universities, and stormwater and landscape/horticultural professionals with expertise to share:
  • In design, installation and maintenance of conservation landscapes, green infrastructure, low impact or environmental site design, and/or small and large scale stormwater best management practices (new and retrofits). 
  • With planting design, installation & maintenance with native plants and invasive plant removal is also needed.
  • As Training partners – who have designed and run (or taught) training/certification/degreed programs for any of the above and wish to be part of a training consortium and/or pilot partners.
  • Existing related trade certifications or degreed programs that want to align existing certifications or degreed programs with the CBLP.

If you are wondering if you should attend and/or you'd like more information about the CBLP, read the background information provided below or contact Shereen Hughes, Virginia CBLP Coordinator Shereen.Hughes@wetlandswatch.org.

Meetings are free, but we need a head count to accomodate everyone, so please register by Feb. 9 if you plan to attend a meeting!

Registered attendees will also be sent a survey prior to the meetings via Survey Monkey.  (If you are prohibited from using Survey Monkey, please note this when you register).

Registeration is Closed!

BACKGROUND:

CBLP CONSORTIUM AND PROGRAM ORGANIZERS

The Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) Certification initiative is being organized and developed by the CBLP Consortium currently comprised of Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council (CCLC), University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Habitat Partners and Wetlands Watch. Shereen Hughes of Wetlands Watch is the Virginia CBLP Coordinator and the CCLC is in the process of hiring an additional coordinator who will be located in the Washington Metropolitan Area. 

The CBLP Certification program is an initiative to develop and pilot  Bay-wide professional landscape certifications that will meet the demand for conservation landscape professionals who are consistently trained and qualified to properly design, install and/or maintain small-scale stormwater best management practices for the Chesapeake Bay Region.  The certification program and organizational structure to administer it will be developed and piloted over the next two years. Curriculum and exam development begins NOW through Fall of 2015. Piloting will begin in Winter 2015 through Summer 2016 in Maryland and Virginia. You can find additional information about the CBLP and our partners at http://www.chesapeakelandscape.org/2014/12/seeking-chesapeake-bay-landscape-professional-certification-coordinator/.

To make the CBLP Certification program a reality, the Consortium engaged over 40 different experienced partners from government, cooperative extension, related trade organizations, non-profit watershed groups, stormwater, conservation landscape, and workforce development training and educational experts, soil and water conservation districts, and individual experienced landscape/horticultural professionals, all considered leading experts in their field – all willing to dedicate time and resources to make the CBLP certification program a reality! The Consortium pursued and obtained funding for program development and piloting from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Maryland Sea Grant, Campbell Foundation, Virginia Environmental Endowment, Prince Charitable Trust, and VA DGIF Habitat Partners with significant in-kind contributions from our collaborating partners.

Our goal is to align efforts and resources of all these amazing partners, not compete, so that we all benefit from the resulting CBLP certification. The Certification Coordinators will work with all partners to achieve this alignment, manage working group meetings, organize and communicate outcomes, promote the program as its developed, recruit certification candidates to pilot the program and run the pilots with our partners.

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