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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">The Nature Conservancy recently released this
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#444444"><a href="http://nrcsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NBS_Procurement_Guide.pdf"><span style="color:#C85C19;text-decoration:none">Procurement Guide to Nature-Based Solutions</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#444444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#444444">Here’s the link:</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://nrcsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NBS_Procurement_Guide.pdf">http://nrcsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NBS_Procurement_Guide.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Here’s some background:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#444444"><a href="http://nrcsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NBS_Procurement_Guide.pdf"><span style="color:#C85C19;text-decoration:none">Procurement
Guide to Nature-Based Solutions</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#444444">As leaders across the country think about how to invest in their communities—from improved infrastructure and increased economic
development to flood management and more livable spaces—they should seriously consider
<a href="https://blog.nature.org/conservancy/2017/07/21/insuring-nature-ensuring-resilience/">
<span style="color:#C85C19;text-decoration:none">investments in nature</span></a>—often referred to as “natural infrastructure” or “nature-based solutions.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#444444">Nature-based solutions use nature or natural processes to help address a wide variety of challenges, including flood risk management.
Today, these solutions provide a growing array of options for communities across the nation. From living shorelines (e.g. oyster reefs and marshes) and restored, reconnected floodplains to culverts that allow for fish passage or flood-tolerant parks, these
solutions are designed to help address the challenges that communities face. At the same time, these solutions can also provide other important benefits, such as improved water quality, enhanced recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat, and increased
protection for transportation and other “grey” infrastructure, along with all the social and fiscal benefits associated with these things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#444444">Unfortunately, these solutions aren’t often on the menu for communities, because traditional requests for proposals (RFPs)—the primary
tool that communities have for soliciting management solutions from experts—are often narrow in their language and implementation, potentially limiting the responses and options available. Simply put, consultants and engineers usually do not respond with innovative,
nature-based solutions to problems when communities don’t ask for them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#444444">This is where the
<a href="http://nrcsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NBS_Procurement_Guide.pdf">
<span style="color:#C85C19;text-decoration:none">Procurement Guide to Nature-Based Solutions</span></a> comes in. The guide is designed to provide communities with guidance, recommendations and best practices for drafting RFPs that empower consultants to identify
creative, nature-based approaches for a myriad of challenges, particularly flood and stormwater management.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#444444">Outlined below are a few simple steps that are among those outlined in the new guide. These are steps that can elicit more resourceful
responses, better options and unrestricted expert advice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#444444;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans"">Ask the right questions; leave the solutions to the experts. Establish an effective problem statement for your RFP that summarizes the desired outcome of the project, rather than a desired product.
Giving experts the guidance to understand where you want to go without telling them exactly how you want to get there will help unlock their creativity and unleash their experience to your community’s biggest benefit.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#444444;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans"">Develop specific selection criteria and concise deliverables for your RFP. While you want to give lots of latitude for experts to provide their ideas, it becomes increasingly important to have
clear and consistent criteria and deliverables to help choose amongst the various options you’ll receive. The more creative the solution set you get, the more difficult it can be to decide which one may be best for your community, so setting out a clear process
for how a project will be selected and what the ultimate goals of that project are can help make the decision process a bit easier.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#444444;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans"">Think outside the box. Nature-based solutions can reveal a variety of resources that may otherwise be unavailable to traditional “grey” infrastructure projects, including funding, potential partners
and maintenance options. Do not waste an opportunity to match innovative solutions with innovative governance.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#444444;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans"">Be transparent. Involve the public and stakeholders as early in the process as possible. While growing in popularity, nature-based solutions are still a relatively new phenomenon and it may take
some members of the public a little longer to understand the benefits they provide. Don’t hesitate to take the time to invest in education and outreach efforts—an excited, engaged and informed community base make the best supporters and advocates.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#444444">For more information and tips, check out (or download) the “<a href="http://nrcsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NBS_Procurement_Guide.pdf"><span style="color:#C85C19;text-decoration:none">Procurement
Guide to Nature-Based Solutions</span></a>” now. Hopefully it can help you find the perfect nature-based solution.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Sheila Dormody</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><br>
<i>Government Relations and <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Cities Program Manager<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt"><a href="mailto:sheila.dormody@tnc.org"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:blue">sheila.dormody@tnc.org</span></a><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:blue">
</span></u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><br>
(401) 214-4505 </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt"><a href="http://nature.org/"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:blue">nature.org</span></b></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#339933">The Nature Conservancy<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#339933">in Rhode Island</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#339933">
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">159 Waterman St.
<br>
Providence, RI 02906</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/natureconservancyrhodeisland/"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="114" height="22" style="width:1.1875in;height:.2291in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image003.png@01D3ABBB.28825320" alt="FB-FindUsOnFacebook-printpackaging-2"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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