Delta Institute has partnered with McHenry County, IL, to create both a county-wide solid waste management strategy (2012) and provide a 10-year update in 2022.
Projects Roster
Proactive Municipal Climate Planning: Delta Institute and the Resilience Innovation Hub
Delta Institute (Delta) joined the Resilience Innovation Hub, focused on increasing community adaptability while lowering insurance premiums. We are undertaking activities focused on understanding the barriers to implementing resilience activities at the local and regional scale while creating innovative solutions to assist communities to implement projects and initiatives to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Institutionalizing Soil Health Land Valuation in Michigan
Delta engaged landowners, land managers, and farmers to implement conservation practices in Southeastern Michigan, thus improving environmental outcomes, while exploring soil health as a core component of the land valuation and appraisal process of Michigan’s working lands.
Conservation Hotspot Analysis in Illinois
To assess conservation adoption in Illinois and identify key factors that lead to higher adoption rates, Delta Institute (Delta) and the Environmental Working Group partnered to identify conservation hotspots. We utilized publicly available data to identify where conservation practices are being adopted. Where we had datasets that covered extended time ranges, we also assessed the longevity of conservation behavior. Additionally, an interactive map was created to facilitate further exploration of the data.
Regenerative Agriculture and Business Planning / Strategy at Zumwalt Acres in East Central Illinois
Delta Institute provided consulting and strategic guidance to Zumwalt Acres, a regenerative agriculture-focused family farm in Sheldon, Illinois. Regenerative practices include agroforestry, biochar, natural soil amendments, and other practices; a robust regenerative agriculture apprenticeship is also a core program.
Expanding Grass-Fed Beef Market Drivers in the Greater Chicago Foodshed
Delta Institute (Delta) has spent more than three years analyzing the myriad of economic and environmental benefits associated with expanding regenerative grazing and grass-fed production in Illinois to provide a market-driven evolution of farming methodology. Through our work, we have developed a clear picture of grass-fed beef supply and demand in Illinois, establishing a target for additional acres of regenerative grazing needed in the coming years to meet Chicago’s growing grass-fed beef market.
2021 City of Chicago Waste Strategy
The City of Chicago has the opportunity to implement strategies to tackle waste and materials management that impact our economy, environment, and citizens every day. These strategies offer opportunities to reduce waste; increase diversion through reuse, recycling, and composting; reduce costs; and increase economic and environmental justice opportunities.
Delta Institute (Delta) was hired by the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the entire municipal waste system and its directly related impacts on the community. As a core part of our efforts, Delta developed a holistic, pragmatic roadmap with short-term recommendations for 2021-2022 to re-envision what materials management in Chicago could look like, while ultimately turning waste into resource.
Catalyzing Private Sector Investment on Chicago’s Southeast Side for Sustainable Revitalization
Delta Institute is working with our long-term partner, the Illinois International Port District to assess and evaluate the placement and creation of two new wetlands that will capture stormwater on IIPD’s land–keeping pollutants from entering the Calumet River and traveling through dozens of downstream communities.
Pay for Performance Agricultural Conservation in the Kalamazoo River Watershed (MI)
Delta Institute (Delta) created a market and performance-based agricultural incentive program to reduce phosphorus loading in the Kalamazoo River Watershed associated with agricultural sources. Participating farmers entered bids to achieve phosphorus loading reductions at the lowest cost by implementing conservation practices. Farmers whose bids are accepted are paid to achieve those reductions.
Community-Led Brownfield Redevelopment in the Little Village Neighborhood
Through a robust partnership between the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and Delta Institute (Delta), our efforts included a comprehensive mapping project of numerous brownfield sites in the neighborhood and the creation of sustainable redevelopment strategy. These efforts helped lead to a Chicago Prize Finalist (2020) project.
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