Tools and Publications
| Title | Initiative | Program Area | Audience | Date | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservation Hotspot Analysis: Expanded Findings | Landscapes | Regenerative Agriculture | Farmers | 11/15/22 | An overview of our team’s expanded findings following the Conservation Hotspots Analysis in Illinois report. We have also included more in-depth analyses of agricultural conservation hotspots in Northeastern Illinois, specifically for Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties. Expanded findings include: resource Distribution through USDA NRCS; factors impacting consistently above-average counties; the role of winter wheat in cover crop values; and detailed analyses for land usage, cover crop acreage percentage, and federal conservation incentive spending in Northeast Illinois counties. We thank the Oberweiler Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation for generously sponsoring this work to protect the environment, increase adoption of regenerative agriculture and conservation, and improve soil health in Illinois. Support from the Oberweiler Foundation advanced more in-depth analyses of agricultural conservation in Northeastern Illinois. | Link to Publication |
| Grass-Fed Beef Institutional Procurement Analysis | Landscapes | Regenerative Agriculture | For Profit Entities, Municipalities | 06/09/22 | This report presents potential interventions to be applied by stakeholders at various points in the procurement process including production, aggregation, processing/distribution, food service, and actions taken at the institutional level. | Link to Publication |
| Recommended Interventions for Grass-Fed Beef Production and Value-Chains | Landscapes | Regenerative Agriculture | Farmers, Nonprofits | 06/09/22 | This memo describes analysis to identify key businesses currently associated with beef production and value-chains in or connected to the priority watersheds, with an emphasis on grazing and grass-fed beef production. It includes recommended interventions for the transition of production and value chain development, as informed by stakeholders. | Link to Publication |
| Regenerative Grazing Transition Analysis | Landscapes | Regenerative Agriculture | Farmers, Nonprofits | 06/09/22 | Analysis and recommendations to advance transitions to regenerative grazing and grass-fed beef production in priority watersheds. The analysis focuses on transition of cropland to permanent perennial pasture, since perennialization of the landscape is shown to have the highest water quality, carbon, and infiltration impacts. | Link to Publication |
| Priority Watershed Selection for Expanding Regenerative Grazing in the Chicago Foodshed | Landscapes | Regenerative Agriculture | Farmers, Nonprofits | 06/09/22 | This tool combines 14 datasets across the categories of biodiversity, water quality, economics, infrastructure, and suitability for Chicago markets to support the expansion of grass-fed beef markets to support regional producers while offering consumers healthier, more local food options. | Link to Publication |
| Conservation in Illinois: Hotspot Analysis and Implications for Program Design | Landscapes | Land Stewardship | Farmers, Land Trusts, Nonprofits | 08/09/21 | Understanding conservation behavior is one of the key factors in designing effective programs. To assess conservation adoption in Illinois and identify key factors that lead to higher adoption rates, Delta Institute and Environmental Working Group partnered to identify conservation hotspots, defined as Illinois counties with high uptake of specific conservation programs, and evaluate the impact of relevant factors. The results of the analysis suggest that future strategies which seek to more effectively deploy financial and technical support to increase conservation adoption should be modified to focus on local conditions and concerns, avoiding a state-wide or uniform program design that fails to consider local factors. | Link to Publication |
| 2021 City of Chicago Waste Strategy | Communities | Deconstruction and Waste Reduction | Municipalities | 07/14/21 | 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 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 Institute 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. | Link to Publication |
| Land Acquisition Strategy: Michigan City | Communities | Green Infrastructure, Resilient Communities | Community Groups, Land Trusts, Municipalities | 12/03/20 | This Land Acquisition Strategy was created to facilitate Michigan City in acquiring land for the sustainable management of stormwater through nature-based solutions and the protection of high-value natural areas by documenting institutional knowledge on land acquisition deals for conservation purposes and creating an easy-to-implement acquisition process. | Link to Publication |
| Regenerative Agriculture Factsheet for Public Agencies | Landscapes | Land Stewardship | Land Trusts, Municipalities | 10/26/20 | In order to successfully use regenerative agriculture as a system to manage farmland, it is important to ensure that land managers and decision makers understand the key principles of regenerative agriculture. Though several definitions have been developed, they are all based on the idea that soil is a living, functioning system. This brief overview helps illustrate why land-owning public agencies can use regenerative agriculture for their farmland. | Link to Publication |
| City of Gary Green Infrastructure Plan | Communities | Green Infrastructure | Municipalities | 10/09/20 | Delta’s Gary Green Infrastructure Plan is a two-year project focused on assisting the City of Gary with planning and implementing Green Infrastructure (GI). Since 2016, as part of the Plan, Delta Institute, the City of Gary, and our partners developed a GI Mapping Tool, city-wide GI Suitability Analysis, a GI Zoning Ordinance, a Stormwater Impact Financial Analysis, a prioritized GI project list, and GI management strategies. The GI Plan will play a significant role in how the city uses GI strategies to regulate land use, advance development projects, manage stormwater, control sewer overflow problems, and decrease pollution. | Link to Publication |
| Brownfields Marketability Scoring Tool | Communities | Brownfields, Resilient Communities | Community Groups, Municipalities | 08/19/20 | This tool is designed to assist communities in prioritizing brownfield sites for redevelopment. This scoring tool takes into account the following site and community characteristics: ownership, site use, land characteristics, community characteristics, community capacity, redevelopment incentives, infrastructure amenities, environmental conditions, and building characteristics. | Link to Publication |
| Chicago Neighborhood Inclusive Redevelopment Strategy | Communities | Resilient Communities | Community Groups, Land Trusts, Municipalities | 07/23/20 | Chicago has become a tale of two cities. In most of the City's neighborhoods, income has declined, middle-class residents and immigrants are leaving, and employment opportunities are scarce. Yet the housing burden and the cost of living continue to rise. In this paper, Delta proposes to work with low- and moderate-income communities to create the Chicago Neighborhood Land Bank and Trust (CNLB&T). CNLB&T can create the capacity for member communities to manage their own redevelopment to achieve equity by building agency, assets, and opportunities for their residents. | Link to Publication |
| Waste Management Toolkit | Communities | Deconstruction and Waste Reduction | Community Groups, Municipalities | 08/01/16 | This overview illustrates best practices for waste management procurement and provides questions that will help municipalities achieve some or all of the best practice components. These recommendations should supplement your community’s standard procurement process and any existing local constraints, and offer suggestions and modifications to address the unique needs of a waste hauler contractual relationship. | Link to Publication |
| Brownfield Mapping and Reuse Analysis in Little Village, Chicago | Communities | Brownfields | Community Groups, Municipalities | 04/23/20 | This paper describes the process Delta Institute’s project team used to obtain and directly integrate a community’s goals and needs into an engineering-based, brownfields prioritization rubric. We scored brownfield sites to produce refined, site marketability scores and summaries that were then used to inform a more time intensive, flexible, and individualized community and stakeholder engagement process. We incorporated significant community input on desired reuse of the sites to ensure that potential redevelopment was inclusive, respectful, and culturally appropriate. | Link to Publication |
| Integrated Strategies to Reduce Nutrient Loss and Regenerate Soils | Landscapes | Land Stewardship | Farmers, Land Trusts | 12/01/17 | Nutrient losses and soil degradation are symptomatic of the current state of agricultural systems that define much of the Illinois landscape. Excessive nutrients in waterways are currently the leading cause of water quality impairments in the Midwest and across the globe. Furthermore, the loss of soil and its carbon-rich organic matter is detrimental to crop cultivation, water quality and infiltration, nutrient cycling, pest moderation, as well as the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The first part outlines markets drivers that could provide mechanisms to advance the plans proposed in the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS), in addition to various policy and social drivers that could be leveraged in Illinois. The second part focuses on the role of Illinois state agencies in advancing the NLRS and highlights the opportunities to leverage resources that support its implementation. The third part identifies opportunities for broader programmatic alignment between the NLRS and soil health to move toward a recarbonized rural landscape that provides water quality, climate and community benefits. We provide a snapshot of available models and tools highlighting the gaps and opportunities in utilizing those tools to support successful development and adoption of market drivers, reducing pollution, and strengthening the sustainability of agricultural systems in Illinois. This work was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. | Link to Publication |
| Coal in the US: Policy Responses to an Industry in Decline | Communities | Brownfields | Community Groups, Municipalities | 03/01/18 | With funding provided by the Just Transition Fund, Delta Institute evaluated and analyized policy approaches to help communities facing the closure of their local coal plant. As power plants continue to go offline and coal mines close, communities that house these facilities are faced with the challenge of planning for the remediation and reuse of their brownfield site, retraining displaced workers, and filling the hole in their community’s tax base. | Link to Publication |
| Soil Wealth | Landscapes | Regenerative Agriculture | Foundations, Investors | 07/01/19 | The report provides an in-depth analysis not only of investments in farmland, but also of investment opportunities across asset classes that support regenerative agricultural value chains and food systems, including banking and cash equivalents, fixed-income investing in both public and private debt markets, public equities, and the private equity and venture capital market. Across these asset classes, it identifies 67 distinct investment mechanisms, instruments, and approaches for further developing regenerative agriculture capital opportunities. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for investors and stakeholders to build greater “soil wealth” -- the benefits associated with improving soil health and increasing rural wealth through regenerative agriculture. Soil Wealth stems from a major, three-year project on innovative mechanisms for financing regenerative agriculture funded by a Conservation Innovation Grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). | Link to Publication |
| Land Tenure and Conservation in Agriculture | Landscapes | Land Stewardship | Land Trusts, Nonprofits | 05/01/19 | With support from the Walton Family Foundation, we released this report and analysis on land ownership, leasing, and tenure as levers to expand conservation practices to rebuild soil health throughout the Midwest. This report explores the network of stakeholders, policies, and institutions through which soil health can be linked to the value of the land and serve as an incentive to change management of that land—and compiles a set of resources that may be taken in concert or used separately by a variety of stakeholders to advance soil health and agricultural conservation practices on farmland in the Midwest and beyond. Specifically, this body of work focused on land trust and publicly held land holdings in Illinois, and how rental agreements can help ownership meet their stewardship goals. | Link to Publication |
| Green Infrastructure Designs: Best Management Practices for Replicability | Communities | Green Infrastructure | Community Groups, Municipalities | 09/01/21 | The original version of this guide was released by Delta Institute in July 2015, with consistent updates since then. This most recent version from September 2021 provides municipalities, community groups, and residents with in-depth ways to identify opportunities for green infrastructure implementation; illustrates which practices are most suitable for a specific site or purpose; and, how to make informed decisions based on reasonable cost estimates. | Link to Publication |
| Shenango Reimagined | Communities | Brownfields | Community Groups, Municipalities | 03/01/20 | Delta Institute has worked with numerous communities who are faced with a closed or closing coal power plant. These sites have unique needs for redevelopment, ranging from environmental remediation to replacement of lost tax revenue and jobs. Delta facilitated a coalition of community groups located outside Pittsburgh, PA to create Guiding Principles for sustainable redevelopment of the closed Shenango Coke Plant property located on Neville Island, located on the Ohio River. Intended for use by future developers of the 50-acre site, these Guiding Principles were created by the Shenango Reimagined Advisory Council, composed of citizens, environmental groups, economic development agencies, and municipalities. The revisioning process also identified 20 site reuse ideas that are in alignment with Guiding Principles and market forces. These efforts were facilitated by Delta staff. | Link to Publication |
| Advocacy and Action for Incentivizing Conservation | Landscapes | Land Stewardship, Regenerative Agriculture | Land Trusts, Municipalities, Nonprofits | 08/07/19 | This section is a portion of our “Land Tenure and Conservation in Agriculture: Creating Incentives for Landowners” report issued in May 2019. The report explores the network of stakeholders, policies, and institutions through which soil health can be linked to the value of the land and serve as an incentive to change management of that land—and compiles a set of resources that may be taken in concert or used separately by a variety of stakeholders to advance soil health and agricultural conservation practices on farmland in the Midwest and beyond. | Link to Publication |
| Farmland Leasing Toolkit for Land Managers | Landscapes | Land Stewardship, Regenerative Agriculture | Farmers, Land Trusts, Nonprofits | 08/07/19 | This section is a portion of our “Land Tenure and Conservation in Agriculture: Creating Incentives for Landowners” report issued in May 2019. This report explores the network of stakeholders, policies, and institutions through which soil health can be linked to the value of the land and serve as an incentive to change management of that land—and compiles a set of resources that may be taken in concert or used separately by a variety of stakeholders to advance soil health and agricultural conservation practices on farmland in the Midwest and beyond. | Link to Publication |
| Land Management through Leasing | Landscapes | Land Stewardship, Regenerative Agriculture | Farmers, For Profit Entities, Investors, Land Trusts, Nonprofits | 08/07/19 | This section is a portion of our “Land Tenure and Conservation in Agriculture: Creating Incentives for Landowners” report issued in May 2019. This report explores the network of stakeholders, policies, and institutions through which soil health can be linked to the value of the land and serve as an incentive to change management of that land—and compiles a set of resources that may be taken in concert or used separately by a variety of stakeholders to advance soil health and agricultural conservation practices on farmland in the Midwest and beyond. | Link to Publication |
| Land Value: Exploring the Current Agricultural Land Valuation System | Landscapes | Land Stewardship, Regenerative Agriculture | Farmers, For Profit Entities, Investors, Land Trusts, Municipalities, Nonprofits | 08/07/19 | This section is a portion of our “Land Tenure and Conservation in Agriculture: Creating Incentives for Landowners” report issued in May 2019. This report explores the network of stakeholders, policies, and institutions through which soil health can be linked to the value of the land and serve as an incentive to change management of that land—and compiles a set of resources that may be taken in concert or used separately by a variety of stakeholders to advance soil health and agricultural conservation practices on farmland in the Midwest and beyond. | Link to Publication |
| State of Land Stewardship in Illinois | Landscapes | Land Stewardship | Farmers, Land Trusts | 07/01/19 | Roughly 50,000 acres of the 1.5 million total acres of conserved land in Illinois are owned by non-governmental conservation groups, also known as conservation land trusts. Traditionally, conservation land trusts have protected land, often restored it, and later transferred it to government entities for long-term ownership, which effectively transfers the responsibility of land stewardship to those governmental entities. Funded by the Grand Victoria Foundation, a team of nonprofits led by Delta collaborated on a research project to understand and map out the current conditions of conservation organization-based land stewardship in Illinois. | Link to Publication |
| Demystifying Waste: Midwestern Building Material Markets | Communities | Deconstruction and Waste Reduction | For Profit Entities, Municipalities | 04/01/19 | Collaborating with Midwest communities to aid their waste reduction efforts is one of Delta's core initiatives—leading to this report released with support from the EPA and the Building Material Reuse Association. The report provides data to the private and public sector to decrease the disposal rate of reusable materials—and save these valuable supplies from landfills—and increase the capacity of local and state governments to adopt policies encouraging building material reuse and recycling with the recognition of local economic benefits. | Link to Publication |
| St. Louis Deconstruction Market Assessment | Communities | Deconstruction and Waste Reduction | For Profit Entities, Municipalities | 04/01/19 | Delta Institute is an expert with construction and demolition waste reduction, recycling, reuse, policy and economic development. The City of St. Louis, St. Louis Development Corporation, the Missouri Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority, and Region 7 EPA selected Delta Institute to revise its demolition handbook, develop specifications for deconstruction, train contractors around building material reuse, and plan a deconstruction pilot program. The City of St. Louis has leveraged Delta’s support to advance a multi-partner strategy to reduce waste from demolition, reuse building materials, and protect public health. | Link to Publication |
| Economic Benefit Targeting For Development Tool | Communities | Brownfields, Deconstruction and Waste Reduction, Green Infrastructure, Resilient Communities | Community Groups, For Profit Entities, Investors, Municipalities, Nonprofits | 05/03/19 | This tool is for practitioners seeking to target the impacts of programs, policies, development and other investments to specific needs. This tool can be used to verify the extent to which a project, initiative or redevelopment can be used to secure a specific type of benefit. | Link to Publication |
| Economic Benefit Targeting For Development Overview | Communities | Brownfields, Deconstruction and Waste Reduction, Green Infrastructure, Resilient Communities | Community Groups, For Profit Entities, Investors, Municipalities, Nonprofits | 05/03/19 | Overview of how this tool may be used by practitioners seeking to target the impacts of programs, policies, development and other investments to specific needs. This tool can be used to verify the extent to which a project, initiative or redevelopment can be used to secure a specific type of benefit. | Link to Publication |
| Resilient Communities Stakeholder Identification | Communities | Resilient Communities | Community Groups, For Profit Entities, Municipalities, Nonprofits | 05/03/19 | Overview describing approach and usage of the stakeholder matrix that helps anyone creating a community-based project identify possible redevelopment and project stakeholders. Useful for planners, municipal leaders, community groups, nonprofit organizations, or economic development professionals. | Link to Publication |
| Resilient Communities Stakeholder Assessment | Communities | Brownfields, Resilient Communities | Community Groups, Municipalities | 05/03/19 | Stakeholder matrix that helps anyone creating a community-based project identify possible redevelopment and project stakeholders. Useful for planners, municipal leaders, community groups, nonprofit organizations, or economic development professionals. | Link to Publication |
| Toolkit for Using StoryWood | Communities | Deconstruction and Waste Reduction, Sustainable Buildings | Community Groups, For Profit Entities | 11/11/20 | Created for architects, designers, and developers, this toolkit offers a lexicon with a clear delineation of the universe of wood available for use in their design plans. Different types of wood have different stories to tell, some richer than others, and there are benefits and challenges associated with each type. This toolkit will help designers identify, evaluate, and share the most interesting parts of a certain type of wood’s back story, and, more specifically, it will help to align material choices to achieve certifications, such as LEED or Living Building Challenge. In short, this toolkit provides designers with the information and tools needed to navigate the universe of wood products and find the unique and sustainable material that will meaningfully resonate with their vision for a finished design. | Link to Publication |
| Valuing the Ecosystem Service Benefits from Regenerative Agriculture Practices | Landscapes | Regenerative Agriculture | 09/21/18 | Farmland LP, Delta Institute, and Earth Economics released a report today that demonstrates $21.4 million in net ecosystem service value benefits using regenerative farm management practices at scale. The report summarizes the social and environmental impacts of Farmland LP’s investment management practices. Farmland LP buys and converts conventionally farmed land to certified organic farmland using regenerative farm management methods, to generate competitive financial returns and achieve positive environmental and social impacts. The USDA funded this study for the partners to generate a new, more comprehensive form of impact reporting for agriculture, encompassing biophysical and, for the first time, ecosystem service value metrics. The results illustrate the profound impact of management practices on the ecosystem service value provided by farms. | Link to Publication | |
| Deconstruction Go Guide | Communities | Deconstruction and Waste Reduction | Community Groups, Municipalities | 06/01/18 | Deconstruction is the process of dismantling structures in a way that enables materials to be salvaged. For communities struggling with vacancy and unemployment, deconstruction can serve as a useful tool as they work toward revitalization. Delta Institute created a useful and approachable guide to deconstruction strategy to give municipalities a free resource in their waste reduction and resiliency efforts. | Link to Publication |
| Coal Redevelopment Roadmap | Communities | Brownfields | Community Groups, Municipalities | 05/01/18 | Delta Institute has worked with communities throughout the Midwest (and beyond) who are exploring and/or transitioning from a coal-based economy while seeking redevelopment of closed or closing coal power plants. Delta Institute's Roadmap (available for download and use) is filled with practical tools and processes for communities to plan for the redevelopment of coal plant sites. These recommendations and tools are based on lessons learned from our work in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and other communities with closing or closed coal plants. | Link to Publication |
| In Transition: Stories from Coal Plant Communities | Communities | Brownfields | Community Groups, Municipalities | 08/18/17 | So often the voice of communities facing closure or the recent loss of their coal plant and the related jobs, tax base, and overall economic driver for their locality is lost--or diminished by the voices of others who are not directly affected by the coal industry's decline. Delta Institute engaged with communities nationwide to learn more about their realities, impacts, and visions for their future--one that is vibrant and prosperous for their municipality, coal plant workers, their families, and coal companies themselves. | Link to Publication |
| Preparing for Long-Term Stewardship: A Dual Approach for Illinois | Landscapes | Land Stewardship | Land Trusts, Nonprofits | 11/01/16 | This overview of the conservation sector in Illinois was funded by the Grand Victoria Foundation and created in partnership with the Natural Land Institute and the Illinois Environmental Council. By addressing insufficient and inconsistent funding for stewardship through the implementation of a long-term, scalable financing strategy, the Illinois conservation community can overcome the constraints of the current funding cycle and chart a new path forward through new financing and revenue partnership models outlined in this report. | Link to Publication |
| Community-Based Prioritization of a Brownfield Site Inventory for Redevelopment | Communities | Brownfields, Resilient Communities | Community Groups, Municipalities | 08/23/16 | This paper describes the process Delta Institute’s project team used to develop an engineering-based, brownfields prioritization rubric, the use of which resulted in a site prioritization that more truly reflected the goals of the community in an impactful way. | Link to Publication |