Community Stewardship & Placemaking Mitigation Resources

Community stewardship and placemaking resources help residents, nonprofits, schools, local governments, and community groups improve the places where they live. These resources provide ways to support environmental restoration, beautification, cleanup projects, green infrastructure, public-space improvements, and community-led stewardship.

National Mitigation Resources

Scenic America — Community Placemaking Tools

What this resource helps with:

  • Improving streetscapes and gateways

  • Planning public-space beautification

  • Strengthening local identity and sense of place

What’s included:

  • Streetscape improvement tools

  • Gateway planning resources

  • Wayfinding guidance

  • Public-space design ideas

  • Community beautification resources

  • Placemaking templates and checklists

  • Corridor improvement examples

Scenic America provides practical placemaking tools for communities seeking to improve streetscapes, gateways, corridors, downtowns, public spaces, and community identity. These resources are useful for turning local concerns about neglected or underused spaces into visual improvements, beautification projects, and community-centered design efforts.

Instruction: Open site > review the available placemaking resource categories > choose a topic such as streetscapes, gateways, design, or wayfinding > download or review the tool, guide, or checklist > adapt the resource to a local corridor, downtown, neighborhood, school, park, or public-space project.

Keep America Beautiful

What this resource helps with:

  • Organizing cleanups and beautification projects

  • Supporting litter prevention and recycling

  • Connecting communities with affiliate networks

What’s included:

  • National affiliate network

  • Cleanup guides and event resources

  • Beautification project support

  • Recycling initiatives

  • Litter prevention campaigns

  • Volunteer engagement tools

  • Community improvement programs

Keep America Beautiful is a national network that supports litter prevention, cleanup projects, beautification, recycling, and community improvement campaigns. It helps communities organize visible, hands-on stewardship projects that improve neighborhood conditions and strengthen civic participation.

Instructions: Open site > explore cleanup, beautification, recycling, or affiliate resources > search for a local affiliate or program when available > use guides and event materials to plan a cleanup or beautification project > register or connect with available programs to support local stewardship work.

American Planning Association — Placemaking Resources

What this resource helps with:

  • Planning inclusive placemaking projects

  • Supporting public engagement and local design

  • Guiding community-centered public-space improvements

What’s included:

  • Placemaking case studies

  • Planning policy guidance

  • Public engagement frameworks

  • Community design tools

  • Inclusive planning resources

  • Local project examples

  • Best-practice guidance

The American Planning Association provides planning guidance, case studies, policy resources, and community engagement tools for inclusive placemaking. These resources are useful for local governments, planners, nonprofits, and residents working to improve public spaces through community-centered planning and design.

Instructions: Open site > browse placemaking resources, guides, and case studies > identify examples that match the local issue or project type > use the planning guidance to support public engagement, design decisions, policy recommendations, or community-led public-space improvements.

National Park Foundation

What this resource helps with:

  • Finding national park stewardship opportunities

  • Supporting conservation and habitat care

  • Connecting residents to public-land service

What’s included:

  • Volunteer opportunities

  • Conservation programs

  • Trail stewardship projects

  • Habitat care projects

  • Park education resources

  • Visitor service opportunities

  • Public land engagement tools

The National Park Foundation supports conservation, restoration, education, trail work, habitat care, and volunteer engagement connected to national parks and public lands. It is useful for residents and groups looking for stewardship opportunities tied to federal lands, natural resources, and culturally significant public places.

Instructions: Open site > search or browse for volunteer, conservation, or park support opportunities > select a park, program, or project area > review available ways to participate > use the listed program details to connect with stewardship, conservation, education, or public-land engagement opportunities.

EPA Region 4 Resources

Florida Sea Grant

What this resource helps with:

  • Coastal stewardship

  • Marine education

  • Resilience planning

What’s included:

  • Extension programs

  • Coastal stewardship resources

  • Marine debris education

  • Resilience planning tools

  • Community toolkits

  • Training opportunities

  • Workshops and events

Florida Sea Grant supports coastal stewardship, marine education, resilience planning, and community-based environmental programs. It provides research-based tools and training that help coastal communities protect, restore, and improve local places.

Instructions: Open site > browse “Extension Programs” for coastal resources and community tools > review “Events” or “Workshops” for training opportunities > use available toolkits and program pages to support local coastal stewardship or placemaking work.

North Carolina Coastal Federation

What this resource helps with:

  • Coastal restoration

  • Living shorelines

  • Volunteer stewardship

What’s included:

  • Living shoreline projects

  • Wetland restoration resources

  • Stormwater retrofit tools

  • Volunteer events

  • Project maps

  • Coastal education materials

  • Community stewardship programs

The North Carolina Coastal Federation supports coastal restoration, living shorelines, wetland repair, stormwater retrofits, and volunteer stewardship. It is a strong regional model for community-based coastal restoration and place-based environmental improvement.

Instructions: Open site > select “Get Involved” to find volunteer opportunities > review restoration projects, living shoreline resources, and stormwater materials > use project examples to understand how similar practices could support coastal stewardship in other Region 4 communities.

Georgia Adopt-A-Stream

What this resource helps with:

  • Waterway stewardship

  • Volunteer monitoring

  • Community science

What’s included:

  • Water-quality monitoring sites

  • Data portal

  • County and watershed search tools

  • Local monitoring group information

  • Training and certification resources

  • Stream, lake, and coastal monitoring data

  • Tools for starting a monitoring group

Georgia Adopt-A-Stream trains volunteers to monitor local waterways and collect water-quality data. It supports stewardship by helping residents track stream, lake, wetland, and coastal health while building community involvement around local water resources.

Instructions: Open site > select “Data Portal” or “Find a Group” > search by county, watershed, or monitoring site > review available water-quality data > use training resources to join or start a volunteer monitoring group.

South Carolina Mitigation Resources

Clemson Extension — Carolina Yards & Rain Garden Program

Clemson Extension provides resources for sustainable landscaping, native planting, rain gardens, and yard-level ecological stewardship. These tools help residents, schools, campuses, and community spaces reduce runoff, improve habitat, and support healthier local ecosystems.

What this resource helps with:

  • Native planting

  • Rain garden planning

  • Sustainable landscaping

What’s included:

  • Carolina Yards guidance

  • Rain garden resources

  • Sustainable design guides

  • Native plant directory

  • Online course information

  • Yard certification resources

  • Residential stewardship tools

  • The Carolina Yards page provides guidance on sustainable yard care, ecological landscaping, and practices that protect water quality and local ecosystems

  • These guides support sustainable site planning and green infrastructure design, including practices that can improve campuses, yards, and community landscapes.

  • This directory helps users identify native plants suited for South Carolina landscapes, which can improve habitat, support pollinators, and strengthen local ecosystems.

  • This 10-week hybrid course provides more detailed training on sustainable landscaping, yard stewardship, and Carolina Yards practices.

Instructions: Open the Carolina Yards page > review sustainable yard and rain garden resources > use the native plant directory to identify plants suited for South Carolina ecosystems > review design guides for green infrastructure and site planning > register for the Carolina Yards online course if additional training is needed.

PalmettoPride / Keep South Carolina Beautiful

PalmettoPride and Keep South Carolina Beautiful support litter prevention, cleanup projects, beautification, and local community improvement efforts across the state. These programs help residents and groups take direct action to improve public spaces, roadsides, neighborhoods, parks, and shared community areas.

What this resource helps with:

  • Oyster reef restoration

  • Shell recycling

  • Coastal habitat stewardship

What’s included:

  • Volunteer event calendar

  • Oyster shell recycling locations

  • ArcGIS recycling map

  • Volunteer form

  • SCORE brochure

  • Restoration project information

  • Coastal habitat resources

  • This page explains the Keep South Carolina Beautiful program and its work supporting litter prevention, beautification, and local community improvement.

  • This page helps users join cleanup events, organize cleanups, browse programs, and find forms or resources for community improvement projects.

Instructions for Joining a Cleanup:
Open the Get Involved page > select “Join a Cleanup” or filter by group type and program type > browse available events > select an event to review details, date, time, and location.

Instructions for Organizing a Cleanup:
Open the Get Involved page > select “Organize a Cleanup” > review the forms and planning links > use the available guides and materials to plan, register, and support a local cleanup project.

South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium

South Carolina Sea Grant supports coastal stewardship, resilience research, marine debris reduction, outreach, and community-based environmental projects. It is useful for communities looking for technical support, funding, research partnerships, or coastal resilience tools.

What this resource helps with:

  • Coastal resilience

  • Community stewardship

  • Funding opportunities

What’s included:

  • Coastal research programs

  • Outreach initiatives

  • Resilience resources

  • Marine debris tools

  • Green infrastructure projects

  • Funding opportunities

  • Community partnership resources

  • The main website provides access to South Carolina Sea Grant’s coastal research, education, outreach, and community resilience work.

  • This page highlights collaborative research and outreach programs that support coastal resilience, community education, stewardship, and environmental problem-solving.

  • This page lists funding and grant opportunities that may support research, outreach, resilience planning, or community-based coastal projects.

Instructions: Open the main website > browse “Research and Outreach Programs” to find coastal stewardship and resilience resources > review toolkits or project pages that match local needs > check “Funding Opportunities” for grants or support for community-based environmental projects.