Continuing professional education for green infrastructure: Fostering collaboration through interdisciplinary trainings

The practice of green infrastructure is an evolving field of sustainable planning that often requires collaborative partnerships at the municipal and state levels. Expertise from engineers, land care professionals, planners, and natural resource consultants are often required for successful project implementation. Traditionally, these professionals perform their responsibilities in their disciplinary silos, however green infrastructure development is creating a demand for professionals who can think analytically and work across disciplinary boundaries. Interdisciplinary Continuing Professional Education (CPE) trainings provide opportunities for professionals to learn alongside one another, conversing and negotiating new knowledge about emerging practices. This case study applies a qualitative approach to explore the motivations and instructional design processes of interdisciplinary green infrastructure CPE trainings. A variety of green infrastructure CPE providers in the Pacific Northwest United States participated in the study, offering perspectives from agencies, nonprofits, consulting firms and academic institutions. Findings suggest that CPE provider organizations aim to increase worker competency and advance the field of green infrastructure by designing trainings that facilitate communication skills, enhance networking opportunities, and exploit social learning activities.