THE ROSS APPROACH

ELEVATING COLLABORATION

The ROSS approach brings together decision makers, planners, businesses, and individuals with the power to make smart, regional-based, and coordinated decisions to support open space and our future quality of life in the Puget Sound Region. This collaborative effort is stewarded by the University of Washington's award-winning Green Futures Lab.

A GROWING
NATIONAL
MOVEMENT

The ROSS is part of a growing national movement among urban and rural planners and advocates to advance how our investments in natural systems support a holistic approach to regional planning that elevates objectives far beyond conservation.

ENGAGING EXPERTS ACROSS THE REGION

Agencies and organizations have done fantastic work to protect and preserve open space. But for too long, these efforts have been siloed or in competition for limited resources.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

SOCIAL EQUITY

RECREATION

BIODIVERISTY

AGRICULTURE

HUMAN HEALTH

FORESTS

AQUATIC SYSTEMS

In 2012, the ROSS team gathered experts across traditional open space technical areas
to deepen our understanding of their priorities and learn across these silos.

A COLLECTIVE VISION

By planning across technical areas, we can look at the full open space system and advance a collective, multiple benefit vision for future planning and investment. Green infrastructure can and should be positioned alongside transportation and other foundational investments as a necessary dedication of public and private resources to shape future development and ensure community well-being.

This silo-busting and multi-benefit approach informed the ROSS's Preliminary Comprehensive Strategy.

UNDERSTANDING THE BIGGER PICTURE

Open space provides a vast array of critical services and benefits that haven't been fully acknowledged or accounted for in the past. The ROSS is working to better understand, analyze and communicate these services to ensure their conservation and protection for generations to come.

AIR

WATER

WORK

PLAY

ENERGY

MATERIALS

CULTURAL

AESTHETIC

FOOD

SHELTER

HEALTH

TRANSPORT

WASTE

DISASTER
MITIGATION

EDUCATION

COMMUNITY

REGIONAL CHALLENGES

Open Space can also help us address complex, time-sensitive regional challenges. The ROSS is convening regional experts in five key areas to understand the role of open space planning in meeting these critical concerns.

CLIMATE CHANGE

BIODIVERSITY

SOCIAL
EQUITY

HUMAN HEALTH

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

LOCAL PRIORITIES

At the heart of the ROSS are Watershed Open Space Strategies, engaging local stakeholders who know the priorities and challenges of their sub-basins intimately.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

Together, we will analyze and synthesize local priorities and regional challenges to plan across traditional jurisdictional and watershed boundary lines for our shared future.

ENHANCING OUR COLLECTIVE IMPACT

The ROSS understands that regional open space planning will require a shift in the way governments implement and finance open space conservation projects. The ROSS is working with partner organizations to form a Governance and Finance Committee that is charged with conducting research into collective impact models that will embrace a more comprehensive regional approach to open space conservation as well as mechanisms to direct local, state, and federal resources in a manner that breaks through the traditional silos.