SPROut is currently administered by Chemeketa Community College, in close partnership with The Oregon Garden. In 2003, SPROut was designated an Oregon Solutions Project by Governor Ted Kulongoski. The original strategic plan was written in May, 2004 and adopted by a diverse group of partners, led by The Oregon Garden.
SPROut is re-convening its stakeholders- existing and new, in early fall, 2008, to update the strategic plan, incorporating revisions to operating structure, increased demand for information from Oregon site managers, and the rapid development worldwide in fields of ecosystem services and phytotechnology.
For more information or to read the Strategic Plan, click here.
October 7, 2004
One of SPROut's earliest efforts was to convene a group of professionals from the academic and industry sectors to explore current developments in phytotechnologies and to discuss the research priorities that would direct SPROut's focus.
For the complete workshop results summary, click here.
March, 2008
SPROut commissioned the Institute for Natural Resources to conduct a survey among professionals in fields involving the environmental use of plants. The environmental use of plants can be broadly defined as applications that use plants to provide sustainable ecosystem services in managed landscapes. Though there have been developments in these areas over the last few years, there continues to be a lack of a clearinghouse or an inventory of what is going on, who is doing it, how cooperative project efforts can be leveraged, and what else could be done to both enhance environmental sustainability and promote economic development. The purpose of this project was to gauge the breadth of opportunities and challenges faced by growers, users, and researchers who are involved in the environmental uses of plants. More specifically, the project set out to learn about interests and expertise; to identify opportunities and barriers to participating in this sector; and to identify applied research needs.
To download the full Survey Report, click here.
Fall, 2008
With the help of Oregon Solutions, SPROut will be reconvening its old and new partners in a meeting this fall to establish a new Advisory Council that better reflects our current activities and priorities. Stay tuned for more.
SPROut's Strategic Plan
SPROut's initial Strategic Plan was adopted by the Research Council in May, 2004 and addresses the following major areas:
To read the entire initial Strategic Plan, click on the link at the bottom of the page.
In 2006, SPROut adopted significant organizational and administrative changes that strengthened its institutional support and outreach capabilities. As a result, many new partnerships have developed. SPROut's efforts have been further strengthened by Oregon's head-over-heels pace of development in fields of ecosystem services and phytotechnology, especially urban stormwater management. To reflect all this, SPROut is re-convening its stakeholders- existing and new, in early fall, 2008, to update the strategic plan and discuss the continuing chapters of SPROut's role in Oregon.
SPROut is consistently focused on integrating the efforts of scientists, practitioners, educators, and policy makers to identify problems, create solutions utilizing plant material, and make the solutions available for implementation. SPROut begins by 'putting plants to work'- utilizing the structural and physiological capabilities of plants to accomplish tasks in the environment. Through subsequent research and implementation of developing techniques, new uses for plant material, or new plants, SPROut can open up business opportunities for these evolving products/ services and serve as an important engine for sustainable economic growth. As the business opportunities are expanded, the new techniques/ plant material become more readily available to practitioners who are managing our natural resources. The increased use of these environmental plant solutions, by professionals and homeowners, will suggest or direct curriculum and policy changes that will enhance our large-scale environmental management abilities. In a whole systems approach such as this, there is no single ‘end result’ but instead a cycling of perpetual results that create a sustainable bridge between economic and environmental growth. Don't forget the original hero here - the green plant.
| Related Document (click to download) | Size |
|---|---|
| SPROUTStrategicPlanFinal.pdf | 119.56 KB |
To download the entire report, click here.
| List of Abbreviations | 3 | |
| List of Figures | 4 | |
| 1.0 | INTRODUCTION | 5 |
| 1.1 | Structure of Report | 5 |
| 2.0 | APPROACH | 6 |
| 3.0 | RESPONDENT PROFILES | 7 |
| 3.1 | About Users | 7 |
| 3.1.1 | General Interest and Types of Projects | 8 |
| 3.1.2 | Interest in SPROut Identified Research Prioities | 8 |
| 3.2 | Growers and Researchers | 10 |
| 3.2.1 | Growers | 10 |
| 3.2.2 | Researchers | 11 |
| 4.0 | KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS | 11 |
| 4.1 | Challenges | 11 |
| 4.1.1 | Standards, Policies, and Regulations | 12 |
| 4.1.2 | Cost of Projects and Lack of Funding | 12 |
| 4.1.3 | Production and Availability | 13 |
| 4.1.3 | Education and Public Perception | 13 |
| 4.2 | Economic Development Opportunities | 14 |
| 4.2.1 | Education and Technology for Working Plants | 14 |
| 4.2.2 | Native Plant Production | 14 |
| 4.2.3 | Ecosystem Services Marketplaces | 15 |
| 4.3 | Information Sources and Research Gaps | 16 |
| 5.0 | CONCLUSIONS: KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS | 18 |
| 5.1 | Building a Network with the Environmental Use of Plants Community | 18 |
| 5.2 | Standards, Policies, and Regulations | 19 |
| 5.3 | Sector-wide Education | 20 |
| 5.4 | Funding to Engage in Projects | 20 |
| REFERENCES | 21 | |
| APPENDIX A: User Survey | 22 | |
| APPENDIX B: Grower Survey | 25 | |
| APPENDIX C: Stakeholder Comments | 28 | |
| APPENDIX D: SPROut’s Phytotechnology Resource Book | 30 | |
October 7, 2004
With a recycled wastewater wetland at its back, a green roof in its backyard, and barley straw fighting back against the algae in its ponds, SPROut (Sustainable Plant Research and Outreach) pushes forward with its agenda to solve environmental problems with plants. The professional community was invited to a Workshop on October 7, 2004 focused around research priorities. Over 130 people, in professions ranging from city planners to environmental consultants and engineers to environmental educators to park/open space managers to wetland and university scientists to nursery growers to innovative entrepreneurs attended the day-long workshop at The Oregon Garden. Government agencies that participated included Natural Resources Conservation Service, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Dept. of Agriculture, Soil/Water Conservation Districts, US Dept of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service, and Metro Regional Government.
Off to a running start with a welcome by Oregon Garden Board member Rick Gustafson, the Workshop proceeded with a SPROut introduction by Thayne Dutson, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU. Rene Kane (Oregon State University) and Renee Stoops (SPROut Coordinator) offered a slide show of current research projects in the Pacific Northwest, and Kane presented her Literature Review titled “The Green Fuse”, which covers available information on environmental uses of plants. Mark Madison (CH2M Hill) and Louis Licht (Ecolotree) offered an extensive presentation on phytoremediation capabilities- the abilities of plants to remove contaminants from soil, water, or air. The Keynote Presentation of the morning was by Sarah Spear Cooke, Wetlands Ecologist with 18 years experience. She has taught at the University of Washington and at Portland State University; runs her own company called Cooke Scientific Services; and is the principal author and editor of “A Field Guide to the Common Wetland Plants of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon”. Her presentation titled “Opportunities for Using Plants to Attain a More Sustainable Environment” inspired many workshop participants to re-examine approaches to the hydrologic aspects of their projects.
The afternoon was dedicated to discussion groups focused around five themes: wetlands and wastewater; phytoremediation; urban stormwater management and ecoscaping; native plant restoration and invasive species control; and riparian restoration. Discussions were guided by local experts in these topics, to reach some professional consensus on the prioritization of research needs. Ray William, from the horticulture department at OSU, led a group synthesis at the end of the day, and there were definitely some common priorities that emerged from all the discussion groups.
Most groups agreed that we need a better understanding of the plants themselves, their individual characteristics such as their range of function, their hydrology requirements, and invasive tendencies. Economic analysis was also important to most groups- being able to quantify the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of using low-tech solutions with plants over other engineered, mechanical, or chemical solutions. Increasing public awareness with education and demonstration was considered very important by Workshop participants, and The Oregon Garden is well poised to use its site, its visitor base, and its partnerships with academic institutions to fulfill this need. The importance of water found its way into many discussions, and site-specific considerations such as scale, design, management, and survival rates demonstrated a need for specific answers to specific problems.
Equally informative, however, were the underlying differences between discussion groups. While the native plant supporters tend to classify plants by geographic distribution, either current /invasive or historic/native, the phytoremediation practitioners prefer to classify plants by function, i.e. which plants are good at removing which contaminants from the soil. And the riparian and wetland scientists often classify plants by their hydrologic requirements- the depth and duration of water that a plant can survive. Some of the discussion groups viewed plants as the final product in/of themselves, such as for genetic diversity or native wildlife habitat. Other groups viewed plants as a tool/means by which to achieve a specific outcome, such as pollution control or maximizing small land-use to achieve clean water. Knowing how to integrate multiple goals with varying impacts was a challenge for everyone. In some cases, there appeared to be a need for more extensive communication routes between growers of plant material and land managers/practitioners. Issues of supply/demand; genetic source stock, invasive potential, and varying care requirements for different forms of nursery propagation were all raised. To begin to address this, SPROut is planning to offer a non-credit course, in partnership with Chemeketa Community College, focused around horticultural skills for environmental restoration project leaders. Look for this course in April, 2005!
SPROut has used the results of the workshop discussions to construct an RFP that targets the research priorities identified at this workshop. Small grants will be available from SPROut in time for the 2005 summer season. Given the vibrancy of the Workshop discussions, it was clear that the interest among professionals in using plant-based solutions to address environmental challenges is high.