Upcoming Webinars

Saving Special Places • Building Better Communities

Educating Floridians

Join 1000 Friends of Florida for FREE monthly webinars on planning, development and growth issues facing Florida.

The John M. DeGrove Webinar Series honors the legacy of John M. DeGrove by convening experts to examine the most pressing planning, conservation, and growth management issues facing Florida today. These free webinars provide practical insights into legislation, policy trends, and strategies for protecting community planning and the public interest.

PAST WEBINARS

CERTIFICATION CREDITS

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

DONATE OR BECOME A WEBINAR SPONSOR!

Conservation That Connects: How Florida Communities Invest in Land, Water and Trails

October 14, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET

Greenways and trails are where Florida’s conservation work meets everyday life. Trails give people a place to walk, ride and recreate, and an alternative route for commuting. The greenway corridors many of them follow are one piece of a larger effort to keep conserved land connected, tracing the rivers, canals and old rail lines that tie parks and preserves to each other and to the towns beside them. Many of those corridors overlap the Florida Wildlife Corridor, where working farms and ranches still make up much of the land that has yet to be protected, and where development pressure is heaviest.

Florida has spent decades identifying where these corridors belong. How much of the network actually gets built comes down to funding, and it rarely comes from a single source: state land acquisition programs, transportation dollars, and local measures approved by voters. Lee Constantine, a former state legislator and current Seminole County Commissioner, will trace the land conservation programs Florida built, what they were meant to reach, and what they need now. Kim DeLaney, Ph.D., of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and co-author of FDOT’s greenways and trails economic study, will present on what the evidence shows about the value these investments return to the communities around them. Pegeen Hanrahan, P.E., Associate Director of Conservation Finance at the Trust for Public Land, will discuss the funding tools available to local governments and the land and water conservation measures on ballots around the state this November, including where trails and public access fit into them.

This event has been approved for American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP CM 1.5, #9336481), Florida Bar (1.5 General CLE #2611022N), and Certified Floodplain Managers (1 CEC). Florida Landscape Architects (DBPR) credits have been applied for, with approval pending.

Register

Connectivity Across Scales: Tools and Concepts for the Urban-to-Rural Transect
October 28, 2026 | 12:00 – 2:00 PM ET

Planning decisions made along the continuum from our urban centers to our rural lands and wilderness can have ripple effects that impact the entire system.

The University of Florida’s Center for Landscape Conservation Planning (UF CLCP) and its partners are connecting the dots between the Florida Wildlife Corridor and Florida Ecological Greenways Network to the communities that surround them.

Join us for an exclusive update from University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning researchers working on the front lines of corridor science. They’ll share emerging findings, new insights, and what their work means for the future of Florida’s wildlife, wild lands, and the communities connected to them.

Isabella Guttuso Browne (UF CLCP) will introduce the science and design underpinnings of the transect concept, exploring how the Center uses it as a framework for addressing planning challenges across urban to rural landscapes and why it is relevant to the protection of the Florida Ecological Greenways Network (FEGN), Florida Wildlife Corridor, and other green networks. Sarah Lockhart (UF CLCP) will introduce the concept of multiple scales of ecological connectivity, walking attendees through examples of ways connectivity in Florida extends beyond the Florida Wildlife Corridor, from the local level to statewide, regional, and beyond, across urban to rural to natural places. Michael O’Brien (UF CLCP) will demonstrate how the Florida Ecological Connectivity (EcoCon) planning viewer can be used as a practical planning tool for rural-to-urban connectivity, highlighting available datasets for places within and outside the FEGN and Florida Wildlife Corridor.

This event has been approved for the following professional certification credits for those who attend the live webinar: American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP CM 2, # 9331844), Florida Bar (2.5 General CLE # 2607653N), Certified Floodplain Managers (1 CEC), Florida Landscape Architects (2 DBPR Credits #0015988), and Florida Certified Environmental Health Professional (2 Contact Hours/0.2 CEUs).

Register