The WEDG Professionals Course is the program’s online training to earn the WEDG Associate credential, recognized by city and state agencies, environmental organizations and consulting firms across the country. WEDG Associates become part of a network of dedicated resilience practitioners across the country united by the idea that waterfronts should be resilient, ecologically-sound, and accessible to communities. 

“We recognize the challenge facing those entering the job market today in the fields of climate resilience and public infrastructure,” says Joseph Sutkowi, Waterfront Alliance’s chief waterfront design officer, who leads WEDG. “Making this training available to boost the resumes of the dedicated public servants who want to continue in this field is one way we’re proud to help.”

Unlike typical government development standards that merely require projects to do no harm, WEDG assesses 143 performance measures focused on resilience, flood protection, stormwater reduction, ecology, community engagement, and public access while incentivizing projects to add positive community value and correct historic wrongs. This not only ensures multiple direct benefits to local communities; it creates the enabling conditions necessary for other projects and communities to follow suit. 

Communities utilizing WEDG encourage private and public waterfront designs to incorporate broader public benefits, including environmental justice, and build leverage for local communities to advocate directly for community needs and priorities. 

“Whatever our individual politics and opinion, we can all agree on the extraordinary increased risks now facing waterfront, shoreline, and coastline communities everywhere,” says Cortney Koenig Worrall, Waterfront Alliance’s president and CEO. “Training more people in WEDG helps center the power climate resilience planning plays in local communities, supporting their resilience, self-determination, and vision for a climate future.” 

To date, 14 sites across New York, Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina have earned WEDG Verification and more than 1,000 individuals have completed the WEDG Professionals course, together forming a national network of leaders shaping waterfronts across the U.S. for generations to come.

• Former federal employees may request to enroll in the WEDG Professionals Course at no cost by filling out an eligibility form. The WEDG Professionals Course can be found at www.wedgprofessionals.org. 

• Looking to bring WEDG to your community? Contact Joseph Sutkowi, Chief Waterfront Design Officer, at jsutkowi@waterfrontalliance.org.