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The Urban Open Space
Foundation builds the capacity of urban communities to create
and preserve green infrastructure networks that improve the
natural environment, citizen health, and economic
opportunities. We do this through consultation, coalition
development, research, education, and project management.
The Urban Open Space
Foundation (UOSF) is a private
not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation, dedicated to enhancing
the ecological, social, and economic quality of Wisconsin’s
urban neighborhoods by helping to transform unused, underused
and blighted spaces into vibrant public places.
UOSF is the only statewide organization in Wisconsin
primarily addressing the distinctive challenges and
possibilities presented by open spaces in urban and urbanizing
areas.
Since our founding in 1996, we have helped protect
and restore more than 300 downtown acres in the greater
Madison and Milwaukee regions; successfully advocated for
state and local land use policy reform; spearheaded a public
financing referendum that set aside $30 million for open space
acquisition in Dane County; established seven “friends” groups
still committed to providing stewardship for open spaces in
their neighborhoods; and created and launched the Community
Open Space Partnership—a coalition of nearly 50
Wisconsin-based public and private sector agencies,
businesses, and tribes—to help promote green infrastructure on
the statewide level.
Long-range goal:
Cultivate a prudent civil
society where investments in open space systems are recognized
as essential to our collective future.
Objectives:
1.
Within three years
initiate and sustain green infrastructure projects that create
new open spaces and revitalize existing public spaces in the
three most densely populated areas of Wisconsin: greater
Milwaukee, greater Madison, and the Fox-Wolf River Valley.
2.
Explore model
projects, opportunities, and issues surrounding possible
long-term UOSF land ownership for public benefit. Come to be
an exemplary model of urban land management.
3.
Inform citizens
and national, state, and local decision-makers of the
importance and value of green infrastructure.
4.
Build UOSF
capacity to reach priority goals.
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