About Us

COG is the one place in metropolitan Washington that regularly brings leaders together to develop solutions to the region's major challenges. COG prepares plans enabling the region to receive federal funding, provides members with research and data to inform decision-making, and offers a wide range of programs, including commuter services, cooperative purchasing, technical assistance and grants, and public outreach campaigns.

Transportation

Through the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), area officials, planners, and engineers ensure a well-managed and maintained transportation system. The TPB, which is staffed by COG, conducts the federally mandated transportation planning process for the region and ensures the uninterrupted flow of federal transportation funds that area jurisdictions receive.

Environment

COG's work engages leaders in various environmental fields from water quality experts to climate scientists. Together, they are advancing regional efforts to restore local waterways, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change, promote recycling, and enhance and preserve green space and agriculture.

Community

Area officials and experts, including planning and housing directors and child welfare and health officials, work together with their counterparts at COG to help shape stronger communities throughout the region.

Homeland Security & Public Safety

COG brings police chiefs, fire chiefs, emergency managers, and other leaders together as part of its work to strengthen regional public safety coordination, homeland security planning, and emergency communication.

Environment

CBPC Academic Paper Competition

Overview

COG’s Chesapeake Bay and Water Resources Policy Committee members are interested in student perspectives of emerging best practices and policies to address real-world sustainability and water resources issues. Students are asked to develop a one-page stand-alone guidance document of actions local elected officials could implement on a particular topic, plus an accompanying paper that provides rationale for the recommendations, research methodology, and sources (max. of 5 pages).

This will be an annual opportunity for students at regional universities, colleges, community colleges, and high schools to provide pragmatic recommendations to an audience of local elected officials. The one-page guidance document should focus on actions, including policy changes, that our region’s local governments could implement within 90 days, 180 days, and 365 days to address a particular issue. The accompanying paper should include background context, resources for more information, and citations in APA format. Papers can synthesize already completed work and may entail a literature review.

Participating students will have an opportunity to meet elected officials and other members of the CBPC, while top scoring applicants will be invited to provide a short presentation to the policy committee. Highlights will be publicized by COG’s Office of Communications.

Previous Winners

May 2022

Topic: Encouraging Small Scale Green Infrastructure Practices for Climate Resiliency.

Nicole Re, Virginia Tech
Winning Paper: Sponge City paper and infographic (links will download PDFs).

May 2020

Topic: Food and Agricultural issues related to sustainability and resiliency.

Hailey Clark, University of Maryland Institute of Applied Agriculture
Winning Paper: A New Approach to Preserving Land for Agriculture in the metropolitan Washington region

Ann Prevas, University of Maryland School of Law
Honorable Mention Paper: Using Smart Growth Incentives to Create Priority Areas for Urban Agriculture

UMD's Institute for Applied Agriculture article about the Paper Competition

Spring 2022 Term: Participation & Timeline

The awards period for 2022 is now closed.

Contact

Heidi Bonnaffon
hbonnaffon@mwcog.org
(202) 962-3216