Cultivating healthy, safe and vibrant cities through collective learning and united action'

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Cultivating healthy, safe and vibrant cities
through collective learning and united action.
Dawn Chávez Co-Chair, UEC Education Working
Group Education Director, Urban Ecology Institute
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The UEC is a partnership of

• Baltimore Parks and People Foundation
• Boston Urban Ecology Institute/Boston College,
  Boston Environmental Network
• New Haven Urban Resources Initiative/Yale
  University, New Haven Ecology Project
• New York City Urban Park Rangers and Parks
  Recreation

Many of our cities fall along the transect known
as the East Coast Megalopolis
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• Pittsburgh Green Education Movement (GEM)
  Collaborative -Nine Mile Run Watershed
  Association, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, 3
  Rivers 2nd Nature (Carnegie-Mellon University),
  Pennsylvania Environmental Council
• Washington, DC Casey Trees Endowment Fund
  DCEEC
• Strategic Partners USDA Forest Service
  Northeastern Research Station, USDA Forest
  Service Northeastern Area State and Private
  Forestry

Many of our cities fall along the transect known
as the East Coast Megalopolis
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Benefits of the Collaborative
Community-based urban ecological education
programs are a potentially powerful solution to
urban challenges

• Learning opportunities
• Idea generation
• Model Sharing

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UEC Mission

• To cultivate healthy, safe and vibrant cities
  through collective learning and united action.

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UEC Methods

• Cross-city research
• Communications and advocacy
• Publication of products
• Professional support and development systems
• Developing the next generation of leaders
• Effective partner collaboration
• Increasing partner capacity
• Shared financial sustainability

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UEC Organization
Citywide Committees Inclusive of various
stakeholders Steering Committee Members from all
working groups Cross City Working
Groups Restoration Tools Education Model
Sharing Communications Research
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Restoration Tools
Increasing Partner Effectiveness

• Urban Forestry Restoration
• - Model Sharing
• Urban Forestry Inventories
• - Shared technology and database
• Urban Forestry and Runoff
• - Watershed 263 project
• Building Local Capacity
• - MERGE

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Education

• Cross-City Research
• Cross-city inventory of urban environmental
  education programming
• Template for inventory
• Systems map
• Identify program share options
• Identify gaps in programming
• Develop indicators of success
• Expand local partnerships
• Evaluation method
• .

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Education

• Professional Support and Development
• Summer Teacher Institutes
• New Haven/Boston/Pittsburgh
• Next Generation
• Green Collar Jobs Initiative
• New York City
• Boston
• Washington, D.C.

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Research Committee

• Producing Visions of Urban Resilience
• Environmental Histories
• Courses
• Shared database
• Cross-City Research
• NEURON conference
• Cities and the Environment
• On-line journal
• Coordinated Graduate students and
  Internships

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Research Committee

• UEC Urban Forestry Management Assessment
• Goal
• Identify the existing urban forest management
  framework
• Organizational delivery systems
• Patterns, gaps and processes
• Products
• Program Inventory Method
• Program Opportunities
• Municipal profiles Expenditure assessments
• Gaps between biophysical and social resources
• City wide assessments completed Spring 2005
• Final Report Summer 2005

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Model Sharing
UEC On-Line Workspace www.urbanecologycollaborativ
e.org

• Gallery
• UEC On-line Laboratories
• Publishing House On-Line Journal - Cities the
  Environment

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UEC Support
Working groups are responsible for developing
action plans and budgets for Collaborative
activities

• Forestry Innovation Grants
• EPA National Environmental Education
• USFS, State and Private Forestry
• In-Kind
• Staff time for UEC design and planning
• Meeting costs and travel
• Software for website and journal