Address:
601 W. Nedderman Drive, Suite 105
Arlington, TX, 76019-0108
Projects
THE CULLED PRODUCE RECOVERY PROJECT
In response to the Texas Health Resources' commitment to community responsibility and sustainability, the proposed food recovery initiative emerges as a strategic endeavor aimed at addressing environmental impacts, improving public health, and enhancing the overall well-being of the Fort Worth community.
The significance of tackling food waste becomes evident when considering its far-reaching consequences. Beyond the loss of resources, recovering wasted food could alleviate food insecurity, a pressing concern associated with various health challenges, especially in vulnerable populations. The initiative acknowledges the interconnection between food waste, climate change, and public health challenges, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive and sustainable solution to address these complex issues.
This project- a collaboration between UT Arlington and Texas Health Resources ( a member of RCE North Texas) seeks to contribute not only to the immediate challenges of food waste but also to the broader context of climate change and its implications for public health.
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Campus RainWorks Challenge: Green infrastructure design
In 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided technical assistance to UTA as part of the tenth anniversary of the Campus RainWorks Challenge- a green infrastructure design competition for American colleges and universities that seeks to engage with the next generation of environmental professionals, foster a dialogue about the need for innovative stormwater management techniques, and showcase the environmental, economic, and social benefits of green infrastructure practices.
UTA was one of the two institutions invited by EPA to participate in the technical assistance project because of their extensive past participation in the competition and demonstrated commitment to building a sustainable campus, including managing rainwater where it falls and mitigating heat hazards while enhancing the overall character of its growing campus. The project aims to strengthen communication between campus stakeholders and create new incentives to enable green infrastructure implementation. Participants, including faculty, students, staff, and government and private sector partners, identified challenges, opportunities, and strategies for implementing green infrastructure on campus.
Urban Resilience Fellows Program
UT Arlington has partnered with the North Texas Innovation Alliance- a member of the RCE North Texas to launch Urban Resilience Fellows Program. The program will connect faculty experts and students to local government and industry partners to develop innovative solutions for pressing sustainability challenges facing our community. The program cultivates innovative talent in North Texas by providing a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment for students to research, ideate and make recommendations on key sustainability challenges in the community.
INSTALLING TRASH BARRIERS IN VILLAGE CREEK LAKE ARLINGTON WATERSHED AND FORT WORTH PARKS (TX)
This project is funded by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation – Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program. Trinity River Authority, UpSpire, University of Texas at Arlington, and Tarrant Regional Water District have contributed in-kind matching funds. It includes installing and maintaining multiple trash barriers at highly visible and heavily littered locations within Village Creek Lake Arlington (VCLA) Watershed and the City of Fort Worth Parks. This will aid in the expansion of the Waterways litter prevention program, increase community engagement and restore 21,128 acres of VCLA watershed and 807 acres within the City of Fort Worth.
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LOCALIZING THE UN SDGS THROUGH EDUCATION, TRAINING & REGIONAL COLLABORATION
Universities and colleges around the world are making commitments to advance the UN SDGs through their teaching, research, operations, and partnerships. One proven model for making good on this commitment is to establish a United Nations-affiliated RCE network. RCEs – are regional multi-stakeholder networks, grounded in higher education, that advance the SDGs through education and training. RCEs are proliferating, with over 180 networks around the world, including 27 in the Americas. In this cohort-based course, leaders from RCE networks from the U.S. and Canada will share experiences, case studies, and lessons learned on how universities and colleges can help lead multi-stakeholder collaborations that localize and advance the SDGs in their regions.
NORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK PROJECT
The convening power of the North Texas Food Bank can be used to bring organizations together to solve hunger and food insecurity in North Texas. Currently, the North Texas Food Bank and Texas Hunger Initiative spearhead the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions, which successfully brings together diverse organizations to collaboratively address hunger and poverty in North Texas through five action teams: child hunger, faith community hunger solutions, public policy, senior hunger, and urban agriculture. In addition, the North Texas Food Bank has a connection of more than 200 agencies throughout 13 counties. It is important to continue reaching out to various organizations and collaborate, coordinate, and spread the message to them. By expanding North Texas Food Bank’s connections to include organizations that further address the root causes of hunger and food insecurity, awareness can be spread throughout the metroplex and doing so reflects SDG 17, Partnership for the Goals. Food insecurity and the SDGs facilitate coordination and collaboration because they are connected to the effects of poverty. Using North Texas Food Bank’s unifying power, setting common goals, leveraging resources, and working collaboratively with these organizations can help bring the metroplex together. In essence, utilizing partnerships with institutions that target a variety of root causes is crucial in achieving a common goal and strengthening community support especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area.
SDG SUSTAINABLE CITIES CHALLENGE
The SDGs Cities Challenge is a comprehensive program for local governments and their urban partners. The SDG challenge is underpinned by a global collaborative research and engagement team of leaders in urban sustainability and city networks, provides a peer knowledge sharing process to guide participating cities and regions as they develop solutions to their sustainable development issues. The Challenge is also designed to provide the basis for a Voluntary Local Review (VLR) - the United Nations' supported framework for local actors to report progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Each participating local government will choose and work toward a Challenge Area relating to the SDGs to work on throughout 2021. The project involved collaborating Partners to work with a select group of local governments to learn about the SDGs together through a review of available data, platforms, and tools to test the approaches that support city participant's local urban sustainable development challenges.
UPPER TRINITY RIVER WATER QUALITY REPORT
Trinity River segments, creeks and lakes within the Upper Trinity River Basin are gaining popularity for recreational activities like paddling, swimming, birding, volunteering, fishing and hiking. Yet, there is no single platform that provides users information regarding data based trends for safety of the several freshwater recreational areas the region offers. Given the increasing number of kayakers and paddlers, information about the water quality and its relationship to health risks is required. As E. coli is considered the primary indicator for permitting and grading of recreational use within natural water systems in the state of Texas, the report aims to understand the current state of the water quality within DFW region using existing data from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and other local agencies. For questions, please contact Amruta Sakalker, Doctoral Student in the Urban Planning and Public Policy Program.
WYLIE ISD FOOD WASTE
Wylie ISD has taken great steps to reduce food waste at the source. They have made an effort to only get as much food as demanded, and to reuse extra food from day-to-day. This project aimed to build upon the great work already occurring at Wylie ISD and address food waste at every step in the most-preferred way according to the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy; specifically addressing the Source Reduction & Reuse (via Waste Audits), Feed Hungry People (via after-school programs for post-consumer, unopened food) and Composting food waste that cannot be prevented or donated.