UMass Amherst and Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Receive EPA Grant
June 19, 2007
| Contact: | Erin Baker 413/545-0670 |
AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission have received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to incorporate science into regional planning with the goal of enhancing sustainability.
“Energy, Water and Land Use: A Framework for Incorporating Science into Sustainable Regional Planning” is a three-year project that will provide communities and residents of the Pioneer Valley with information that will help them use natural resources like energy and water in a way that protects the environment and supports the economy.
The grant proposal was submitted by several UMass Amherst researchers, including Erin Baker of the school of engineering, Sarah Dorner of the Water Resources Research Center and Rick Taupier of The Environmental Institute in conjunction with Catherine Miller of the Pioneer Valley Planning Council. All parties will jointly serve as project investigators.
Project activities include building the Pioneer Valley Sustainability Network, a regional group of decision makers, interest groups and scientists who will meet on a quarterly basis to share information and discuss current scientific research.
The first meeting of the network was held on May 2 and included representatives from the Kestrel Land Trust, Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Hilltown Resource Management, the Massachusetts Trustees of Reservations and the Connecticut River Watershed Council, among others. The second meeting is scheduled for September, 2007.
“Our goal in creating the network is to bring all these key people working to make the Pioneer Valley sustainable together,” says Catherine Miller of the PVPC. “A major goal of this project is to generate a Pioneer Valley definition of sustainability focusing on our values so that we can make better decisions with respect to managing energy, water and land use.”
The network will gather public input through a Web site similar to Wikipedia that allows users to create and edit Web page content. “We hope to include a wide range of issues including land use and energy,” says Erin Baker.
Sarah Dorner of the Water Resources Research Center cites contaminated stormwater runoff, flooding, problems with municipal infrastructure and the effects of climate change on water resources as issues to be addressed by the group.
Once the group has determined which issues are most important, they will develop ways to measure them and how they are likely to change over time under different scenarios. These measurements will be posted on the Web site. GIS Maps will show how different areas of the Pioneer Valley rate in terms of sustainability for each issue.
Ultimately, the information will be used to design computer-based decision support tools that allow individuals and municipal offices to receive information on the economic, social and environmental impacts of various alternatives before making a choice.
“For example, a resident or municipality will be able to get information on the costs associated with choosing oil or gas heat by entering information into the support tools. They will also receive information on how the different alternatives affect total carbon emissions in the Valley,” says Erin Baker.
An art competition is planned to involve communities and individuals in the project. The competition will invite residents to create a visual representation of sustainability in the Pioneer Valley. Focus groups are also planned as community outreach.
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