UTICA, NY — Rust to Green Utica is pleased to announce the receipt of a $53,200 grant from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, presented to help support R2G’s two University-based research teams. Specifically, the grant has been earmarked for three separate projects, two based at Cornell and one at Hamilton. Up to twelve trained undergraduate and graduate students will perform the research under the direct supervision and guidance of University faculty members, who are professionals in their fields.
The Cornell-based projects will deal with the creation of an Ecological Citizenship Curricula for Oneida County, and a Green Infrastructure Mapping Project of Utica. The Curricula project will use “smart board” technology to educate adult learners in potential ways of fostering ecological citizenship at personal, community, city and regional scales. A separate curriculum dealing with the same subject will be developed for K-12 students. Both educational tools will be free and available to the public.
The Green Infrastructure Mapping Project will create detailed maps of existing assets and liabilities in the built environment to conceive and advance future Rust To Green projects, which are aimed at making Utica an increasingly green and livable city. Maps will be made available for free through shared open-source applications such as Google map, Google earth, and the Internet in order to facilitate community engagement and use. This approach will allow for collective input into and maximize use of mapping resources by a diverse set of users around the world, including local citizens, agencies, researchers, planners, developers and decision-makers.
“It is our hope that the mapping will benefit Utica as it rethinks its identity, settlement patterns, economy and infrastructure to better integrate urban, ecological and community systems and needs,” said Cornell University lecturer and Rust To Green co-creator Jamie Vanucci.
The Hamilton based project will be conducted through the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, and will focus on the refugee population in Utica and its unique potential as a tool for economic development. The research will consider three main themes: the economic integration of refugees; positive and negative factors affecting that integration; and spillover effects of refugee integration.
The data will then be analyzed, and appropriate strategies will be developed to capitalize on the assets and opportunities. These types of “LEADS”, or Local Economic Alternative Development Strategies, have a demonstrated effectiveness in helping struggling cities nationwide reverse economic decline. Research has shown these smaller forms of development can become larger resources for citywide change, if supported.
“In a city such as Utica that has limited resources, understanding how to cultivate these smaller, more grassroots or entrepreneurial forms of development must become a top priority for those of us working on the economic renewal of the city and the region,” said Utica Mayor David Roefaro.
The project will be directed by Hamilton College Professor George Hobor, who is an expert in the economic transformation of cities in the “Rust Belt” region of the United States. Professor Hobor has conducted research on cities in the struggling Upstate region for the last six years, and is currently writing a book about his efforts.
The establishment of this research project was inspired in part by the Community Foundation’s own initiative entitled Herkimer-Oneida Indicators, which collects statistics about ten conditions or ‘indicators’ in the two Upstate New York counties.
“Rust to Green’s research goals echo the Community Foundation’s long-range approach, and we’re pleased to play a role in their efforts,” said Peggy O’Shea, President & CEO of The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties.
Looking at the urban landscape through the lens of sustainability and landscape architecture, Rust To Green Utica’s goal is to explore and advance green futures for New York’s rust-belt cities, allowing them to become more livable and resilient places. Composed of a wide range of community stakeholders from private business, government, education and non-profits, this all volunteer grassroots group identifies and implements appropriate, context-specific solutions to a range of obstacles facing struggling cities.
“This grant, and the research that it supports represent a potentially significant area of untapped human and economic potential. It is unique assets like Utica’s existing infrastructure and its refugee population that make it ripe for renewal,” said Cornell University Professor and Rust to Green co-creator Paula Horrigan.
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Rust to Green New York State is an emerging network and action research initiative. We are academic, citizen and community partners collaborating to explore and advance green futures for New York’s rust-belt cities. Rust to Green NYS identifies and designs innovative ways to assist cities in realizing their potential to become livable and resilient places.
