| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 50.32 |
| Liaison | Kirk Hemphill |
| Submission Date | April 24, 2020 |
Florida Institute of Technology
EN-10: Community Partnerships
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 3.00 |
Ken
Lindeman Professor, Sustainability Studies Ocean Engineering & Marine Sciences |
Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Which of the following best describes the partnership?:
Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:
The Marine Resource Council’s (MRC) Green Business Program is dedicated to helping local businesses identify, adopt, and maintain money-saving, sustainable practices in an effort to protect the threatened and economically valuable Indian River Lagoon. For several years, Florida Tech Students have worked to enhance this program by increasing business membership through a direct internship program between the MRC Sustainability Program at Florida Tech.
Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
- After recent fish-kills from harmful algal blooms, one of the largest local environmental organizations, Keep Brevard Beautiful (KBB), created a new lawn certification program (Lagoon Friendly Lawns at http://keepbrevardbeautiful.org/our-programs/lagoon-friendly-lawns) to reduce fertilizer run-off into our local estuaries.
- To identify the potential impacts of this program on multiple complex nutrient loading issues, KBB has partnered with FIT to deploy sustainability students on this project as a part of their annual research projects. Students are working directly with KBB staff to develop a variety of methodologies to estimate the effects of the certification program on reducing the load of Nitrogen and Phosphorus into local watersheds.
- This is envisioned as a several year project due to the complexity of the technical issues and the need for multi-year data. The project supports ecological, social and economic capital as our local estuary (which supports thousands of multi-generational families and businesses) has recently collapsed with large negative impacts to the local economy and social well-being (lost fishing opportunities - a hundred-million dollar annual activity here, heavily linked to traditional family fishing experiences). KBB's certification approach is novel and involves the use of a demand side, market-based tool to protect our estuaries and the socio-economic resources they support. Our partnership offers the only current approach to assessing the actual impacts of the project as is and to recommend revisions to better achieve long term project goals.
Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.