Georgia Institute of Technology
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

CEAR Hub: Georgia Tech is a leading partner in the Coastal Equity and Resilience (CEAR) Hub. CEAR Hub is a project that joins community organizations, local governments, and educational institutions together to develop the knowledge, tools, and strategies that make our communities more resilient. CEAR Hub partners work alongside members of vulnerable communities to create fair and just solutions to climate challenges through community-led research, training, and outreach.

On the municipal level, Georgia Tech researchers with the CEAR Hub partner with the Chatham Emergency Management Agency in Chatham County and the City of Savannah on resiliency planning efforts. Resiliency planning efforts help communities respond to sustainability and climate issues including sea-level rise, flooding, and increased frequency and severity of natural disasters. Such efforts are aided by data collected by 64 sensors that the CEAR Hub operates along the Georgia coast. The CEAR Hub has also assisted with collecting and assessing public comment about zoning regulations that impact the Gullah Geechee people, a historically and culturally significant community of descendants of enslaved Africans, in coastal Georgia’s McIntosh County.

Supporting Information:
● https://www.cearhub.org/ ,
● https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/press-releases/sen-ossoffs-push-to-protect-georgias-coast-from-sea-level-rise-passes-congress/
● https://www.gatech.edu/news/2022/04/20/recent-funding-sea-level-sensor-project-savannah-moves-new-phase-0


MARTA Reach Program: Georgia Tech is a partner in the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Reach Pilot Program, which supports accessible public transportation. Pascal Van Hentenryck, who is the A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, developed the system to make MARTA more efficient and able to better serve communities that have a vital need for reliable transit. MARTA Reach is an on-demand multimodal transportation solution that harnesses smartphones and shuttles outfitted with tablets connected to an app that helps riders find a quick route to their nearest MARTA station. The program is meant to work with the city of Atlanta’s existing transportation services to help minimize waiting and walking, eliminating the inconvenience of users having to walk a mile or more to their nearest MARTA station. A pilot of the program ended on Aug. 31, 2022, and MARTA plans to use the findings in its bus redesign project. A similar project focused on EV deployment is also ongoing in Savannah, Georgia.

Supporting Information:
● https://news.gatech.edu/news/2022/02/28/georgia-tech-partners-launch-marta-reach-pilot-program-across-atlanta,
● https://www.itsmarta.com/reach.aspx,
● https://sam.isye.gatech.edu/projects/demand-multimodal-transit-systems/savannah-project,
● https://civic-engagement.gatech.edu/service-organizations/mobilizing-opportunities-volunteer-experiences

Georgia Climate Action Plan: Georgia Tech researchers associated with Drawdown Georgia are helping support the development of the state of Georgia’s first-ever climate action plan. The plan will help the state compete for up to $500 million in federal funding for climate mitigation efforts under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Under a contract with the Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Protection Division, the Georgia Tech team including Marilyn Brown, Regents’ Professor and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy, and William Drummond, associate professor in the School of City & Regional Planning, will work with partners across Georgia to help the state develop its greenhouse gas inventory, develop a plan to address the most important immediate opportunities the state can take to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and potentially help develop policies and programs to reach those goals. The U.S. EPA granted the state permission to use a climate emissions tracker developed at Georgia Tech as part of the project.

Supporting Information: https://news.gatech.edu/news/2023/11/28/georgia-tech-help-develop-states-first-climate-action-plan

White House Forum on Campus and Community Scale Climate Change Solutions: In March 2023, Georgia Tech’s VP of Infrastructure & Sustainability (I&S) Maria Cimilluca attended the White House Forum on Campus and Community Scale Climate Change Solutions co-hosted by the University of Washington. The event focused on how innovative actions on climate change currently employed on college campuses can further benefit their surrounding communities and beyond. She was the sole representative from the state of Georgia invited to attend.

Supporting Information
● https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2023/03/15/readout-of-the-white-house-forum-on-campus-and-community-scale-climate-change-solutions/
● https://facilities.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/2023-09/INSIDE%20I%26S_Q3%202023-Final-New-Pg5_convert%20colours.pdf


CEAR Hub: Georgia Tech is a leading partner in the Coastal Equity and Resilience (CEAR) Hub. On the federal level, Georgia Tech researchers with the CEAR Hub have presented research about sustainability, resilience, and equity issues to Senator Jon Ossoff’s office, The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, and the EPA National Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

University Global Coalition: Georgia Tech co-founded, chairs, and staffs the University Global Coalition. The University Global Coalition’s mission is to form a global platform of universities and other higher education organizations committed to working together and in partnership with the United Nations (through UNITAR), SDSN, and other relevant organizations, in support of the Sustainable Development Goals both locally and globally through our education, research, and service missions.

Supporting Information: https://universityglobalcoalition.org/