Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities 2019 Request for Letters of Interest

Letter of interest must be submitted in an attachment (Microsoft Word or PDF file) by email to Abby Hall (hall.abby@epa.gov ) no later than November 8, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Overview: Cities, regions, and states across the United States are facing natural disasters that can have devastating effects on life, property, the economy, and ecosystems. As more and more communities face the effects of natural disasters, decision makers and community members need tools and guidance to help them take action that can both protect them from natural disasters while also revitalizing economies, creating jobs, protecting clean air and water, and improving quality of life.

The Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program provides quick, targeted technical assistance to selected communities using a variety of tools that have demonstrated results and widespread application. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) delivers the assistance using teams of experts who conduct workshops in the selected communities. This round of Building Blocks will focus on helping regions that need assistance to build large-scale resilience to natural disasters and is intended to help them align resilience priorities across different federal, state, and local planning requirements and funding sources.

EPA is offering assistance to regional partnerships based on the new EPA and FEMA Regional Resilience Toolkit. Regional partners are considered multiple jurisdictions that are working together, as well as entities that operate at a large geographic scale, such as county or tribal governments, regional planning organizations, watershed coalitions, councils of governments, or other partnerships that work at the multi-state, multi-county, or multi-city/town scale. This assistance is not intended for a single community.

Key Information:

• Eligibility: The applicant can include multiple jurisdictions that are working together, as well regional organizations that operate at a multi-state, multi-county, or multi-city/town scale. The letter of interest can come from state, tribal, regional, and local governments, as well as nonprofit organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a governmental entity.
• Deadline: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on November 8, 2019.
• How to apply: Submit a two-page letter of interest.
• Timeframe: EPA expects to select three (3) recipients by the end of November and intends to provide all technical assistance by Fall 2020.

How to apply:

Submit a letter of interest—no longer than two (2) pages—that contains the following information. (Please do not submit maps, letters of support, or other supplemental information.)

• Regional geography and partnership. Define the geographic bounds of your regional partnership. Please describe who your key partners are and the history of the partnership, if any. Describe how you will work across departments, scales of government, and with other organizations in your region. If there is a clear lead for your partnership, please explain how this leadership role came about.
• Description of the disaster risk. Applicants need to articulate the disaster risks facing the region and likely actions needed to address those risks. Disaster types might include hurricanes, earthquakes, sea level rise, wildfire, drought, extreme heat, tornadoes, volcanoes, winter storms, and flooding. Please include information about how this assistance would align with and support related efforts, including recovery from a recent natural disaster, planned updates to a local or multi-jurisdiction hazard mitigation plan, or other pre-disaster mitigation efforts, such as planing for strategic retreat.
• Support from elected officials and the public. Applicants need to identify persons and/or organizations that support the project and will work toward its implementation. Please include a list of references for each of the following (formal letters of support are not necessary):
  • Elected Officials Support: can include mayors, city council members, and representatives from other decision-making bodies with appropriate local, regional, or state governments.
  • Public or Community Support: can include neighborhood coalitions, community development groups, local business organizations, and community-based organizations from underrepresented communities.
• Describe your plan for engaging traditionally underrepresented communities, including low-income, minority, tribal, and/or overburdened communities, in the technical assistance workshop. What are the key challenges facing overburdened communities and residents in hazardous areas?
• Describe the region’s expected capacity for implementation, e.g., regional or local policy change, infrastructure or capital improvement projects, new incentives, etc. EPA generally looks to assist communities that are ready for implementation after the Building Blocks workshop is complete.
• If applicable, describe how this assistance would complement work being done in the region using other federal funding (e.g., EPA brownfields grants or water infrastructure funds, U.S. HUD Community Development Block Grants, FEMA funds (Pre-disaster Mitigation, Flood Mitigation Assistance, or Hazard Mitigation Grant Program dollars), Economic Development Administration funds,  Opportunity Zone designation, etc.
• Affirm that the community can provide the information or materials listed in the “What the Community Provides” section of the tool description (below).
• List the primary point of contact including title, address, email, and phone number.

If you have questions about this request for letters of interest, please see our Frequently Asked Questions webpage at https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/frequently-asked-questions-faqs-about-building-blocks-sustainable-communities. If your question is not answered there, please contact Abby Hall at hall.abby@epa.gov or 202-631-5915.

 

Wellspring IV is back!

Join top water operators, business leaders, water entrepreneurs, government policy makers and experts for the Smart Water—Smart Solutions Summit for 2019. It is the premier Pacific Northwest gathering focused on sustainable, integrated, and inclusive solutions to critical water problems and challenges October 24-25 in Tacoma. 

What is Wellspring?

Wellspring is a conference for people interested in solving water-related problems. Unlike many conferences, it is not specific to any one field of work or type of professional. Wellspring brings together scientists, government officials, nonprofits, entrepreneurs and more. See agenda for details: https://www.wellspringconf.org/agenda

Who should attend? 

Anyone who is interested in sustainable urban development, water infrastructure, economic development, workforce development, environmental engineering, urban water quality, using data and technology to address environmental problems, and more. Along with the main presentations, conferences are great places to learn about different industries and do some networking!

Additionally, the Center for Urban Waters has arranged for four students to attend the Wellspring Conference for FREE. Four students will receive promo codes that they can use to register for the conference at no cost.  Students can request a free registration here: https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/hayleymm/379564

For more information about Wellspring, visit the conference website: https://www.wellspringconf.org

We hope to see you there!

We hope to see you and your colleagues at the upcoming 17th annual Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale on April 4-5, 2020, which is the world’s largest and leading global health conference as well as the largest social entrepreneurship conference. Register during October for a highly reduced registration rate (more than 40% lower than the regular rate). 

Confirmed speakers to date: Learn from more than 250 speakers who are committed to effective, responsible programs in health, development, entrepreneurship, and education. See the confirmed 2020 conference speakers to date, including keynote speakers Arlene Blum, Sanjiv Chopra, and Jeffrey Sachs.

Call for Abstracts: Abstracts are currently being accepted for research presentations, program presentations, and for the social impact pitch presentations, including submissions for the $10,000 and $5,000 GHIC Innovation Prize. The final abstract deadline is October 15 for those submitting a research or program abstract.

Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) is hiring for two open positions in their Ecohydrology Lab: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Global Environmental Change and/or Urban Ecohydrology and Graduate Assistantship in Global Environmental Change and/or Urban Ecohydrology. Check these links for detailed information on each position.

For the Postdoctoral RA position: Please apply as soon as possible by emailing kevan.moffett@wsu.edu: (1) a letter describing your interests and experiences relevant to the position (maximum 3 pages single-spaced), (2) current CV, (3) contact information for three professional references. Priority application deadline November 1, 2019 for immediate review toward possible hire, but applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

For the Graduate Assistantship Position: Please send an email of inquiry/interest as soon as possible to kevan.moffett@wsu.edu and please attach a CV/resume that includes GPA and GRE scores, if possible. Complete applications are due by January 10, 2020 for priority review toward potential admission, but late applications will be accepted through winter and spring until the position is filled.

The Department of Sociology at Emory University invites applications for a tenure-track position focusing on the Sociology of Health. This position will be at the level of Assistant Professor or, for the extraordinary file, tenured at the Associate Professor level, and it will commence in Fall 2020.

The study of health is a core programmatic area at Emory Sociology, with several of our faculty doing research and teaching in that area. This programmatic area is also enlivened by our close ties to scholars beyond the College at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health, the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, as well as at the nearby Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

We are seeking a scholar who has broad expertise in the Sociology of Health and has an ability to link that expertise to one or more of our programmatic areas in inequality, social psychology, or culture. We value cutting edge research that adopts a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, as well as a range of substantive foci. Candidates should be prepared to teach Sociology of Health / Healthcare courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and we look favorably on those candidates who could also teach core courses in either theory or methods.

A complete application will consist of a letter of application, curriculum vitae, research and teaching statements, no more than two writing samples, and three letters of recommendation. Please submit (along with other materials) a brief statement that reflects upon your experience and vision regarding the teaching and mentorship of students from diverse backgrounds. Application review will begin on October 7, 2019. Applications received up to 30 days after review begins will receive full consideration.

This vacancy is for a Survey Statistician in the Center for Economic Studies, Demographic Research Area located at the U.S. Census Bureau Headquarters in Suitland, Maryland.  The Census Bureau is accessible from the Metro Rail Green Line – Suitland Station.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct empirical research.
• Plan and coordinate project activities related for research using administrative records.
• Communicate with senior management, internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead, manage, and supervise team.

Deadline to apply is October 22, 2019. Click the link below for more information.

This event consists of a series of web-seminars organized by the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE).

With the goal to make visible the role that doctoral education plays in questioning systems of exclusion and inequality, the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) is inviting scholars across the world to participate in the CIRGE life lecture and webinar Series “Committing Ourselves to Social Justice: Doctoral Education for Complex Times.” This series aims to provide doctoral students, instructors, departments and funders of doctoral education, a better understanding of the structures, practices, and pedagogies that would need to be addressed in different disciplines and organizations, to be more inclusive, embrace diversity and equity.

CIRGE acknowledges that the meaning of social justice is tied to specific political and cultural contexts. Rather than starting with a (single) definition of the term, the CIRGE series will begin with an open investigation of what “social justice” does and would look like for various academic disciplines and university communities across the world.

Interested in presented in the web-seminar series in the future:

Please contact Roxana Chiappa | rchiappa@uw.edu

First Talk of the Series

November 18th, 2019: Viewing the landscape of doctoral education against the horizon of policy: Placing ourselves in the academic arboretum

Speaker: Dr. Amy Scott Metcalfe, University of British Columbia

Time: November 18th, 2019, at 9.30 am (Pacific Time)

Register here

This tenure track professor will cover the field of multi-dimensional demographic modelling and forecasting focusing on human characteristics (in addition to age and sex) such as educational attainment, place of residence and others. Applications of these methods should also address the role of population trends with respect to sustainable development goals. Application deadline is November 20, 2019.

Please click this link or the link below for more information and to apply!