Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21474

The Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS) is administered by the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). It is a campus-wide initiative that harnesses the expertise of UMD faculty and the energy and ingenuity of UMD students to help Maryland communities become more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. PALS is designed to provide innovative, low-cost assistance to local governments while creating real-world problem-solving experiences for University of Maryland graduate and undergraduate students.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Environmental planning

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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    A Framework Plan for Preservation and Growth in Creswell, Harford County, Maryland
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2019-06) Ali, Bilal; Latimer, Sarah; MacKereth, Nick; Nye, Kari; Ottalini, Russ; Smith, Jerah; Weller, AnnaLinden; Clites, Philip; Espinoza, Maria; Kerner, Bridget; Phelps, Brooks; Scott, Sacsheen; Goldsborough, Elena; Avin, Uri; Noonkester, Matt
    HarfordNEXT, the county’s 2016 Masterplan, calls for a comprehensive analysis of facilities needed to serve Creswell and asserts that future development must be compatible with the preservation of Creswell’s rural character. This mandate is the basis for the present study, conducted under the auspices of the University of Maryland’s PALS program in the spring semester of 2019. The HarfordNEXT language about the Creswell study is also the basis for five of this report’s goals: Conserve Farming; Protect the Environment; Preserve Rural Character; Minimize Traffic Impacts; Maintain Adequate Infrastructure. In addition to these goals, the team added two others: Provide Additional Housing; Ensure Positive Fiscal Impact. This course examined TDR (transfer of development rights) using CommunityViz software, and also conducted scenario planning using transportation and fiscal models. The appendix document was a collaborative effort, with the following courses completing the background reports for sewer and water infrastructure, environmental impacts, and public services in the Creswell area: ENCE422 Project Cost Accounting and Economics, LARC642 Graduate Studio III, LAW577B Environmental Legal Clinic, and URSP640 Growth Management and Environmental Planning.
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    Environmental Analysis and Development Potential in the Creswell Area of Harford County, MD
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2018) Russell, Sherry; Turner, Sarah; Wallace, Sarah; Myers, David N.
    This project was undertaken as part of the UMD PALS program by graduate Landscape Architecture students in LARC 642 in the fall of 2018. It contributes to a series of courses addressing the development potential of the Creswell study area in Harford County. The objectives of this course were threefold: 1. Identify abiotic, biotic, and cultural characteristics that significantly influence development patterns of the Creswell area; 2. Undertake an assessment of developable potential of the Creswell area; and 3. Visually document patterns of land use of the built environment for the understanding of potential development patterns of the Creswell area. This document is organized along the basis of these three objectives.
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    Finding Vulnerable Roads in Harford County
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2018) Bell, Julia A.; Bennehoff, Yohannes Eagle; Curran, Margaret L.; Peng, Binbin; Zhou, Frank
    Climate change has induced more extreme weather in recent years and Harford County and the surrounding region has experienced more frequent and intense storms. Flooding in Harford County, caused by the increase in storms, generated many instances of roads washing out, which have caused severe damage and created unsafe driving conditions. The issue has necessitated considerable use of public resources. Unfortunately, county budgets are limited, and staff resources are thin. Mitigation is the most cost-effective tool to reduce damage and associated costs; therefore, the county requires a tool that can more effectively identify vulnerable roadway segments. By working with the PALS program at University of Maryland, College Park, the county has identified an opportunity to work proactively and better meet the road safety obligations of the Public Works Department and the Division of Highways. As part of the PALS program, the team used data processing tools and GIS mapping technology to help the county preserve their roadways. Through ongoing conversations, the county worked with the team to create a tool that meet their needs by identifying roads at risk. Vulnerable segments have been identified and prioritized so county staff can plan road reinforcement projects in a more cost-effective manner. Along with a map of identified at-risk road segments, the team has created an interactive web app that allows an in-depth of analysis of at-risk roads, a geodatabase with watershed and soil analysis, and a presentation that reviews key findings. This report reviews the background research, the GIS methods used, the results and their implications for the county, and suggestions for moving forward. The goal, as GIS technicians and community planners, is to serve the interests of the county by providing tools to better predict instances of road failure.
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    Streambank and Road Erosion in Harford County
    (Partnership for Action Learning and Sustainability (PALS), 2018) Bailor, Alexander; Kortesoja, Ellen; Miller, Gene; Savonis, Luke; Peng, Binbin; Zhou, Frank
    As part of the Fall 2018 URSP 688L Planning Technology class, students from the graduate Community Planning program at the University of Maryland worked with the Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS) program to use applied computer mapping tools to address a streambank erosion project in Harford County, Maryland. Working with ArcGIS, our team identified vulnerable roadways in Harford County at risk from streambank erosion. Using the software’s tools, our team identified a total of 438 vulnerable roadways, which were then ranked by their total potential risk. Our team presented this information and ranking system so Harford County could address these roadways. It is our hope that this information proves useful to the County to address issues before they occur. We provided the County with a geodatabase that contains final spatial information, additional shapefiles that outline our technical process, and a metadata file. We also created an online presentation, which is accessible through ArcGIS Online at: https://arcg.is/1zKviX.
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    Road Segment Risk Assessment: Harford County, Maryland
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2018) Borumand, Narges; McNally, Devin; Perry, Elena; Peng, Binbin; Zhou, Frank
    The Department of Public Works in Harford County has requested road segments at risk of erosion be identified for preventive maintenance application. The final deliverable for this project will be a map, data, and report categorizing the risk levels along with a list of the most at- risk road segments. A Hot Spot Analysis identifying areas with the greatest concentration of at-risk road segments will also be included. The project had several phases. First, county road sections that were not bridges and that were close to streams (<25 feet) were selected and isolated. Second, the team calculated and characterized the soil type, drainage area, and distance from the stream as erosion risk indicators. Third, the team created an index that weights soil type, drainage area, and distance to identify the highest risk road segments. The team then separated the identified road segments into high, medium, and low risk categories and produced a list of the 347 road segments most at-risk. After a hot-spot analysis to find areas of the county that contain clusters of high-risk road segments, the team finished by reporting to the county the roads in need of checks or repair.
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    Montgomery County Parks: Engage Millennials in Parks
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2018) Robeck, Christopher; Xiao, Di; Sattiraju, Praneetha; Atre, Vinita; Kules, Bill
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    Montgomery Parks Outreach Strategy and Implementation Plan
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2017) The National Center for Smart Growth
    CJRT is developing a long-term minority outreach engagement strategy and implementation plan for Montgomery Parks, an agency within the Maryland-National Capital Planning Park Commission (M-NCPPC). Montgomery Parks is a bi-county governmental agency serving over one million Montgomery County, Maryland residents as well as residents from the larger Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. metro area. Over one third of Montgomery County’s residents are foreign-born and approximately 14 percent have limited English proficiency according to Montgomery County’s Limited English Proficiency Annual Report (2011). M-NCPPC’s mission is to: “Protect and interpret our valuable natural and cultural resources; balance demand for recreation with the need for conservation; offer various enjoyable recreational activities that encourage healthy lifestyles; and provide clean, safe, and accessible places.” As in many communities, Montgomery Parks faces challenges attracting and developing long-term engagement with specific underrepresented groups, which is a direct threat to their ability to provide accessible parks and facilities. This outreach and engagement issue, while pervasive among many state-run and national agencies, stems from a complex array of barriers including: language, culture, geographic location, economic status, values and perceptions. Alongside the social and economic barriers, improving long-term engagement with these underrepresented groups will have to address and ameliorate beliefs that agencies do not care about them, do not listen or are irrelevant to them. Overall, the goals of this effort are to provide our client with a cost-efficient, effective, and sustainable communication strategy, and to provide an implementation strategy to achieve improved outreach, engaging non-typical park users. The report provides the following recommendations: Increase and expand translation, focusing first on “high-touch” resources; Increase targeted advertising to populations (we focused on three large populations, American born African-Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, and Chinese): African-Americans: through schools, churches, and national Pan-Hellenic council, Latinos/Hispanics: churches and public schools, Chinese: ethnic grocery stores/markets, language schools, public schools, and community centers; Hire full-time staff with expertise in minority outreach, preferably bilingual, to help Montgomery Parks navigate and oversee community outreach to minorities; Hire “hubs” (community brokers) or community residents to act as ambassadors and help create pilot outreach programs; Require cultural competency training for Montgomery Parks staff. Additionally, to ease implementation, we recommend a phased implementation of the above initiatives with the associated baseline costs: Phase 1: includes hiring new personnel, requiring cultural competency, starting translation of key documents in key languages ($77,090); Phase 2: includes hiring the hubs and beginning pilot outreach programs, as well as expanding translation services ($99,650); Phase 3: expansion of previous outreach programs, development of the Community Engagement Office ($92,850).
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    Planning for the Future: Montgomery County Parks
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2018) Clauff, Jack; Cuenca, Joy; Farzin, Melissa; Vaughn, Angela; Waldron, Jeremy; Coomber, Nicole
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    A Review of Stakeholder Feedback and Indicator Analysis for the Maryland Environmental Justice Screening Tool
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2018) Bara, Samuel; Driver, Aubree; Gugssa, Wengiel; Hagerty, Maddie; Mullen, Haley; Ravichandran, Vivek; Tellez, Vanessa; Woldu, Root; Wilson, Sacoby
    Background: A wealth of research has shown that communities of color and low-income populations have been disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards and locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) including incinerators, power plants, landfills, and other pollution- intensive facilities. Unfortunately, the State of Maryland has made little progress in constructing tools to assess and address environmental injustice and related health issues. The National Center for Smart Growth has begun developing a new mapping tool for Maryland—Maryland EJSCREEN—that highlights the prevalence and frequency of environmental hazards and LULUs and their health risks for nearby populations. Goal: The long-term goal is to use this tool to highlight areas with environmental justice issues and areas that need additional investments. The tool should be used in permitting, regulatory, zoning, and development decisions. Objectives: This project’s objectives are to collect information on environmental, social, economic, exposure, and health indicators that should be included in the Maryland EJSCREEN tool; obtain feedback from stakeholder groups on indicators that should be included in the tool and prioritized; and demonstrate the utility of the EJSCREEN tool. Approach: In collaboration with the Partnership in Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), we performed a literature review of economic, social, environmental, exposure, and health indicators identified as important by several Prince George’s County community members and stakeholders in a series of demonstration workshops. Stakeholders included residents from the Port Towns, Environmental Action Council members, the Environmental Justice legislative team, and the Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities. Flashcards, posters, and surveys were distributed to community members and stakeholders to gather valued feedback about necessary indicators that were acceptable to be highlighted in Maryland EJSCREEN. Results: We found that the demonstration workshops were effective in soliciting feedback from residents, advocates, health practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholder groups. Importance to Public Health: This tool can be used by local residents to advocate for new policies, better enforcement, and public health improvements. It can also be used by government officials to build healthier, greener, more equitable, and more sustainable communities.