| Christie Todd Whitman, administrator
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), presented
the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
(EOEA) with the agency's first annual National Award for Smart
Growth Achievement on November 18 in Washington, D.C. The
award recognizes the Community Preservation Initiative, a
program that combines education, training, and use of the
Web to help make citizens aware of the impact of growth and
current policies on their communities. A major element of
this initiative was the Community Preservation Institute,
a regional training program in which the UMass Donahue Institute
is a major player.
The Community Preservation Institute (CPI) is a collaborative
effort between the University of Massachusetts and EOEA that
taps the talents of UMass faculty, as well as government and
citizens groups, to assist leaders in applying preservation
principles in their communities. CPI now has more than 200
graduates. Offshoots of the Community Preservation Institute
are:
- a comprehensive textbook, co-authored by CPI instructors,
due out in the fall of 2004;
- Community Preservation High, a two-day residential program
for high school students and teachers; and
- alumni classes covering current environmental issues and
topics.
The nine-week course has been expanded to four UMass campuses
(Lowell, Boston, Amherst, and Dartmouth), and the I-495 Center
for Professional Education. Twenty-three UMass faculty from
the four campuses have taught in the program.
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