Community-based Cities Fellows 2022
The University of Texas at Austin
Planet Texas 2050
Equitable and Regenerative Cities Flagship Project
Proposal Deadline: Monday, January 31, 2022, by 5:00 p.m. CT
SUMMARY
Opportunity: Community-based Cities Fellows Program, Planet Texas 2050, Equitable and Regenerative Cities
Eligibility: Austin area residents (Travis, Hays, Bastrop, or Williamson Counties) interested in advising a research project related to how urban systems (such as energy, waste, materials, housing, transportation/mobility, food, and others) impact residents' livelihoods.
Necessary Documents: Completed online application, which can be found here.
Deadline: Monday, January 31, 2022, 5:00 p.m.
BACKGROUND
The Equitable and Regenerative Cities Flagship Project is one of six flagship projects funded by the University of Texas at Austin Planet Texas 2050 Grand Challenge Research Program. The Equitable and Regenerative Cities Flagship Project seeks to build a roadmap to vibrant urban futures. We see a direct line between equitable cities, where everyone has fair access to infrastructure, services, and jobs they need to prosper, and regenerative cities where we diversify our economies, create good jobs, and rebuild natural systems. We believe that one way to create equitable, regenerative cities is to include residents in all stages of the development of “circular economy” tools and programs. In contrast with an economy that generates waste and leaves people behind, circular economies are designed to reduce waste through material reuse, cease harm done to natural systems, and generate jobs that feed into community development. In addition, we aim to develop a framework that is participatory and inclusive. Figure 1 (below) is an example of the types of city systems that interact in a circular economy.
FIGURE 1: Circular Economy Example. SOURCE
OPPORTUNITY
We seek Austin area residents (Travis, Hays, Bastrop, or Williamson Counties) interested in advising our research project from February - August 2022 as a community-based Cities Fellow. This cohort of three community-based Cities Fellows will advise the development of a participatory, circular economy framework that can be used to conceptualize Resilience Hubs in Austin, Texas. The City of Austin defines Resilience Hubs as neighborhood centers designed to coordinate culturally sensitive, multilingual services to better meet the needs of diverse groups of community members and to provide a safe place for temporary shelter and relief during days of extreme heat or disaster events such as floods (City of Austin Resolution 20210408-028). In the Spring of 2022, the City of Austin will be establishing two pilot Resilience Hubs and will eventually expanded these hubs throughout the city. Our project’s aim is to develop a participatory, circular economy-based approach to generate recommendations for the City of Austin to consider in their conceptualization and implementation of the hubs. Figure 2 is an example of a resilience hub.
FIGURE 2: Resilience Hub Example (City of Austin).
We seek community-based Cities Fellows who have lived experience and other expertise related to energy, waste, materials, housing, transportation/mobility, food or any other system that impacts the functioning of a city. Fellows do not need expertise in circular economies or community-engaged research but should be willing to become familiar with both topics.
AWARD: Each community-based Cities Fellow will receive a $1,500 stipend. Each fellow will be asked to participate for 35 hours (total) on the project from February – August 2022.
EXPECTATIONS & DELIVERABLES: Community-based Cities Fellows will help plan and participate in a Spring 2022 workshop (to be scheduled between mid-February and mid-April, with March being the most likely). Planning meetings will include a Planet Texas 2050 Resilience Roundtable event to be held in February or March, in addition to several other team meetings leading up to the spring workshop. Workshop participants--including project leads, Cities Fellows, and City of Austin representatives--will collaborate to create a framework that connects specific urban systems to a participatory circular economy framework. After the workshop, each community-based Cities Fellow will provide feedback during several meetings about the development of a report that applies a circular economy framework to the City of Austin’s Resilience Hub program. We hope that opportunities for further collaboration may emerge from this project, but what that will look like is yet to be determined.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS: Completed online application, which can be found here.
REVIEW CRITERIA: Applications will be reviewed by project leads and Planet Texas 2050 staff.
TIMELINE
Deadline: January 31st, 2021
Notification: February 14th, 2022
Resilience Roundtable Panel: Date to be determined, February or March 2022
Workshop Planning: begins in February 2022
Workshop: Spring 2022, between mid-February and mid-May
Post-Workshop Report Feedback: Late Spring/early Summer 2022, between April 2022-July 2022
Questions? Please contact Jonathan Lowell, jonathan.t.lowell@utexas.edu