Lead Partners: National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA), Environmental Protection Agency Brownfield Program and Groundwork USA.
Program Goal(s):
·
Increase the capacity of communities to improve
and care for their local environments themselves and improve access to parks,
recreation and conserved natural resources.
·
Develop holistic community specific approaches
to improving environmental health and community well being – physical
improvements, education and job training, community leadership and civic
engagement.
·
Transform vacant and derelict lands into
community assets for conservation, recreation and economic development.
·
Raise the profile of urban environmental
transformation as part of a comprehensive approach to smart growth strategies,
community stabilization, and economic redevelopment.
Brief Description: The Groundwork USA
Initiative is a growing network of community ‘do-tanks’ for the environment
called Groundwork Trusts. Locally
organized and controlled, each Groundwork Trust delivers projects and programs
to address local environmental justice issues through a creative mix of
professional staff, volunteers, partners and stakeholders, with funding from
the public and private sector. There are
now 20 Groundwork USA pilot communities across the US; 19 Groundwork Trusts are
established. The network is led by Groundwork USA, a national nonprofit working
to increase the effectiveness of the local Trusts with information sharing,
training, resource development, technical assistance and quality control. For more information, www.groundworkusa.org
Program Design: Beginning in 1997, the Network is designed to
encourage information sharing, support, and collaborative thinking among
established and developing Groundwork Trusts and the communities they serve.
The NPS and EPA support the Network and establishment of GW Trusts through
technical assistance (NPS) and seed funding (EPA).
Establishing a new Groundwork Trust is a multi-step
competitive process and brings many public, private and community stakeholders
to the table to build consensus on community assets and needs and the role for
a GW Trust in their community to address those needs. This diverse group, many who have not worked
with each other before, forms a local Groundwork Steering Committee to work
with the National Park Service to evaluate Groundwork for their community. If in agreement, they apply to NPS for
Groundwork USA Pilot Funding and Technical Assistance. If their proposal is selected, they then work
with NPS and Groundwork USA on in-depth feasibility study and launching
strategy. Upon completion, if the final
decision is to establish the new GW Trust, NPS provides seed funding and
technical assistance to help establish the new GW Trust in partnership with the
local government and the partners on the Steering Committee. The new Groundwork Trust also becomes part of
the GW USA Network to draw on the expertise of the other GW Trusts and the
Groundwork USA national office.
Target audience: The focus is the community itself and their
role in leading the environmental restoration of their own community. To accomplish this, each GW Trust engages
municipal government, business and civic leaders, foundations, churches,
community organizations, nonprofits, residents and other stakeholders to build
consensus and achieve results. Engaging
youth as leaders and doers is a high priority for all GW projects and programs.
Role of the Community
The community, integral to achieving success, leads the Groundwork Trust from establishing
a steering committee and leading the feasibility process to governing the
organization and directing and participating in projects and programs.
Results: Groundwork USA Network Accomplishments
in 2011
·
Environmental Improvements
o
# Trees planted: 2,026
o
# Shrubs, Bulbs, Perennials, Flats of vegetables
and flowers planted: 9,823
o
# Acres of parks, openspace and derelict land
improved: 286
o
Tons of CO2 reduced or sequestered: 7,014
o
# feet of urban river habitat cleaned
up/conserved/restored: 86,789
·
Community Engagement
o
# Youth (<18 yrs old) actively engaged: 4,153
o
# Adults (> 18 yrs old) actively
engaged: 22,619
o
# Volunteer hours: 135,249
o
# Partners engaged: 701
·
Integrating the Economy and Environment
o
# Person weeks of green job training provided: 1,228
o
# Jobs created or retained (fulltime, part time,
summer): 281
o
Dollars leveraged (public and private sector and
in-kind): $10,757,949.00
Evaluation: NPS and Groundwork USA evaluate work
being accomplished by the GW Trusts and the benefits to the communities they
serve through quarterly reports, annual performance measures, regular network
conference calls and an annual conference and Youth Summit. Each GW Trust is also evaluated after their
first year of operation and assisted through a more intensive Peer Planning and
Review (PAR) which includes site visits and interviews with staff, board
members and partners.
Funding and Technical
Assistance: In addition to RTCA
technical assistance, each selected community receives significant staff assistance
from Groundwork USA to develop their Groundwork Feasibility Study, which
includes up to $5,000.00 for the local steering committee to support their
work. If the feasibility study is
approved, $80,000.00 is provided by NPS-EPA to support the launch of the new GW
Trust. The funds are disbursed over a 12
– 18 month period based on the accomplishment of a work plan to launch the new
GW Trust that was agreed to by NPS and the new Groundwork Trust. Upon successful completion of the workplan to
launch the new GW Trust and a 1 year operations
review by GW USA, the new Trust is eligible to receive up to $100,000
(in $25,000, $50,000 and $25,000 increments) over three years to build capacity
and undertake more project and program work.