乐播传媒

CU Boulder researchers and听faculty, and the city of Boulder discussed听how innovative partnerships听between university researchers and cities are critical听to mitigating climate change during a panel at the national MetroLab Summit, held at the 乐播传媒 Boulder campus Thursday.听The city of Boulder and a group from CU Boulder led by the听Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR)听are hosting the听high-profile conference,听focusing on technology, data and design partnerships. The two-day conference ends today.

"We know climate change is accelerating," said Jonathan Koehn, regional sustainability coordinator with the city of Boulder, during the the panel, Climate Change and Research Needs of Local Governments: CU Boulder & Colorado Cases. "We can dispute whether or not there is this cliff edge that we are heading towards,听but there is consensus that we need to front load our strategies to make sure we are being as effective as we can."

The Summit is the annual conference of MetroLab,听a national network of 40 city-university partnerships focused on urban innovation, launched听in 2015 as part of the Obama administration鈥檚 Smart Cities Initiative.听 Approximately 200 people are attending from across the US, Canada and the United Kingdom, and the听national event has attracted听leading policy-makers, academics and relevant industry and nonprofit professionals. Terri Fiez, CU Boulder's vice chancellor for research & innovation听opened the conference, and Gov. Jared Polis gave the keynote remarks.听

The summit provides听an opportunity for researchers and city staff from across the country and world to听explore city-university partnerships听similar to those听developed between CU Boulder and听surrounding听cities and counties, said听Brian Muller, associate professor of environmental design and CEDaR's director.听As part of the Colorado partnerships, the university serves as a research and development arm while the city serves听as a test听bed for technologies and policies, and students benefit from a real-world experience.

"At the heart of CU Boulder's听MetroLab initiative is a听relationship-building philosophy," he听said. "University听researchers and local policymakers learn about each other鈥檚 priorities, which helps faculty tailor their research around tangible, urban issues, current policy discussions and benefits to Colorado citizens. At the same time MetroLab projects are designed to inspire student research through seminars, thesis projects and sponsored internships, which simultaneously strengthens the University's teaching mission.

With the support of CEDaR, CU Boulder has entered into MetroLab memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the cities of Denver, Boulder, and Longmont as well as Boulder County, and a number of research projects have been initiated under these MoUs.听Local governments听collaborate with students and faculty to do research, develop and deploy technologies and design policy approaches to address challenges within听urban areas.听

Colorado MetroLab's projects are diverse, ranging from innovations in policy and spatial analysis to new uses of building materials and design.听All focus on building vital and efficient cities and addressing issues of equity, affordability and community involvement.听Seed funding for these projects comes from the city of Boulder, CU Boulder's Office for Outreach and Engagement, the Research &听Innovation Office and the Program in Environmental Design. These efforts have led to two National Science Foundation proposals and a major foundation grant, submitted in collaboration听with local governments, engineering and business faculty, Boulder Housing Partners and others.

During the climate change session, Paul Chinowsky, director of CU Boulder's Program in Environmental Design, said it's not feasible to expand听infrastructures, such as storm sewers,听to absorb and divert water from the increasingly听intense storms experienced worldwide. He instead recommends adding听green infrastructures, such as installing听rain gardens, to naturally reduce excess runoff听from听roads and听parking lots and remove pollutants. Rain gardens are one of more than 20听Colorado MetroLab projects organized by CEDaR.

"We can鈥檛 build our way out of this," Chinowky said. "Nobody can afford to tear up all of their storm sewers. We have to rethink infrastructure so its complementing the environment."

Steve Voida, assistant professor in information science, spoke about the importance of scientists sharing data and the need for听citizens to get involved听to fill in data gaps.

"Even if we have really good scientists with really good analytical tools鈥搖ntil they听exchange听data听in ways that are meaningful鈥搕here鈥檚 information trapped in silos," he said.听

"In climate change we all have a role to play."