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In November 2003 the Interactive University Project was awarded a $650,000 grant from the Department of Commerce Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) to develop and administer the City|Watershed Project. City|Watershed is comprised of more than a dozen partner organizations in San Francisco and the East Bay. Led by the IU, with UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources as the key campus partner, Bay Area partners include community-based environmental organizations, local government, regional and federal resource agencies, and K-12 school districts. City|Watershed will bring innovative computer technologies to the established, successful watershed education and restoration programs of its partners. Utilizing the resources and expertise of UC Berkeley, the project will develop a Watershed Contribution Exchange System, an XML-based web environment in which end users may access information such as maps, specimen identification slides, and water quality data; and where they will be able to contribute observational information such as field data, photo documentation of neighborhood stream restoration, or policy recommendations developed for public presentations.
The project’s goal is to increase community involvement in, and understanding of, the urban watershed so that citizens—youth and their families, teachers, community leaders—can contribute solutions to the interrelated environmental and social problems affecting the Bay Area’s watersheds.
City|Watershed will work to create a model that: increases citizen participation and understanding of the urban watershed; enables community members to make significant contributions to improving the natural and social environment; builds a sustainable regional partnership of City|Watershed partners; and implements a Watershed Contribution Exchange system, integrated into the on-going work of project partners.
 The program is funded for three years, program activities began in Spring 2004; field work will take place in Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco, and will be centered at five “watershed learning laboratories”—field locations in riparian zones—and in community centers and school classrooms. Primary beneficiaries will be: higher education and K-12 faculty and students, watershed professionals, community advocates, and concerned citizens. Click on the map to enlarge for project location details. There is more information about the City|Watershed project and its partners in this IU News story from May 2003.
Executive Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Paul Gray serves as City|Watershed's Principal Investigator, the project is conducted under the aegis of UC Berkeley’s Information Systems and Technology. Here is a full list of City|Watershed partners:
On the Berkeley Campus
In the East Bay
In San Francisco
Read IU News stories about the City|Watershed Project from November 2003 and July 2004
Updated July 2004 |
