About CCURB
Goal
Brown has made a commitment to providing leadership in mitigating climate change through its program of carbon emissions reductions, both on campus and in the larger community in which it is located. To meet its community objectives Brown has launched the Community Carbon Use Reduction at Brown (CCURB) project which will help catalyze local carbon emissions reductions through an investment of financial resources and development of collaborations of community and civic groups with Brown students, faculty and staff on a diversity of activities. Projects that accomplish the dual goals of helping meet the needs of the greater Providence neighborhoods while reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be the focus of these off-campus projects.
Objectives
Each community-based project should address the following goals:
- Provide vibrant opportunities for learning for all those involved
- Engage non-university groups in thinking about how to increase the sustainability of the greater Providence area and its neighborhoods in a way that is responsive to the needs of the community
- Lead to a measurable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
Eligibility
All staff, faculty and students of Brown University are eligible for funding from this grant. Teams are not required, but are encouraged. Projects submitted by individuals may be paired with others if there are multiple submissions with the same or similar idea. Community partner team members are optional if the project idea is internal to Brown. Community partner team members are required if the project idea is community-based. Brown team members listed on letters of interest must have consented to participation. Proposed community members are not to be contacted until the letter of interest has been approved.
Letters of Interest
Individuals and teams were invited to submit a Letter of Interest to provide a brief overview of the proposed project and how it fits into the program objectives listed above. We are pleased to announce that the first call in December 2007 resulted in the receipt of twenty-five Letters of Interest.
Project Development WorkshopS
The first CCURB workshop was held on February 26, 2008. The initial workshop addressed general questions about calculations, CO2 reduction potential, guidelines on interacting with the community, guidelines on working together as a group, and the potential for merging or collaborating on similar projects.
GRANT APPLICATIONS
The CCURB committee received nine applications and funded four pilot projects. The full Press Release can be viewed at the Media Relations website. Funded projects include:
- A student group that will partner with a middle school for low-middle income girls in Providence to design and implement carbon emission projects.
- A student-faculty group that will install high-efficiency lighting in low-income Providence homes.
- A student group that will partner with a community organization to install programmable thermostats in Providence homes.
- A student group that will work with local government agencies and Providence homeowners to weatherize homes with the goal of reducing energy consumption.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
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