Summary 

 

          These briefing papers are a collection of information and data on a broad range of topics that affect the quality of life for Providence residents.  They are intended to encourage community participation in the creation of an urban environmental public policy and an action implementation plan for Providence –Providence’s first Environmental Plan.  The papers provide a background for a Livable Providence 2000 Conference, to be held on October 23^rd 1999 to gather community input for inclusion in the City's Comprehensive Plan. 

        Issues were selected for this Conference in three public meetings with stakeholders, a focus group of community residents, and discussions with Providence youth involved in environmental projects.  This list is not exhaustive and additional issues may be identified during the course of the Conference.   

        At the request of Providence’s Department of Planning and Development and the Mayor’s Office, and with the support of the Urban Environmental Initiative of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 1, Brown University’s Center for Environmental Studies gathered information from agencies, organizations, community groups, and residents regarding each issue and prepared these papers.  The briefing papers summarize data and provide contact/resource information at the end of each section to help direct residents to outside resources for more information.  In addition to the resources and contacts mentioned here, Brown University's Center for Environmental Studies prepared reference volumes with a more thorough listing of resources, publications, and contacts some of which are not otherwise easily accessible to the public.  These reference volumes will be available to the public and distributed to libraries and community groups.

The primary purpose of the briefing papers is to give Providence residents a common base of information around each topic, to facilitate discussions at the Livable Providence 2000 Conference.  We also hope these papers will be useful beyond the scope of the Conference as a resource for community groups, residents, and agency officials.  

 

Prepared by:  Ana Baptista, Justin Huxol, Matthew Amengual, and Harold Ward– Center for Environmental Studies, Brown University, 863-2715, www.brown.edu/Departments/Environmental_Studies; with contributions by Rachel Schmidt, Rachel Ede, Rebekah Alfond, and Mike Kalikow.

Sponsored in part by: RI Department of Environmental Management, and RI Department of Health, a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the --Brownfields Showcase Community.