Congratulations to all the Paideia scholars who assisted in the ASU RainWorks Challenge! The ASU project won 2nd place!
Arizona State University won 2nd Place in the Demonstration Project Category. In their project titled “Ready! Set! Activate!” this team worked with a local elementary school to reduce local flooding during Arizona’s monsoon season and create a resilient, multi-functional space that effectively manages stormwater runoff and yields educational and ecological benefits. Watch the team’s video about their project:
This project allowed for collaboration between a charter school serving minority and economically underserved children and ASU researchers and students to address environmental justice and equity in health and education,” said Chingwen Cheng, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture in The Design School at Arizona State University. “Our students gained first-hand experience working with the community and seeing that their design concepts would be realized in the near future. This is an invaluable service-learning experience for students and directly benefits under-served communities.”
EPA is also pleased to recognize the University of California at Los Angeles with 1st place in the Demonstration Project category. The University of California at Berkeley received honorable mention in the same category. First place in the Master Plan category was awarded to Florida International University.
Green infrastructure tools and techniques for stormwater management include green roofs, permeable materials, alternative designs for streets and buildings, trees, habitat conservation, rain gardens and rain harvesting systems. Utilizing these tools decreases pollution to local waterways by treating rain where it falls and keeping polluted stormwater from entering sewer systems. Communities are increasingly using innovative green infrastructure to supplement “gray” infrastructure such as pipes, filters and ponds. Green infrastructure reduces water pollution while increasing economic activity and neighborhood revitalization, job creation, energy savings and open space.
First-place teams will receive a $5,000 student prize to be split among team members and a $5,000 faculty prize to support green infrastructure research and training. Second-place teams will receive a $2,500 student prize and a $2,500 faculty prize. Designs were completed and submitted to EPA last fall for review and consideration.
