Update on Sustainable DC Grants

In February of 2014, the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Science was awarded with three grants from the Sustainable DC Innovation Challenge. The Sustainable DC Innovation Challenge was established to promote novel initiatives among District agencies that will advance Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s Sustainable DC Plan that seeks to make the District of Columbia the greenest, healthiest and most sustainable city in the nation. Remarkably, out of the seven total grants awarded, UDC was honored with three, for a grand total of $921,000. 

The grants will help to:

1. Build three state of the art neighborhood scale aquaponics facilities.
2. Build a commercial kitchen facility and food truck to promote nutrition, job-skills and entrepreneurship training.
3. Create a native plants nursery to combat invasive plant species and restoration native habitats. All three facilities will serve as community education center to create local green-jobs training.

While the University is working closely working on the details with the District Department of the Environment on the next steps, students in the Center for Sustainable Development are diligently developing research protocol, plan of work and background report. 

The students cannot wait to start the implementation process, so stay tuned!