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The goal of our research project is the creation and evaluation of an innovative, multidisciplinary, project-based curriculum module to promote undergraduate learning about sustainable development.  The module will engage students in active learning using simple microprocessors to create interactive objects that demonstrate their understanding of some aspect of sustainable development.  A focus of the curriculum module, which will not have any technical prerequisites for students, will be the integration of the technical and the social: students will address a current social and environmental problem by building a prototype device that can contribute to the solution of the problem.

 This research project has the following benefits:

• Creation of a multidisciplinary, project-based learning module for undergraduates, joining the technical and the social, and deeply connected to the University’s mission, can enhance learning and engagement, serve as a proof of concept, and support University-wide initiatives to improve the undergraduate experience.

• Careful evaluation research will assess the effectiveness of this approach for promoting student learning and engagement, providing feedback on what worked, and enabling improvements if the overall approach proves worthwhile.

• This pilot project can help to leverage much larger outside funding, as Kuhn and Martin continue to submit funding proposals to the National Science Foundation.

• Our planned faculty workshop will use the simple microprocessors as a vehicle to stimulate multidisciplinary conversation and planning about project based learning for undergraduates.

We will gather and analyze data from at least 10 case studies at the regional or local level on how Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is being used in the United States, and Europe to assess the health impact that policy, program, and project decisions could have on public health.  These data will be used for four purposes: (1) to identify innovative approaches to eliminate and minimize unintended health consequences that could result from a wide range of regional and local policies, programs and projects, (2) to identify how the University can play a positive role in sustainable redevelopments efforts in older industrial cities like Lowell and Lawrence, (3) to provide Lowell and Lawrence with a practical approach to insure that future redevelopment efforts will not involve any unhealthy consequences, (4) to prepare proposals to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)on the Health Impact Assessment instrument as an appropriate tool for state and local decision-makers in determining the health consequences of proposed built environment projects and policies.  We will write a working paper summarizing the case studies, including a set of recommendations to the Cities of Lowell and Lawrence on how Health Impact Assessment could be used to guide sustainable redevelopment efforts and prevent unintended health consequences in the future

The CITA funding will be used in the following ways

• Outreach and recruitment of faculty and students interested in research and community service projects around the issue of youth violence.

• Conducting a breakfast workshop in February 2005 bringing together faculty, students and community members around the theme of gang violence

• Facilitating a partnership between the immigrant community support group, OneLowell, and UMass Lowell student researchers for the purpose of investigating the connection between bicultural identity and youth gang activity.

• Using information gathered by the above process to submit a grant proposal for funding to address the problem of youth violence and gang activity among the targeted populations.