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View from above of Alpine-Balsam area

Alpine-Balsam Redevelopment

Partnership with the city of Boulder
The Alpine-Balsam initiative, a major redevelopment effort of the city of Boulder, centered at the site previously occupied by Boulder Community Hospital. The goal of the 2016-2017 CU-City of Boulder Design Workshop was to create a baseline of knowledge and ideas supporting community dialogue around urban design and planning opportunities at the site and in nearby neighborhoods. 

Rain Garden Map

Assessment of Rain Garden Performance 

Assessment of rain gardens in the Front Range of Colorado began in 2018 in the cities of Boulder, Lakewood, Denver and Englewood. As a first step to explore plant performance, 14 different rain gardens were surveyed to compare and contrast biotic and abiotic garden characteristics. 
 

Student  painting the wall of the Boulder Dushanbe teahouse

Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse Restoration

Partnership with the city of Boulder

The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse restoration is a joint project between CEDaR, CU Boulder’s Program in Environmental Design (ENVD), the city of Boulder, Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse and Boulder-Dushanbe Sister Cities. CEDaR also coordinated the university’s contributions, including bringing scholarly and student resources to the project, engaging a craftsperson to support the restoration and organizing related research initiatives.

Children and adults stand in a circle giving a thumbs up at a Book Rich Environment event which brought the Moving to Work and Bringing School Home programs together.

Bringing School Home – an affordable housing program evaluation 

Partnership with Boulder Housing Partners
The Bringing School Home project is a place-based and programmatic assessment of social-emotional outcomes for families in poverty involved in the Bringing School Home – Early Childhood program sites. As affordable housing opportunities diminish in Boulder County, an investment in community programs addressing the needs of vulnerable families is a critical priority.  

Graphic showing relationships between energy, communication and transportation.

Civic Innovation Challenge

Partnerships with CU Boulder's Research & Innovation Office (RIO) and the city of Boulder
CEDaR, CU Boulder's Research & Innovation Office (RIO) and the city of Boulder solicited and helped develop five research concept papers from CU Boulder faculty to the national MetroLab Network and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to attend a scoping workshop to help prepare for and guide NSF's Civic Innovation Challenge.

Mobile homes in Ponderosa Mobile Home Park.

Community Design Workshop: Ponderosa Mobile Home Park

Partnership with the city of Boulder
During the spring of 2018, more than 40 CU Boulder students and faculty with varied expertise sought solutions for the preservation of Ponderosa Mobile Home Park as it transitioned to a more resilient model of affordable housing. Students and faculty analyzed and explored key research questions around affordable housing topics, such as urban ecology, modular building design, community engagement and sustainable social development. 

Manufactured housing in a manufactured housing park.

Community Engagement through CoCoMHO

CEDaR’s work with the Colorado Coalition of Manufactured Home Owners (CoCoMHO) is helping renters and owners of manufactured housing in Colorado play an active role in policy discussions regarding protections of Colorado’s 900-plus mobile home parks. 

Dave Weil with arms outstretched on his porch of his manufactured home

Community Voices

Colorado Voices features personal stories of grassroot activists addressing affordable housing issues. In these first print and audio stories, we look at some of the most common issues facing mobile home park residents, including not owning the land beneath their units and being vulnerable to unreasonable or unaffordable rent hikes; state laws favoring out-of-state corporate ownership of trailer parks over individual ownership; COVID19-related vulnerabilities; limitations on renovations and more. We’ll also look at how CEDaR is helping these residents with advocacy, design and other services. 

People working at a food bank.

Denver Food Bank Distribution Project

Partnership with the city of Denver

In this collaboration between the city of Denver and the university, the Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR) and the Denver Department of Health & Environment are jointly tackling how to best manage information and activities among dozens of small and large Denver food banks during times of increased demand.
 

 

 

Emerald ash borer

Emerald Ash Borer

Partnership with the city of Boulder

CEDaR investigators are analyzing residents’ baseline knowledge of the Emerald Ash Borer and proposing ways to address the infestation through environmental education efforts as well as public-private partnerships.

Stormwater and drain

Green Infrastructure Decision Tool/ Impervious Cover Forecast Model

Partnership with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the city of Denver.  
The Green Infrastructure Decision Tool is an innovative, data-rich forecasting and decision-making tool that assesses the effects of growth and climate change on built and natural urban surfaces. Based on the data and recommendations from CU Boulder, Denver’s Green Infrastructure Group is moving forward with policy change recommendations that address actual problems and drivers versus a more traditional trial-and-error approach. 

 

A green roof in Denver.

Green Roofs Assessment

Partnership with the Urban Land Institute (ULI)
Scott Reca and Alec Sabatini, CEDaR interns, created a White Paper to reflect on the Denver Green Roofs Ordinance by synthesizing research materials and participant comments from two CEDaR workshops. The two worked with the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate and land use experts in the world, to organize a 2017 workshop about the Denver Green Buildings Ordinance, entitled "Denver's Green Roof Initiative: What does it mean for your business?"

An older resident talks to children in a classroom working on the Uni HIl project.

Growing Up Boulder

Growing Up Boulder's child and youth-friendly city initiative began in the spring of 2009 through a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Colorado Boulder, the city of Boulder and the Boulder Valley School District, in partnership with local nonprofits, businesses and participating children and youth. Child and youth-friendly cities recognize the rights and interests of children in local policy, law, programs and budgets as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Its vision is to make Boulder an exemplary child and youth-friendly city; its mission is to empower Boulder's young people with opportunities for inclusion, influence and deliberation on local issues that affect their lives.

Volunteers plant a rain garden at the Pauline Robinson Library in Denver.

Library Demonstration Rain Garden

Partnership with the Denver Public Library and the Greater Park Hill Community Inc. 
On April 21, 2018, undergraduate ENVD students presented their proposed rain garden designs for the Pauline Robinson Branch Library, located in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood. Designs addressed community concerns, including stormwater management and public health.

Colorful breezeway in Longmont

Longmont Downtown Revitalization Project

Partnership with the city of Longmont
This partnership brings university research to the community, guided by local priorities for urban development, design and policy. The partnership agreed on a set of activities related to how Longmont’s downtown area is changing. CU Boulder students then focused their research on opportunities for enhancing the plazas, breezeways, alleyways and creative businesses in the downtown area.

Manufactured Home Park

Manufactured Housing Research

The purpose of this study is to inventory policies and programs in city and county governments in Colorado that contribute to the viability and sustainability of manufactured housing (MH) communities and identify barriers and opportunities to further development of program and policies for manufactured housing.  This project is an exploration of problems of innovation and leadership in local government related to affordable housing. 

Mobile home interior

Mobile Home Retrofit: Design & Demonstration

A counterpart to Trailer Wrap I, using up-to-date methods and technologies, the goal of Mobile Home Retrofit: Design & Demonstration is to design and build a trailer retrofit that is energy and resource efficient, yet very livable.

Children and adults stand in a circle giving a thumbs up at a Book Rich Environment event which brought the Moving to Work and Bringing School Home programs together.

Moving to Work

Partnership with Boulder Housing Partners
In cooperation with Boulder Housing Partners (BHP), this 2014-2018 study evaluated alternatives to the current BHP rent structures, including assessment of rents, earnings and savings, services and BHP income. The project focused on identification of rent burden, earnings, work effort and opportunities for self-sufficiency.   
 

Rendering of what the alley and neighboring plots of land will look like after Kira Forbes proposal is implemented.

South Park Hill Stormwater Management Design Proposal

Partnership with the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. 
The alley and neighboring plots of land behind AutoZone Auto Parts off of Colfax Avenue and Cherry Street in Denver are prone to heavy water flooding by water contaminated from oil and gas toxins from AutoZone's parking lot as well as debris from Colfax Avenue. Because a community vegetable garden sits behind the alley, there was concern regarding the way the stormwater moved and was distributed. After Kira Forbes, ENVD student, conducted research and collected data on behalf of CEDaR, she proposed a design solution (pictured above).

Metal rods painted red form a ribbon in students' rendering of adding functional art to St. Stephe's Plaza in Longmont

St. Stephens Plaza Redevelopment

Partnership with the city of Longmont
A student-led process for the redesign of Longmont's St. Stephens Plaza in CU Boulder's Spring 2020 Longmont Praxis Studio, under the supervision of Jesse Van Horne, ENVD lecturer, led to a formal proposal submitted to the city. The students' designs are currently under consideration by the city of Longmont.
 

Generic photo of back of heads in classroom.

Sustainable Communities Seminar  

Colorado MetroLab partnership between Boulder County, the city of Boulder and CU Boulder  
Sponsored by CEDaR and offered by the Environmental Studies Program (ENVS), the sustainable communities seminar exposes students to the daily responsibilities of city and county sustainability staff, including protecting the environment while considering economic, social and cultural issues.

The finished TrailerWrap project in the early evening.

TrailerWrap I

Partnership with the city of Boulder, Mapleton Home Owner's Association and Thistle Community Housing.

More than 50 CU Boulder students and several faculty members transformed a 1965 trailer headed for the landfill into a remarkable and efficient living space.  An overarching goal was to sensitize young designers to community needs through a realworld experience that shows them how, after graduation, they can use their skills to help improve housing for low-income households.

rain garden

Tree Lawn Rain Garden (16th Avenue)

Partnership with Greater Park Hill Community Inc. 
The 16th Avenue Tree Lawn Rain Garden is a demonstration of a low-cost, owner-maintained strategy for use of a tree lawn to temporarily store, infiltrate and filter stormwater collected from the roof of a Park Hill bungalow. 

Outside tree office has a desk wrapped around a tree.

TREExOFFICE

TREExOFFICE or TxO, an outdoor office space on CU Boulder’s campus, was inspired by visiting artist Natalie Jeremijenko and designed and built by ENVD students under the guidance of ENVD Senior Instructor Marcel de Lange. The office wraps around a Linden tree and includes a custom-designed wood and metal conference table and six custom desks.  A sculptural steel screen that is both functional and artistic colorfully reflects the sun’s rays and protect users from the wind. The tree’s canopy serves as the roof. 
Website  

Graphic of University Hill area.

University Hill

Through the University Hill project in Boulder, student and faculty work through the Community Design Workshop has addressed multiple design and development opportunities, including revitalization of the commercial district and planning for adjoining residential areas; urban design around proposed hotels and a conference center;  improvements on the Broadway corridor and related walking/bicycle routes and facilities planning at the university.

An example of a residential streetscape in Denver

Visual Landscape Assessment

Partnership with the city of Denver
This study used a visual landscape assessment (VLA) method to investigate streetscape and design features that were associated with walking desirability. Results show that more shade and trees, higher levels of maintenance, and the presence of a buffer between the street and sidewalk increase the likelihood of intuitively choosing a street for walking.

Sidewalk in a neighborhood.

Westwood Walkability Study

This study aimed to analyze how the community interacted with a new walking infrastructure in Westwood, Denver, and to determine whether the walkway renovations had positive impacts in the area.

Community Engagement Design and Research Center

CEDaR Center Contact Information: cedarcenter@colorado.edu

Office: 1060 18th St., Rm. 213
University of Colorado, 314 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309-0314

Contacts:

  • Jota Samper, Co-Director. jota@colorado.edu
  • Shawhin Roudbari, Co-Director. shawhin@colorado.edu
  • Brian Muller, Faculty Advisor. brian.h.muller@colorado.edu
  • Sara Tabatabaie, Research Associate. sara.tabatabaie@colorado.edu
  • Nathan Paul Jones, Internship Director. nathan.p.jones@colorado.edu

  • Baran Roudbari, Center Mascot. guau-guau@colorado.edu

Past collaborators

  • Susan Glairon, Communications Coordinator. susan.glairon@colorado.edu
  • Mara Mintzer, Program Director, Growing Up Boulder. mara.mintzer@colorado.edu 
  • Cathy Hill, Education Coordinator, Growing Up Boulder. cathy.hill@colorado.edu
  • Ben Harden, Research Associate. benjamin.harden@colorado.edu 
  • Nastaran Khodaie, Research Assistant. nastaran.khodaie@colorado.edu 

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