Kofi Boone

The goal of UPLIFT NC is to boost tourism to rural and under-resourced North Carolina communities. We do this by providing tourism practitioners and local leaders with the knowledge and resources to strengthen and connect tourism sites, services and businesses in targeted regions within the State. This includes natural, recreational, cultural, agricultural, culinary, built as well as other tourism experiences and services.

During the mid-1900s, transportation and land use policies implemented across the United States furthered structural inequality and deepened spatial inequity in communities of color and socioeconomically disenfranchised communities. The coupling of urban renewal land use policies (such as the Housing Acts of 1949 and 1954) with new federal highway programs (such as the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956) led to the clearing of so-called ???slum??? housing and ???urban blight??? to make way for new highway infrastructure. These policies and infrastructure projects exacerbated inequalities in ???redline??? neighborhoods as highway infrastructure often divided communities of color and displaced neighborhood residents (Woods, 2012). Of the many ???redlined??? communities across the country, the following are in North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem (Redlining In New Deal America). The effects of these policies are still experienced by North Carolina communities today in areas such as Durham, where NC-147 displaced, demolished, and economically disenfranchised the historic Black Hayti community. Despite federal policies later enacted to enhance protections for disenfranchised communities and environmental justice impacts (such as the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969), transportation and environmental inequity continues to persist today. Some of the many examples of current inequity in the transportation system include higher bike/pedestrian crash rates for people of color (HSRC Ped Bike Crash Data), having less access to personal vehicles (National Equity Atlas, American Community Survey), and increased commute time due to discrepancies between transit and personal vehicle travel time (National Equity Atlas). Additionally, disenfranchised communities are often pushed to marginalized land that is more prone to extreme weather events and have higher concentrations of air and water pollution (EPA Social Vulnerability Report, North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan, 2020). For example, in North Carolina the Princeville community, located on a floodplain in Edgecombe County and founded by freed slaves, has repeatedly been devastated by flooding, displacement, and illness. Today, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is working to examine past and present transportation decisions in an effort to identify and limit socioeconomic and environmental justice impacts. Understanding opportunities for improving transportation inequity and avoiding inequitable transportation investments in future decision-making processes are critical for supporting a more equitable transportation system in North Carolina. The current NCDOT initiative complements the new federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021), which among other elements seeks to improve historical transportation inequalities and enhance sustainable and resilient transportation infrastructure. Recognizing this context, the research team has developed a research plan designed to address NCDOT???s research objectives, produce practitioner-ready deliverables, and establish a methodology framework that can help NCDOT implement sound practices that help improve transportation equity across the state for generations to come.

The conservation action plan will explore the question: What could a conservation organization do to enable equitable community sustainability goals through land management strategies? For the purposes of this effort, Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA) will serve as a case study of a conservation organization, and land already owned and controlled by ECWA will serve as the context. A stakeholder committee formed by ECWA will be the primary conduit of community engagement. The outcomes will be compiled into a research report for research and educational purposes.

The requested funding will advance recovery and rebuilding activities within two Lumberton Floodprint focus areas: 1) Meadow Branch Floodway Restoration adjacent to the Best Drive neighborhood, and 2) Repurposing the Scottish Meatpacking Plant property into an environmental outreach and education amenity associated with the Lumber River State Park and/or NC Wildlife Resource Commission. The funding will support research, engagement, design, and communication activities including, but not limited to: [1] a minimum of three (3) community workshops to elicit participation and input from neighborhood residents and two (2) meetings with city council/staff; [2] hydrologic modeling and development of schematic restoration concepts for Meadow Branch; [3] development of schematic design alternatives for both project areas to be used by the city as evidence/leverage for seeking larger implementation grants and to inform respective requests for proposals (RFPs); and [4] continued evaluation of issues and opportunities related to both Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence impacts (i.e., FEMA flood map updates, incorporation of new property acquisition data, etc.), including associated updates and revisions to the Lumberton Floodprint.

With growing national interest in empowering the voices, thinking, and impact of indigenous communities on the built environment, there is a need for projects that center indigenous voices in the planning process. We think this will offer an excellent opportunity to advance the goals of the partners while also contributing to scholarship and education in culturally competent community engagement approaches. The project occupies a unique overlap between campus and community design, community engagement, cultural competency, and vision planning.

With a focus on developing innovative, resilient planning and design strategies for flood-prone communities in North Carolina, the principles that guide the proposed project are to build capacity, extend the reach, and transfer knowledge of existing and novel research and best practices related to landscape planning, design, and management strategies, tools, policies, and procedures. This project represents a collaborative effort with the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative (HMDRRI) to implement and operationalize broader open space concepts developed in the summer of 2017, through what is referred to as the Homeplace document. The primary goal of the project is to assist in the development of design strategies that support the long-term function, health, and vitality of communities located in an historically flood-prone North Carolina community, Lumberton. The proposed project will contribute to the ongoing HMDRRI work by developing an open space planning, design, and management framework for public lands that: 1) were directly impacted by Hurricane Matthew??????????????????s floodwaters, 2) are within the 100-year floodplain (and possibly the 500 year), and/or 3) adjoin or are near floodplains, riverine systems, and/or existing parklands.

With a focus on developing innovative, resilient planning and design strategies for flood-prone communities in North Carolina, the principles that guide the proposed project are to build capacity, extend the reach, and transfer knowledge of existing and novel research and best practices related to landscape planning, design, and management strategies, tools, policies, and procedures. This project represents a collaborative effort with the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative (HMDRRI) to implement and operationalize broader open space concepts developed in the summer of 2017, through what is referred to as the Homeplace document. The primary goal of the project is to assist in the development of design strategies that support the long-term function, health, and vitality of communities located in an historically flood-prone North Carolina community, Lumberton. The proposed project will contribute to the ongoing HMDRRI work by developing an open space planning, design, and management framework for public lands that: 1) were directly impacted by Hurricane Matthew??????????????????s floodwaters, 2) are within the 100-year floodplain (and possibly the 500 year), and/or 3) adjoin or are near floodplains, riverine systems, and/or existing parklands.

The overarching goal of the project is to assist in the development of design strategies that support the long-term function, health, and vitality of communities located in historically flood-prone North Carolina communities. The proposed project will contribute to the ongoing Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative (HMDRRI) work by developing design and planning recommendations for neighborhood and housing (re)construction activities associated with post-Matthew recovery efforts. The project team will consider hazard-related issues facing this region, including the potential impacts of flooding, development patterns, and population trends. The project will be guided by architectural and landscape architectural approaches to development, conservation, and management practices and uses.

This community-based participatory research and training project will focus on developing community capacity to address environmental equity issues and build more sustainable communities. Through partnership between community members and researchers at Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this project will develop 1) community capacity to address environmental injustices and participate in local decision-making around redevelopment and green infrastructure projects, and 2) identify best practices for incorporating environmental equity into local decision-making around economic redevelopment projects. The project partners will use community-based participatory research methods to provide community members with tools, training, and opportunities to engage in planning activities to promote positive environmental features and economic development efforts in their neighborhoods while also mitigating any potential unintended consequences.

DIY (Do It Yourself) Cartography will curate diverse historical perspectives and facilitate creative placemaking by connecting citizens to a deeper understanding of the city and its urban environments. Imagined as an online archive and series of site specific installations, DIY Cartography will engage audiences in experiencing a rich understanding of Raleigh??A???a?sA???a?zA?s alive and evolving history. It will also offer the opportunity to contribute to that history by expanding the narratives currently marked by the Highway Historical Markers. Current markers memorialize a spectrum of events, places, and people commemorating important themes in our local, regional, and national heritage. Many of the values of the city can be inferred by what has been marked, as well as what and who has not. Too often the official history of a place, its people, and its events is curated by a select few in support of narrow agendas. DIY Cartography seeks to challenge the construction of an official top-down history through an open and participatory platform. As we find ourselves at a moment of remarkable growth and redevelopment, this project will offer alternative methods to visualize, capture and integrate contemporary and historic voices into a rich discourse on community, culture and urban living.