Collaborative Research: Workshop on Improving Knowledge of Connections Between Urban and Hinterland Systems

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

The goal for this Sustainable Urban Systems (SUS) workshop is to improve understanding of the interconnections between Sustainable Urban Systems (SUSs) and the hinterlands (communities and landscape) on which they depend and impact. Urban systems, their surrounding landscapes, and rural communities (the hinterlands) are intricately linked. One region where this interdependency is clear is the intermountain western United States, where cities (e.g. Albuquerque, Phoenix, Denver, Boise, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, etc.) dot vast landscapes containing isolated rural communities. The urban systems depend on their hinterlands for drinking water supplies, energy generation, food production, and other ecosystem services. Likewise, rural communities and landscapes are largely shaped by the economic, political, and cultural forces of adjacent urban systems. The connections between urban systems and their hinterlands is shaped by engineered, natural, and cyberinfrastructure systems along with social, political, and legal systems. This workshop will explore the connections between urban systems and the hinterlands to advance basic theory and applied knowledge of SUS-hinterland systems. The workshop will focus on the intermountain western U.S. with an emphasis on the host city of Albuquerque, New Mexico as a case study.the workshop will draw from broad transdisciplinary and cross-sector expertise to advance basic and applied questions and concepts on interconnected SUS-hinterland systems. The workshop aims to bridge the gap between resilience theory and practice to advance knowledge and ultimately improve community resilience. To do so, the workshop will integrate local/applied systems expertise with international experts on resilience principles and practice. The host institution, the University of New Mexico, is a Hispanic Serving Institution and the workshop will involve students in all aspects of the workshop with an emphasis on students from underrepresented backgrounds. The workshop organizers will draw upon strong collaborations with the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute and Central New Mexico Community College to broaden engagement in the workshop. Further, the organizers will host students and faculty from Universidad de Sonora and Instituto Tecnologico de Hermosillo (Mexico) for the workshop and follow-on activities. The results will be disseminated through a white- paper, conference presentations, and via the NSF-supported research collaborative network on headwater systems throughout the Americas. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.