A healthy and vibrant city sustains the educational, social, environmental, economic, and medical needs of all residents. It is ecologically sustainable, economically competitive, democratically engaged, and provides a safe and healthy environment in which residents can grow and thrive. Healthy and vibrant cities emerge when residents understand and are educated about their environment, are simultaneously engaged in social and environmental activities, empowered to effect social and environmental change, and feel connected to their community and each other.

Healthy, vibrant cities emerges when residents connect to each other to rebuild their urban parks, to address climate change, to improve water quality and to replant the urban forest.

In UEI’s vision, neighborhoods are a primary unit of city life. They are social enclaves of well-being where people know and care for one another and their environment. To help achieve this vision, UEI has developed programs to educate citizens, teachers and students, and to implement environmental and community building initiatives. These programs are interrelated because education leads to increased likelihood of environmental sustainability and a healthy public, which contribute to in turn overall neighborhood wellness.

Please read below to learn more about our programs.

Sustainable Cities

This program transforms cities into models of ecological sustainability. We employ diverse resources to address regional land, water quality and global climate change issues.

At the community level, UEI’s goal is to support the creation of urban neighborhoods that are physically healthy environments, with a minimal number of brownfields and other abandoned land sites and an equitable distribution of safe recreational spaces. UEI envisions cities of the future with healthy and robust natural environments.

Education: Field Studies, LEAH and Greentimes

The UEI Field Studies program supports urban residents, especially young people, to gain the necessary scientific and technological tools to be socially and ecologically engaged. Ultimately, UEI hopes that through its efforts, a city’s environment and economy will reflect its diversity.

Starting from a pilot project, working with 15 teachers and 300 students, the UEI In-School Field Studies Program has grown to become the official science partner of the Boston Public Schools! It now reaches more than 1600 students and 65 teachers in grades 7 – 12.

The Out of School Time (OST) Program is the official partner of the Boston Public School OST component in the Boston Community Learning Centers, offering field studies based science learning through a peer mentor program (Leaders in Education, Action and Hope).

Greentimes is a “By Kids, For Kids” science writing program. After school, teenagers from public high schools in Boston research and write two science newsletters--one for elementary students and the other for middle school students. Educators from across Massachusetts order these newsletters and their companion teacher guide for FREE to use as curriculum material in their classrooms. Greentimes was created in 1991 and was a part of the Global Habitat Project (GHP) until GHP’s merger with UEI in May 2006. Today, the program works with up to 50 teen writers and distributes materials to 950 teachers and 31,000 students.