essedesignguide.org

One place to begin is partnering with Earth system scientists. Earth system scientists can be found at universities, NASA, NOAA, and most national laboratories (see links to educational outreach). Earth system scientists provide expertise and access to multidisciplinary perspectives necessary to fully describe and understand complex natural relationships. This expertise includes multiscalar perspectives specific to Earth systems (crosscutting theme- scales). Since the underlying mission of federally funded research institutes includes public outreach, these institutions are a tremendous source of data and curricular materials. Earth system scientists can assist in integrating this material and providing the necessary Earth systems context.

At the local level, community partnerships can include, for example, the local K-12 school, neighborhood association, watershed alliance, municipality, local businesses, not-for-profit foundation. Any number of local groups can be contacted directly about interests in a local environmental feature or issue. In fact, partnering with multiple groups around a single issue builds strong and deep networks upon which the foundation of sustainability depends. A topic of local interest can become the focus of a research project that involves students, researchers, and the local group of interest.

Not-for-profit organizations are often community-based and have local agendas which make them open to ESS partnerships. The following are examples of the wide ranging interests of not-for-profits from Kansas City, Missouri, a U.S. metropolitan area of nearly 2 million. This is by no means an exclusive list, just typical of the types of not-for-profit organizations found in a city this size. Their focus can be environmental (Kansas City Wildlands), social (Bridging the Gap), related to municipal policy (Mid America Regional Council), educational (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation), related to environmental education (Discovery Center), or to health (Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, KC chapter).

A variety of government agency branches can be induced to partner with academic institutions and local community groups for ESS purposes. For example, the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state departments of Natural Resources or Conservation are all agencies with which partnerships can develop around Earth system topics or issues. Examples of projects to consider are: local wetlands characterization and impact assessment, community watershed development issues, soil or waste facility remediation, or air quality investigations.