Looking for an interesting SLS affiliated course to finalize your spring schedule?  SLS is pleased to highlight a new elective course being offered by affiliated faculty Kate Pride Brown.  

“To understand…any person, his whole life, from birth, must be reviewed. All our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that has ever happened to us is an ingredient.” So said Malcolm X as he told his life story to the writer Alex Haley. Every person is shaped by the society that surrounds them. When you link together biography (a particular life story) with history (the culture, politics, economics and social forces of a place and time) then you can acquire the “sociological imagination.” This term, coined by C. Wright Mills, encapsulates the best of what sociology has to offer – a perspective that allows us to see the imprint of society on the life trajectory of a single individual. In the Spring 2023 semester, I am teaching a new elective class: “HTS 2813: Special…


Call for Papers Abstract Deadline: December 9th

Gateways journal is pleased to announce our new themed volume, 'Asset-based community development and community-based research: Compatible agents in equitable and sustainable change?'. Contributors are encouraged to critically and creatively explore the interactions between asset-based and relationship-centred community development approaches and research collaborations. A special invitation has been extended to practitioners, leaders, activists and others to submit their own contributions. A supportive process will be followed, helmed by our guest editors, including SLS Director Jennifer Hirsch, and the Gateways Editorial Committee. Publication is planned for late 2023.

Community-university engaged research has been steadily growing in legitimacy and visibility over the past few decades. Globally, there is now a significant and rich body of evidence attesting to the diversity of collaborative and…


The Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) continues to introduce Georgia Tech students to pressing environmental justice issues burdening the southeast with its fourth Excursion into Justice. This Excursion into Justice was done in conjunction with the EJ Strong Community Managed Risk Reduction Project, led and coordinated by South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control team. Driven to support local low-income and minority groups, academic institutions along with state agencies and community leaders come together to amplify the community’s past and present voices concerning disaster risk reduction. Ultimately, the work completed during the excursion will serve as the basis for an action plan, accurately and justly outlining what needs to be done to prevent and mitigate these disasters.

The latest excursion took place in Lower Richland…


Last week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of 132 projects in 37 states to receive grants to “conduct ambient air monitoring of pollutants in communities across the country with environmental and health outcome disparities stemming from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic.”  SLS Signature Partner Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) was one of those recipients.  CSC was awarded $498,000 to deploy air sensors in 11 minority communities, located in the region of South Atlanta, Georgia, where there is concern over potential health impacts due to the proximity of these neighborhoods to heavily traveled transportation corridors, and for which there is no existing air quality monitoring capability. The objective of the project is to empower under-resourced communities to collect, analyze, and use the data to draw conclusions related to the causes and effects of air quality.

Garry Harris, founder and president of CSC stated, “the primary goals…


RCE Greater Atlanta is proud to announce the inaugural class of SDG Futures Fellows for the 2022-2023 academic year.  The SDG Futures Fellowship, funded by a grant from the Atlanta Global Research & Education Collaborative (AGREC) as well as a donation from Georgia Tech's Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER), is a student fellowship program, co-developed and co-led by students and staff from Georgia Institute of Technology and Kennesaw State University (KSU). The program was inspired by KSU’s Distinguished SDG Ambassador Program,…


This spring, Kjersti Lukens, program support coordinator for the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, spoke with GT alum Unwanna Etuk (BS INTA '19) about her path to a sustainability-focused career.  Unwanna currently serves as a partnership coordinator and research analyst with The Ray, applying her passion for building a better world to her work at a living laboratory for sustainable highways. Read the full interview HERE.


A recent article published by College of Sciences highlighted SLS faculty partner Dr. Teresa Snow and her Scientific Foundations of Health course, which focuses on mental health and wellness for students.  Read the full article HERE.


Sign up here for a time to meet with our Partners-in-Residence, or invite them to speak to your class, student group, or colleagues.  

  • Darryl Haddock's (WAWA) calendar sign-up is here
  • Garry Harris' (CSC) calendar sign-up is here

​SLS is excited to welcome our first ever Georgia Tech Partners-in-Residence – Darryl Haddock, Education Director with the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA), and Garry Harris, President of the Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC). Now, as Partners-in-Residence, Darryl and Garry will spend approximately two days per month on campus, meeting with students,…


In early 2021, SLS announced its new Signature Partner Program aimed to further foster sustainable practices by deepening its relationships with some of its closest community partners. Through other signature programs, such as the Sustainable Communities Summer Internship Program, students can reap the benefits of these ever-growing partnerships through experiential learning and meaningful hands-on work.

SLS currently has three signature partners: the Center for Civic Innovation, a community organization driven to fight inequality in Atlanta and advocate for local policy change; the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, an organization committed to improving the quality of life within the West Atlanta Watershed through the protection and restoration of natural resources; and the Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC), an organization focused on supporting a wide range of sustainability initiatives throughout the Southeast. CSC Founder and President Garry Harris has an…


Research has shown that 40% of solid waste comes from construction and demolition (C&D) projects, and the current building material reuse rate is less than 1% of total C&D waste. Lifecycle Building Center (LBC) is a local nonprofit in southwest Atlanta that diverts usable building materials from landfills and directs them to local communities.                     

This summer, our Serve-Learn-Sustain interns, Jackie Zong and Taylor Campbell, both worked at LBC on a deconstruction workforce training project and a Community Reuse Toolkit funded through an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) grant. Both projects were developed using an asset-based community development approach, which was aided by Jay Basset and Dr. Jenny Hirsch. In short, rather than looking at problems within the community, we identify and mobilize existing, often unrecognized, community assets that can benefit local residents. Jackie and Taylor also supported daily…