Again, the motivation has been strictly local. Each of its three locations - Riverside Park, Washington Park, and Menomonee Valley - dedicate their services and programming to the specific geographical needs of each community. The fact that the center has expanded from the double-wide classroom to three thriving citizen centers is itself an indication of the scope of the ecological health issue which Milwaukee faces. These three locations, however, are not copy and paste jobs. Their designs and activities importantly reflect the unique spatial and social dynamics of their respective sites. Which is to say, while the problems of soil erosion, water pollution, or the loss of biodiversity are commonly afflictions exhibited across many areas of Milwaukee, their solutions require community-based approaches, meaning the fine-tuning of agendas to meet the needs of those spaces. To put words in the mouths of the UEC staff, I believe they would field the "causes" question with an understanding of the intimate interconnectivity of local and regional ecosystems. That solving or restoring the health of one has generative effects on the surrounding systems, but the street is two ways. Which is why programs like the Neighborhood Environmental Education Project (NEEP) - year-long partnerships offered to schools in a two-mile radius of all three centers - become that much more relevant to the conversation about causes. Initiating early environmental contact and awareness helps to shed light on not only the various causes which threaten Milwaukee's ecological health, put also stimulate engagement towards uprooting their destructive presence. The invasive species issue foregrounds the impact of education and awareness. While the initial introduction of invasive exotics - from garlic mustard to lily-of-the-valley - is not necessarily preventable by educating schoolchildren of the effect they can exert upon local ecosystems, it is nonetheless a measure which assists in limiting its spread, while enhancing an acute appreciation for the natural "lay of the land", so to speak.
The issues to which the Urban Ecology Center devotes itself are by no means unique to Milwaukee alone, in the sense that the usual suspects can be called out - rapid urbanization, non-point source pollution, soil erosion, salinization, groundwater contamination. Every one of the UEC's environmental education programs and 350.org meetings I've attended inevitably situate Milwaukee within the larger context of sustainability and the global environmental threat. It can't be stressed enough, however, that the UEC sees the struggle as a highly local and communal one. Or rather, that the solutions demand grassroots attention, education, and an ongoing celebration of our connectedness to nature. My (one) time was been spent with the land stewardship squad along the river tending to the black landscape fabric that was laid down last year to smother invasive species. A third grade class from Escuela Fratney was exploring around the area and I ended up joining them for a nature hike along the Oak Leaf Trail. I was as wide-eyed as they were running through the recently restored prairie, and when they asked me what I was doing anyway, I replied, "Same as y'all. Enjoying our common backyard and learning as we go!"
I'm excited to be able to devote more time to volunteering in the coming weeks now that my internship has finished.
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