Alabama Resilience Center
- This article is about the environmental education program. For the public authority, see Alabama Resilience Council.
The Alabama Resilience Center formerly known as the Birmingham-Southern College Conservancy and the Southern Environmental Center, is a public environmental education program led by Roald Hazelhoff and operating under the aegis of the Alabama Environmental Council.
The original group was founded by Birmingham-Southern College student Will Phillips as part of a network of college-affiliated groups affiliated with the Alabama Conservancy to promote recycling of campus waste. The group also coordinated litter clean-up and recycling programs at area elementary schools, and worked with the Cahaba River Society to provide volunteers for river clean-up events.
In 1990 then-President George H. W. Bush visited the campus to present the group with a "Point of Light" award and to sign a proclamation designating April as "National Recycling Month".
The Conservancy became the foundation of an educational outreach program established in 1993 with Hazelhoff as executive director. In 1998 the program moved into a new facility in the college's former indoor pool area. The Southern Environmental Center included a 5,600-square foot interactive exhibit hall with a conference room and gift shop.
The Southern Environmental Center also conducted an outreach program, coordinating the design and construction of a series of "EcoScapes", community gardens in various Birmingham neighborhoods with an environmental education focus, often enhanced with public art.
In 2018 the Center completed the conversion of the former Meyer Planetarium on campus into a 46-seat "GeoDome" immersive cinema.
In 2022 the Center participated in developing a program to incorporate environmental justice and climate change into teaching modules for Mobile City Schools. The proposal was awarded a $1.3 million grant from the National Academies of Science. As part of that project, the Southern Environmental Center created a pilot, termed the Birmingham Urban Watershed STEMM Initiative (BUWSI), which was introduced in 11 Birmingham City Schools within the Village Creek watershed in 2024. The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and the Abahac Foundation supported the implementation of the pilot project.
After Birmingham-Southern College shut down in May 2024 the Southern Environmental Center re-aligned with the Alabama Environmental Council as its fiscal sponsor and adopted its present name.
EcoScapes
- Arlington-West End EcoScape, Cotton Avenue and 9th Street Southwest
- Brown Springs EcoScape, 73rd Street South and Oporto Avenue
- College Hills EcoScape, 700 8th Avenue West off Arkadelphia Road behind the McCoy Center for Community Services
- EcoFarm
- Hugh Kaul EcoScape, on the Birmingham-Southern College campus
- Greenwave EcoScape
- North Birmingham EcoScape, 2619 30th Avenue North
- Princeton BMC Healing Garden, 10th Street Southwest and Tuscaloosa Avenue, across from Princeton Towers
- Princeton BMC Sound Garden, at Princeton Baptist Medical Center Professional Building
- Riley-Travellick EcoScape, 3550 Park Avenue Southwest
- Samuelson EcoScape, 601 West Boulevard, at the Jefferson County Department of Health's Eastern Health Center (built 2009)
- Seven Springs EcoScape, 2000 Cleburn Avenue at Faith Apostolic Church in Powderly
- Sims Botanical Garden, 908 Highland Road in Edgewood
- Tarrant EcoScape, 1113 Ford Avenue in Tarrant
- Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, at the falls of Turkey Creek in Pinson
Former EcoScapes
- Woodlawn EcoScape, 58th Street North, adjacent to Grace Episcopal Church in Woodlawn
References
- Alexander, Kaylyn (April 15, 2014) "Reviving Stewardship: Roald Hazelhoff Inspires & Shapes Life-Long Environmental Care" MyGreenBirmingham.com
- Watson, Nathan (January 9, 2024) "Birmingham-Southern College launches new initiative with 11 local schools." Bham Now
- Watson, Nathan (October 24, 2024) "2 local environmental nonprofits team up after Birmingham-Southern College closure." Bham Now
External links
- Alabama Resilience Center at aeconline.org