Environmental issues often disproportionately affect vulnerable communities and create global disparities. In areas ranging from climate resilience and affordable energy to sanitation and poverty alleviation, Georgia Tech faculty identify structural barriers and provide systems solutions to address them. They investigate the environmental impact of development initiatives and seek policy solutions that ensure fairness in the distribution of benefits and burdens. Through research and policy analysis, they contribute to sustainable development locally and globally, in alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. BBISS supports faculty in working directly with communities and stakeholders to co-create solutions that are relevant and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people directly affected.
Research Highlights
Helping Measure the Impact of Air Pollution on South Metro Atlanta Children
Researchers from the Georgia Tech’s School of Economics will look at the impacts of air pollution on students at 11 south metro Atlanta schools as part of a $498,401 grant to a community organization from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The funding announced this week will enable the Center for Sustainable Communities — led by School of Public Policy alumnus Garry Harris, MSEEM 2022 — to install air quality monitoring stations at south metro schools located in minority and low-income communities near highways. Researchers will compare pollution and test scores at those schools to a control group located further away from major roadways.
Research Centers and Institutes
Center for Urban Resilience and Analytics
All urban areas now face heightened risks from extreme heat, floods, droughts, and worsening air quality due to changing climate. Rapidly urbanizing areas exacerbate those risks through increased impervious surfaces, expanded settlements, and diminished wildlands.
We established the Center for Urban Resilience and Analytics, a new interdisciplinary research center at Georgia Tech, to synergize research addressing critical urban challenges in the College of Design, across campus, and beyond. This research center consolidates a set of Georgia Tech faculty who are nationally recognized leaders in the growing field of urban resilience planning.
