Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest | Aging Initiative | US EPA

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The EPA, Generations United, the Dance Exchange, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc., announce a poetry, essay, photo and dance contest. Entries must be from a team of two or more persons, a young person and an older person. The creative work should express the "Sense of Wonder" that your team feels for the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife, and all that is beautiful to your eyes. We want you to share this love of nature with a child and others around you. When we teach our eyes and ears and senses to focus on the wonders of nature, we open ourselves to the wonders around us.

Contestants will work across generations to share through one of these distinct mediums their own interactions with and reflections on the wonders of nature.

Dance video entries are not limited to the moving body. You can use live performers and/ or capture movement and change visible in nature: birds landing, trees shaking in a storm, a river flowing...
Experienced and first time dancers and video makers are encouraged to participate.
Contest Flyer
Contest Entry Form
Criteria for Judging

Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest | Aging Initiative | US EPA

Federal Transit Administration - FTA Announces Launch of Livable and Sustainable Communities Website

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The Federal Transit Administration recently launched a new Livable and Sustainable Communities Website -- an important step in FTA’s efforts to advance the Department of Transportation’s Livability Initiative and the Interagency Sustainable Communities Partnership. This website can be viewed at: www.fta.dot.gov/livability.

The website provides information about the Department of Transportation’s role in livability and sustainable communities, the interagency partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and Housing and Urban Development, and how FTA is supporting these exciting new initiatives. Specifically, FTA has reworked its transit-oriented and joint development webpage, included information on transit and environmental sustainability, highlighted efforts on affordable housing near transit, and provided case studies that can be used by transit agencies and communities around the nation as they plan to make their cities and towns livable.

FTA is uniquely positioned to contribute to these initiatives as many of its programs inherently support livability and sustainable communities. Transit provides critical services that connect all members of the community, rural and urban, with employment, health, educational, and other important opportunities and services. On the website, FTA has provided a key webpage that lists FTA’s grant programs as they relate to livability. This list includes major grant programs, such the Urbanized Area Formula Program, as well as programs that focus on specialized services, such as those serving seniors and people with disabilities.

FTA will continue to expand on the assistance we provide the transportation industry to build the principles of livability and sustainability into communities around our Nation.

Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: A Guide to Smart Growth and Active Aging | Aging Initiative | US EPA

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Now available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Aging Initiative is “Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: A Guide to Smart Growth and Active Aging.” The guidebook goes beyond the fundamental principles of neighborhood and town design to promote awareness among older adults on why community design matters and how to get involved in decisions about growth. Transportation and mobility are key components in such planning and decision making. The guidebook also contains a self-assessment tool that allows communities to rate themselves. The publication is available electronically on the Aging Initiative’s Web site.

Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: A Guide to Smart Growth and Active Aging | Aging Initiative | US EPA

08/20/2009: EPA Releases New Guidebook to Encourage Smarter Community Design and Healthier Living for Seniors

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a new guidebook to help older adults access information about the importance of environmentally friendly community design and how to become involved in decisions about what is termed as “smart growth.” Smart growth covers a range of development and conservation strategies that help protect our natural environment and make our communities more attractive, economically stronger and more socially diverse.

"Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: A Guide to Smart Growth and Active Aging” addresses the basic principles of “age-friendly” neighborhoods and town designs that are healthier for people and the environment.
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Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging

The EPA Aging Initiative, located in the Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education, is seeking proposals for a new grant opportunity for Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging: Training and Demonstration Projects. Proposals must include their strategy for accomplishing one of the following two goals: (1) Training older adults, to be environmental leaders on local planning decisions that affect their community’s built environment; (2) Demonstrating how greenways and sustainable streets can improve the quality of life for persons of all ages while improving environmental quality. Expected Number of Awards: 2 Estimated Total Program Funding: $200,000 Closing Date for Applications: Nov 21, 2008

Cosmic Markdown: EPA Says Life Is Worth Less

By David A. Fahrenthold Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 19, 2008; Page A01 Last week, it was revealed that an Environmental Protection Agency office had lowered its official estimate of life's value, from about $8.04 million to about $7.22 million. That decision has put a spotlight on the concept of the "Value of a Statistical Life," in which the Washington bureaucracy takes on a question usually left to preachers and poets. One of the researchers whom the EPA cited said he was puzzled at the agency's calculations on the value of a human life. "Nobody's ever lowered it," said W. Kip Viscusi of Vanderbilt University. EPA came closest: In 2003, it tried to count senior citizens' lives as worth less than those of other adults. After a loud outcry from seniors, the agency backed off. Viscusi said most researchers believe the value should generally be going up, as Americans have become wealthier and more willing to spend money to avoid risks.