The Community-Driven Green Infrastructure project, led by Texas A&M University and West Street Recovery, combines a community science program with environmental monitoring, risk and cumulative impact assessment, and participatory design to produce green infrastructure solutions tailored to local needs and priorities. This effort will use predictive modeling to estimate how proposed greenspace interventions could reduce chemical exposures and improve health outcomes, including lifetime cancer risk and chronic non-cancer conditions. The project aims to produce a replicable framework for data-informed resilience planning across the Gulf Coast.

Researchers will combine community input with environmental data to better understand how different factors affect people’s lives. This includes identifying challenges, such as pollution and flooding, as well as helpful resources, like parks and civic engagement.

Using this information, they will create a framework that includes maps, design ideas, and step-by-step plans to implement changes. Modeling will show how different changes could benefit people’s health while making sure that solutions reflect community priorities.

Through collaboration among Texas A&M University, West Street Recovery, and Northeast Houston communities, this initiative aims to generate actionable science, strengthen local capacity, and lay the foundation for healthier, more resilient neighborhoods throughout the Gulf Coast.