UIW Receives City of San Antonio Grant to Advance and Improve Sustainability Project

San Antonio - September 17, 2024 - The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is proud to announce that it has received a grant from the City of San Antonio to advance and improve its sustainability efforts. The $15,000 grant from the City's Office of Sustainability will go to advance UIW's gardening and composting efforts with an opportunity called Project EL JARDIN which stands for Environmental Leadership for Justice, Advocacy, Research, Diversity & Innovation.

Specifically, the funds will be used to enhance and extend the already successful UIW Community Gardens and Composting Initiative by renovating the greenhouse at the Headwaters Sanctuary, constructing a small, outdoor seed library, augmenting two existing pollinator gardens, replacing old raised beds and expanding the compost site.

The initiative will also create programming that will attract and inform audiences of K-12 students, undergraduates and beyond-college learners about innovative techniques in soil enrichment, climate-smart urban agriculture, soil organic-carbon sequestration and the relationship between agriculture and socio-ecological justice. The hands-on, experiential learning opportunities will be offered during summer camps, coursework and at other educational and volunteer events.

According to Dr. Benjamin Miele, associate professor of English and Chair of the UIW Sustainability Advisory Board, "This project will attract students to UIW, invest in providing greenspaces in urban areas to mitigate heat-island impacts and extreme heat emergencies, prevent soil erosion on campus, and increase carbon sequestration. We will also create a free seed library, open to the San Antonio community, which will help alleviate food insecurity and contribute to community sustainability and resilience."

In total, The City's Office of Sustainability awarded 133 businesses and organizations more than $2 million in funding to further their sustainability goals via education and community sustainability projects. This was done through the office's SA Climate Ready Community Action Fund. The fund's categories are grassroots engagement, neighborhood and community, and business grants.

"We are delighted with the overwhelming interest in this program, and the diverse projects that will support the implementation of the SA Climate Ready Plan," said Doug Melnick, chief sustainability officer for the City of San Antonio. "These projects will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also help neighborhoods become more resilient to the impacts of climate change."

###UIW###

MEDIA CONTACT: Michael Valdes, Media and Public Relations Manager, Office of Communications & Brand Marketing, (210) 829-6001, (210) 422-4052 or [email protected]

About UIW

With over 140 years of tradition, the University of the Incarnate Word is committed to educational excellence in a context of faith in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God. UIW programs constitute a liberal education that fosters a well-grounded intellectual resilience, a disposition toward lifelong learning, and an acceptance of responsibility for the ethical consequences of our ideas and actions. Founded in 1881, UIW is the largest Catholic university in the state and the fourth largest private university in Texas. UIW students can choose from degrees offered at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. The University is committed to graduating students with the lowest amount of debt load possible and to help them secure a career that lifts their lives, their families and their communities. With a beautiful main campus in the heart of San Antonio, in 2019, UIW purchased a 10-acre landmark property at 4119 Broadway which increased the footprint of the UIW Broadway Campus by 20%. The building is now known as Founders Hall. UIW has locations throughout San Antonio, South and Central Texas, two campuses in Mexico and a European Study Center in Strasbourg, France. UIW is a leader in international education, with over 146 "sister schools" in 45 countries and it is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution. The University is a member of the NCAA Division I Southland Conference and is proud to have 25 teams representing 14 different sports. UIW is a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.