CREATEBlueprint Earth is Making Los Angeles the Environmental Science Capital of the World
Blueprint Earth’s vision is to transform Los Angeles into the global leader in environmental science and technology innovation by 2050. We are creating a culture of curiosity and innovation that will grow and retain top talent, as well as drive research funding, private investments, and environmental startups. We want the name "Los Angeles" to be to the environmental science world what "Hollywood" is to the film world by 2050.
In what areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
Central LA
East LA
San Gabriel Valley
San Fernando Valley
South LA
Westside
South Bay
Antelope Valley
LAUSD
How do you plan to use these resources to make change?
Conduct research
Engage residents and stakeholders
Implement a pilot or new project
Expand a pilot or a program
Mobilize for systems change
How will your proposal improve the following CREATE metrics?
Concentration of manufacturing activity in LA
Federal research grant funding
Patents per capital
Jobs per capita
Minority- and women-owned firms
Gini coefficient
Number of high growth startups
Venture capital investment
Measures of cultural and global economic influence (“soft power”) (Dream Metric)
Recruiting and retention rates for local higher education institutions (Dream Metric)
Percentage of graduates from local higher education institutions that remain in LA County 5 years after graduating (Dream Metric)
Describe in greater detail how you will make LA the best place to CREATE.
Blueprint Earth makes L.A. the best place to create by building, growing, and sustaining a culture of curiosity. Blueprint Earth is creating the foundation for Los Angeles to become the world leader in environmental science and technology research by 2050. The Blueprint First program reaches elementary students early. The Blueprint Labs program creates opportunities for older students. The Mission Mojave project creates “blueprints” of our planet’s environments by engaging scientists and engineers. Blueprint Earth is creating the perfect atmosphere for new technologies, new research, and new types of manufacturing and production.
Blueprint Earth gives traditionally under-represented students access to positive science role models. The Blueprint First science literacy pilot program at Haddon Avenue Elementary in Pacoima starts this fall by connecting real scientists with 225 students. The scientists and students work together to create memorable hands-on science experiments. This helps students discover the world while generating enthusiasm for learning about the planet.
Blueprint Earth is creating an environmental science laboratory for Angelenos in high school and college to learn real skills that will prepare them for vocational lab jobs, or for work or higher education after earning a degree. The Blueprint Labs program will work with private companies, universities, and the government to study environments, and will create paid jobs for young adults in Los Angeles.
For the future of the entire city of Los Angeles, Blueprint Earth is creating teams of scientists and engineers working together to understand the environment in new ways. Our signature project, Mission Mojave, supports these teams as they create environmental blueprints, which will help protect, preserve, and restore damaged environments. This type of collaboration between professionals leads to revolutionary discoveries and innovation.
Blueprint Earth’s programs are creating a culture of curiosity focused on environmental science in Los Angeles. Blueprint First creates environment passion in our youngest citizens. Blueprint Labs creates real career skills for young adults. Finally, Mission Mojave creates real knowledge about how the planet functions, and opens possibilities for exciting discoveries and creative solutions to environmental problems facing Los Angeles in the 21st century.
Please explain how you will evaluate your work.
The Blueprint First program will require evaluation of whether the program activities proceed as planned and produce the expected results. Evaluations will occur during each academic year using short student knowledge questionnaires both pre and post each Blueprint First session. Classroom teachers will be surveyed throughout the year to assess program success.
The participant experience and work of Blueprint Labs will be evaluated using customer and participant case studies, customer satisfaction surveys, participant demographic surveys, and documentation reviews to measure customer satisfaction and the overall program benefit.
Mission Mojave is evaluated through participant interviews, demographic surveys, observation, and case studies. Success is measured by invitations to present at professional science conferences and publication in scientific journals. The final measure of Mission Mojave’s success is the replication of the natural study environment in a controlled setting.
How can the LA2050 community and other stakeholders help your proposal succeed
Money (financial capital)
Volunteers/staff (human capital)
Publicity/awareness (social capital)
Infrastructure (building/space/vehicles, etc.)
Education/training
Technical infrastructure (computers, etc.)
Community outreach
Network/relationship support
Quality improvement research