Dr. Gerald Benjamin
CRREO Director & Associate VP
for Regional Engagement
» Read more about Dr. Benjamin
About CRREO
CRREO conducts and publicizes research on regional topics; creation/direction of select institutes that focus on specific topics of regional interest; outreach to local governments, non-profits and for-profit organizations to initiate reforms and enhancements to best service their constituents; work to foster community collaboration.
One key aspect of CRREO’s mission is to bring key regional concerns to the attention of citizens and policymakers to support their informed discussion of the public policy problems facing the Hudson Valley. Quality information will help us to work together to develop our own, local solutions and advance the need for changes at the state level.
2013 Hudson River Science Symposium: "The State of Hudson River Science"
NEW PALTZ – The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) at SUNY New Paltz, the Hudson River Environmental Society, and the Hudson River Foundation will host a symposium to present the latest scientific understanding of the Hudson River and environs, discuss the drivers behind the science, identify future challenges, and provide an opportunity for scientists, resource managers, educators, students and the general public to share ideas. Invited speakers will address issues of long-term ecological change, ecosystem restoration, Hudson River fish, sediments, contaminants, and historical ecology and archaeology. A poster session on issues of importance to understanding the valley, coupled with a mixer and reception, will end the day.
Symposium presenters include Jeffrey Levinton of SUNY Stony Brook, David Strayer, Stuart Findlay, and Emma Rosi-Marshall of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, William Solecki of the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems, Karin Lindberg of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, David Ralston of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, April Beisaw of Vassar College, and Dennis Suszowski of the Hudson River Foundation.
CRREO Director Gerald Benjamin welcomes the annual event to SUNY New Paltz: "We are most pleased to be partnering this year in this symposium, an event that is among the most important in our region for regularly bringing together for scientific and pragmatic exchange the best minds engaged in riverine studies from the Hudson Valley and beyond."
The Symposium will run from 8 a.m. (talks start at 9 a.m.) until 5:30 p.m. (poster session at 3:45 p.m.) in the Multipurpose Room in the Student Union Building at SUNY New Paltz. The registration deadline is April 19. To register, go to http://www.hres.org.
Discussion Brief #9: Food Insecurity in Ulster County
NEW PALTZ – The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) at SUNY New Paltz has released its ninth discussion brief, “Food Insecurity in Ulster County.”
As families in the Hudson Valley shop and prepare to gather for the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, SUNY New Paltz Professor Sue Books reports in a newly released CRREO discussion brief that a significant number of county residents are living in poverty, suffering economic hardship, or experiencing “food insecurity.”
Books, a professor in the Department of Secondary Education at SUNY New Paltz concludes, “We are living side-by-side in two worlds. Some of us shop for food regularly and conveniently in a range of venues, from full-service groceries to local farm stands. Others must obtain food wherever and however they can in a shadow system of food pantries, soup kitchens, and food distributions.”
Mid-Hudson Sustainability Meeting
The Mid-Hudson Regional Sustainability Plan, as part of the Cleaner, Greener, Communities Program, looks to utilize the combined knowledge of stakeholders in the seven counties of the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council Region to create a plan that will lead to a more sustainable region. At this meeting, leaders of the project will brief you on this innovative initiative.
The Mid-Hudson Sustainability Planning Consortium has launched a regional sustainability planning process as part of phase one of the Cleaner, Greener Communities program announced by Governor Cuomo in 2011. The Program empowers regions to create more sustainable communities by funding smart development practices. Planning teams are partnering with public and private experts across a wide range of fields, along with community residents, to lead the development of regional sustainability plans and to implement projects that will significantly improve the economic and environmental health of their areas. The plan will guide integrated, sustainable solutions—from statewide investments to regional decision-making on land use, housing, transportation, infrastructure, energy, and environmental practices—to improve our quality of life.
In the Mid-Hudson region the following entities are members of the plan consortium: Dutchess County, Orange County, Putnam County, Rockland County, Sullivan County, Town of Greenburgh, Ulster County, Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO), Land Use Law Center Mayors Redevelopment Roundtable, Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium (NWEAC), and Southern Westchester Energy Action Consortium (SWEAC).
Please join the Mid-Hudson Sustainability Planning Consortium for an evening of presentations and discussion on this unprecedented initiative. Your ideas and insights will help define the path to sustainable development in the Mid-Hudson region!
DATE: Monday, July 30, 2012 TIME: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. for refreshments.
LOCATION: SUNY Orange Newburgh Campus, Kaplan Hall, "The Great Room"
TOPIC: Seven-County Mid-Hudson Regional Sustainability Plan
Visit Engage MidHudson at www.engagemidhudson.com for more information and to join the ongoing discussion! Click here for more info about CRREO's involvement as a Mid-Hudson Regional Sustainability Plan Consortium Member.
Is There a Hudson Valley Regional Agenda?
June 15, 2012, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
A primary purpose of the State University of New York at New Paltz Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) is to provide a neutral venue for the discussion of often controversial matters of broad interest and importance to the Hudson Valley. This conference will engage a broad range of groups and individuals in the valley, with a variety of strongly held interests and priorities, to consider whether this dynamic region, like other key regions in the state, can annually generate and advance a shared regional agenda for legislative action by state government. We seek to create a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities confronting us as we develop a regional agenda. We aspire to foster a dialogue among the many diverse partners whose engagement can help us move forward in a positive direction for the benefit of the entire region.
CRREO Plays a Role in Redistricting
Every 10 years in the United States a census is taken. In New York census is used to redraw legislative district lines to reflect changes in population, and ideally demographics, in the state.
CRREO has been playing an active role in the redistricting process by creating alternatives to the plans proposed (and accepted) by the legislators themselves, as well as analyzing and commenting on the process and outcomes of redistricting throughout the state. Some of our work has been published in newspapers throughout New York State.
Click Here to see CRREO's Work on Redistricting in New York State
"Zeroing in on New Paltz: How our community can be a national model for sustainable resource management"
New Paltz, March 29
CRREO, in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region, the Town and Village governments of New Paltz, the State University of New York at New Paltz Environmental Task Force, the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce, the County of Ulster, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), the New York State Department of Environment (DEC) Region 3, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, will hold a forum, "Zeroing in on New Paltz: How Our Community Can Be a National Model for Sustainable Resource Management" on Thursday, March 29, at the Coykendall Auditorium on the New Paltz campus, 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Across the country, EPA's Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) program is implementing a Zero Waste Pilot Partnership Program for local governments. New Paltz, a diverse community that includes a more densely settled center with single and multiple dwellings, vibrant retailing and a major state university campus, farmland agriculture and rural single family homes, has been selected as one of thirteen communities chosen nationally to be part of this pilot project.
The March 29 forum will include information about the pilot partnership and NYS's Beyond Waste plan. It will provide opportunities for networking and brainstorming among regional participants to identify implementation ideas for the initiative. There will be remarks from stakeholders including Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, representatives of the Town and Village of New Paltz, the newly appointed director of the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce Michael Smith, New Paltz undergraduate Recycling Coordinator Kelly Drummond, and a keynote address on the Beyond Waste plan by David Vitale, Director of the DEC's Bureau of Permitting and Planning. But the focus and the greater part of the of the evening will be devoted to interactive workshops designed to generate ideas to inform the creation of a Zero Waste Action Plan for New Paltz.
A Collaborative Approach to County Jailing in the Hudson Valley
Under the leadership of Orange County, with the collaboration of Ulster and Sullivan Counties, and with financial support of the Local Government Efficiency Program of the New York State Department of State, this research was undertaken to determine the degree to which counties in the Hudson Valley, by working together, might reduce the costs their jails.
We consider here not only the potential through collaboration to avoid newly incurred capital costs for jails in Hudson Valley, but also possibilities for controlling or diminish operating costs by this means, while continuing to fully assure public safety and the professional operation of jail facilities.
To assure that we could achieve a full regional perspective, we sought to include the five Hudson Valley counties in the region that were not sponsoring this study: Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess, Greene and Columbia. Representatives of the three sponsoring counties and each of these were invited to serve on an advisory panel of regional jail administrators; all but Greene chose to participate.
Pattern for Progress was engaged as a project partner to focus in particular on how the jail situation in Sullivan County had reached the critical point where, months later, a portion of the facility had to be closed by the state Commission on Correction.
The Full Report can be Downloaded Here.
The Pattern for Progress Sullivan Report Can be Downloaded Here.
News Coverage:
Conference:
The Ulster County Charter After Five Years
Presented by the Center for Research, Regional Education, and Outreach (CRREO) at New Paltz and the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region
Regional Well-Being
New Regional Well-Being Website!
The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) has released the first annual Regional Well-Being Report. The Regional Well-Being Project was launched by CRREO in 2008 to identify agreed-upon values and goals and to develop ways of measuring the Mid-Hudson Valley communities' broadly-accepted social, economic and environmental character, and allow the tracking of change through time. The research team and community advisory group assembled for this endeavor includes members of the CRREO staff, New Paltz faculty and students, and a diverse group of community leaders.
The first report on measuring Regional Well-Being, which includes a Regional Well-Being Index, was released on June 2, 2010. Regularly appearing follow-up reports will be central to the continuing work of CRREO. Through these efforts we seek to inform decision making in the region, focus its efforts, identify opportunities, highlight successes and bring attention where improvement is needed.
The project is funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education, obtained with the assistance of New York’s United States Senator Charles Schumer.
Press:
- WAMC Public Radio, June 2, 2010:Study looks at the regional well-being of the Hudson Valley
- Poughkeepsie Journal, June 3, 2010: Mid-Hudson gets good rating for 'well-being'
- Times Herald-Record, June 3, 2010: Mid-Hudson region's strong, weak points scored
- Mid Hudson News, June 2, 2010: Mid-Hudson rates in middle of “Well-Being” index
- Daily Freeman, June 3, 2010: Regional Well-Being Report ranks Ulster tops, Dutchess No. 2
