Eligible applicants include:

• Local Governments
• Businesses & Industry
• Non-Profit Organizations
• Universities and Educational Institutions
• Utility Districts

The Water Innovation Strategies of Excellence (WISE) Awards recognize innovative strategies and projects in the Houston-Galveston region that serve as models for improving water quality. Joint applications for larger, collaborative projects are encouraged. Winning projects must exhibit efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation and serve as models to improve surface water quality. Applications must be completed online by Feb. 6, 2019, at noon. For more information, visit h-gac.com.

Save the date for H-GAC’s first Parks and Natural Areas Summit and Awards Ceremony from 9 a.m. to noon Friday, February 8, 2019, at H-GAC Conference Room B, Second Floor. The Summit will include presentations about various H-GAC programs that can provide goods, services, technical assistance, and funding for parks and natural areas projects.

The event will also include the annual Parks and Natural Areas awards recognition ceremony. These projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in three categories: Planning Process, On-the-Ground Projects Over $500,000, and On-the-Ground Projects Under $500,000.

A light breakfast will be served. Registration will open in late December or early January. Registration and breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the H-GAC program showcase at 9 a.m. The awards program will be followed by networking with H-GAC staff and other parks professionals.

The Summit will include presentations about various H-GAC programs that can provide goods, services, technical assistance, and funding for parks and natural areas projects. These projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in three categories. The event will also include the annual Parks and Natural Areas Awards recognition ceremony. The awards program will be followed by networking with H-GAC staff and other parks professionals.

The Spotlight Award considers architects from around the world within the first 15 years of their professional practice who have demonstrated design excellence and curiosity through their body of work. Rice Design Alliance has selected DUST as the recipient of the Spotlight Award 2019.

DUST Principals, Cade Hayes and Jesús E. Robles, Jr., will be delivering the Spotlight Lecture 2019 at The Museum of Fine Arts Brown Auditorium designed by Mies van der Rohe.

On Wednesday, February 20, 2019, Houston Wilderness will have the honor of presenting its annual Wild Life Award to Joe B. Allen at the Annual Luncheon at River Oaks Country Club. The award will honor his legacy of environmental-based laws that are providing new parks, trails, and open space in subdivisions all over the state.

Celebrate the talented people who are using historic preservation to make Houston a better, more interesting place to live during The Cornerstone Dinner. John L. Nau III is chairing Preservation Houston’s signature event.

During the event, Harriet & Truett Latimer will accept Preservation Houston’s 2019 President’s Award for their outstanding contributions to historic preservation in Houston and Texas. Preservation Houston hopes that you will share the excitement as they present the 2019 Good Brick Awards for excellence in historic preservation, recognizing the diverse people and projects that continue to make our city unique.

A reception will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the program will start at 7:30 p.m. at River Oaks Country Club. Reservations are required.

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Join us at a neighborhood community meeting on March 28 to talk about the I-45 freeway expansion project, known as the North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP).  The I-45 North expansion is a transformational highway expansion project along the I-45 corridor that will shape the landscape of North Houston and the downtown area for decades, including the 5th Ward.

The project will rebuild and expand I-45 N from Beltway 8 N to the Wheeler Transit Station in Midtown (including major changes to the downtown freeway system, Spur 527, and 288 N). Construction is scheduled to last 10+ years.

Air Alliance Houston is conducting a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the proposed expansion on nearby communities. The assessment will reflect a range of issues, including air quality, mobility, economic development, parks and green space, noise, visual impacts, urban heat island, and flooding.

Bruce Elementary and Secondary DAEP have been identified by Air Alliance Houston as two of nine schools in the HISD and AISD districts that would most benefit from strategies to protect students and staff from the potential harmful health effects of traffic and air pollution.

This meeting will give you an opportunity to learn more about the proposed project and talk about opportunities to protect community health. Your feedback is critical to help Air Alliance Houston develop recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation that could improve the freeway design and benefit schools and surrounding neighborhoods.

Children welcome, food provided.

https://www.facebook.com/airalliancehouston/photos/gm.645289989263865/2388415854511124/?type=3

Join us at a neighborhood community meeting on April 1 to talk about the I-45 freeway expansion project, known as the North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP).  The I-45 North expansion is a transformational highway expansion project along the I-45 corridor that will shape the landscape of North Houston and the downtown area for decades, including the 5th Ward.

The project will rebuild and expand I-45 N from Beltway 8 N to the Wheeler Transit Station in Midtown (including major changes to the downtown freeway system, Spur 527, and 288 N). Construction is scheduled to last 10+ years.

Air Alliance Houston is conducting a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the proposed expansion on nearby communities. The assessment will reflect a range of issues, including air quality, mobility, economic development, parks and green space, noise, visual impacts, urban heat island, and flooding.

Bruce Elementary and Secondary DAEP have been identified by Air Alliance Houston as two of nine schools in the HISD and AISD districts that would most benefit from strategies to protect students and staff from the potential harmful health effects of traffic and air pollution.

This meeting will give you an opportunity to learn more about the proposed project and talk about opportunities to protect community health. Your feedback is critical to help Air Alliance Houston develop recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation that could improve the freeway design and benefit schools and surrounding neighborhoods.

Children welcome, food provided.

The City of Houston’s office of Sustainability, has begun drafting a Climate Action Plan. The goal is to create ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and establish a pathway to meet the Paris Agreement goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, while also decreasing traffic congestion, improving air quality, and reducing costs through energy efficiency and renewable energy. The target completion date for the Plan is December 2019, with implementation by the City to start in 2020. HARC, the Houston Advanced Research Center, is providing technical assistance.

The City has scheduled a set of four Community Meetings to give members of the public information about the Plan, as well as receive input: Each meeting will be held from 6-8 p.m.