YSU Prof Earns Mon Valley Initiative Community Award
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Dawna Cerney, a broadly trained geographer and professor at Youngstown State University, has received the Mon Valley Initiative Community Partner of the Year award for her extensive efforts to revitalize and maintain community environments.
Nominated by the Swissvale Economic Development Corp., she is being acknowledged for having significantly contributed to “advancing the recovery of post-industrial communities within the Mon Valley through rebuilding or creating community infrastructure or linking people and employers.”
Having worked with various communities and environments across North America as well as abroad, Cerney is currently working with Swissvale, a small community on the east side of Pittsburgh. Like many other post-industrial areas, Swissvale has experienced years of disrepair. Recently, that industrial blueprint has attracted external investment, threatening the community’s “heart and soul,” as Cerney describes it.
The Seed for Swissvale project aims to maintain and proliferate the community’s values and unique culture. To aid in her efforts, Cerney recruited co-nominee Susan Lucas, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the urban and regional studies program with a background in city planning. Together, they help with procuring grants and implementing community outreach plans that promote the satisfaction of human needs and desires, economic stability and environmental sustainability.
Through the adaptation of the community’s values and priorities, Cerney and Lucas start by mapping and modeling vacant land in Swissvale; the first step in identifying what properties are/will be available for community development, and in establishing a plan on how to best utilize those properties so that it aligns with community values with adherence to environmental risks.
With that modeling in place, they then identify the best practices for sustainable community design that support stability and safety. This entails creating walkable neighborhoods, implementing greenspace, and considering the natural hazards and limitations of the area. Lastly, they push to develop and support community engagement opportunities to create resident cooperation in community development and design planning.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
