
CUSP kits actively engage Pittsburgh residents in exploring local climate change impacts and solutions. Each activity focuses on a specific topic, and using several kits together highlights the connections between different systems, solutions, and infrastructure. Scroll down to learn more about the kits in our lending library.
Filtering by topic: Ecology (Show all topics)
Choices in Your Neighborhood
Access to resources and sustainable choices in a neighborhood contribute to climate change. Participants see how their neighborhood’s choices stack up to others across Pittsburgh.
Topics: Built Infrastructure, Ecology, Energy Use, Food, Land Use, Transportation, Water
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Climate Adaptation in Empty Spaces
Climate change is expected to bring hotter summers and more severe rainfall events to Pittsburgh. Participants act as landscape architects to redesign a vacant lot while considering different solution strategies.
Topics: Built Infrastructure, Ecology, Extreme Weather, Land Use, Temperature Increase, Water
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Complete Streets
Carbon dioxide released from transportation contributes to climate change. Participants design a city street and consider the balance between alternative transportation, traffic, and carbon footprint.
Topics: Ecology, Energy Use, Transportation
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CUSP Climate Change Playground
Multiple CUSP Kits and organizations under one festival tent allow visitors to make connections between different city systems and multiple solutions. Organize your own Climate Change Playground!
Topics: Built Infrastructure, Ecology, Energy Use, Extreme Weather, Food, Land Use, Temperature Increase, Transportation, Water
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Extreme Events
Climate change is expected to bring more severe rainfall events to Pittsburgh. Participants experiment with green infrastructure options to ease the pressure on city sewer systems.
Topics: Built Infrastructure, Ecology, Extreme Weather, Water
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Tiny Slimy Carbon Keepers
Protecting urban ecosystems maintains natural balances in the carbon cycle and reduces city contributions to climate change. Participants become salamanders and eat organisms that disrupt the carbon cycle in the forest’s leaf litter zone.
Topics: Built Infrastructure, Ecology, Land Use
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Tree Machine
Climate change is expected to bring hotter summers and more severe rainfall events to Pittsburgh. Participants experiment with technological and natural solutions to make life better for city residents.
Topics: Ecology, Land Use, Temperature Increase, Water
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