The Mission of the Hixon Center is to understand and enhance the urban environment. It pursues this objective by providing an interdisciplinary context for scholars and practitioners to pursue research, teaching and applied activities, emphasizing various themes including:

· Interdisciplinary urban science and policy
· Community-based land stewardship and resource management
· Sustainable urban environmental design
· Urban environmental education
· Examining the urban water cycle
· Providing urban environmental services

Through these and other emphases, the Hixon Center pursues the following objectives:

· Advancing fundamental knowledge and understanding of urban ecosystems

· Minimizing and mitigating harm to and restoring natural systems in urban areas

· Fostering the positive experience of natural systems among urban residents

· Demonstrating the importance of natural systems to the physical and mental well-being of urban dwellers.

These objectives and emphases are principally pursued through four Hixon Center Programs — The Urban Resources Initiative, The Urban Watershed Program, Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment and The Program for Sustainable Environmental Design.