The techniques developed in the Baltimore URI program have been adopted in New Haven through our Community Greenspace projects and environmental education programs. As the New Haven program developed a focused agenda of its own, its Advisory Board separated from the Yale program and formally incorporated as New Haven URI. Our close ties with Yale–we are located at the Forestry School and are supported in part by the University–bring the professional expertise of faculty and graduate students to the local community while offering graduate student interns opportunities for practical field training.

Community Greenspace
During its first and second year (1995 and 1996), the New Haven URI's "Neighborhood Beautification Program" brought together 45 community-based organizations, the Department of Public Works, the city's Livable City Initiative, and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to work on 45 neighborhood beautification projects.

The name of the program changed to Community Greenspace in 1997, but the partnerships and goals remained the same. Since it’s inception, the program has completed more than 221 diverse urban restoration projects with an annual participation of 500+ New Haven residents, and planted 1000+ trees (45+ different species) with an overall tree survival rate of 85 percent.
The success of URI supported projects is based upon our ability to create opportunities to bring communities together to address their environmental priorities. Together neighbors increase vegetative cover, improve soil fertility, reduce soil erosion, and develop a stewardship ethic for the natural recourses of their community.

Open Spaces as Learning Places
URI's current education program, Open Spaces as Learning Places, was developed out of the partnerships that existed between URI and dozens of schools, neighborhood groups and individual teachers since 1991.

The Open Spaces program has now worked with over 1,000 students to teach hands-on, experiential lessons in environmental science. The curriculum includes six separate units, each focusing on a different type of open space. Students gradually are introduced to bigger open spaces, beginning with the schoolyard, and then moving to a URI Greenspace site, a local city park, a nearby river, a pond--and finally ending at a historic cemetery. Each three-lesson unit begins with an indoor lesson that introduces concepts and vocabulary that the students need in order to work productively outside. In the middle class, students go on a field trip to a site; in the final class students reflect more deeply on concepts they have learned while teachers assess student comprehension. Students keep a nature journal during the ten weeks in order to reflect on what they are learning outside of school. The program continues to connect New Haven teachers and students to the valuable environmental resources in their city.

Partnerships
Urban areas have a variety of stakeholders involved in managing the environment, and our partnership with Yale is complemented by partnerships with community groups, government agencies and businesses throughout New Haven. We are committed to work primarily with the many community groups and city agencies at the local level and to draw upon state and federal expertise for that purpose. As a community partner, we do not promote a preconceived notion of "green issues." Instead, we adapt the expertise of environmental educators, scientists, and land managers through collaborations with teachers and neighborhood leaders to create projects that meet the specific needs of inner city communities. The resulting partnerships are critical in supporting the long term restoration and management of the urban environment. Listening to local concerns and developing environmental programs in cooperation with schools, neighborhood groups, and city agencies is the cornerstone of our work.