Since 2008, groups of graduate students from the University of Texas have been traveling to the Dominican Republic to work with community residents, local civil society partners, and municipal officials to provide technical support on projects related to infrastructure improvement planning and community development in informal settlements.

The visits are designed as practicum courses whereby students execute technical and empirical studies to support the goals and neighborhood improvement efforts of community residents.

But student fieldwork and the practicum course represent only one component of the work that goes on as part of the initiative. When students are not in the Dominican Republic, residents and local partners work day in and day out to oversee the successful functioning of the composting project, to write grant applications, to meet with new potential partners, to collaborate with local government offices, and much more.

To lean more about the individuals and organizations whose work is indispensable to the success of The Cañada Project, please visit our partners page.

To explore the technical work of each practicum course in more detail, visit the page for each year’s class:

2008- Risk and Vulnerability Assessment

2010- Solid Waste Management Study

2012- Community-Based Composting

2014- Ethnobotany and Household Green Infrastructure

2016- Participatory Design, Social Enterprise, and Community Based Solid Waste Management

2017- Insurgent Planning through Critical Pedagogies, Arts and Community Narratives

2018- Community resilience and collaborative planning praxis