In partnership with local organisations, TUF provides accessible courses for community members to develop a greater understanding of different natural processes. This includes water, earth sciences, biodiversity, and conservation. We also support school and project-based learning with a specific focus on marginalised youth and women. Through participation in our educational programmes, participants are empowered and have the skills to mobilise within their own communities and become their champions for clean water and healthy environments.
TUF applies our knowledge of ecosystems and the environment to work with partners and communities to revitalise green and blue urban corridors within urban environments. To do this TUF provides both support to local initiatives and the tools needed to reduce and minimise contamination (solid or chemical) through cleaning up rivers, streams, wetlands, canals, estuaries and coastlines that run through our communities and the aquifers that underlie them. TUF will work together with communities to restore and rehabilitate local areas as they seek to bring beauty back to the neighbourhoods and clean water to their communities.
TUF believes that adaptation to climate change begins at the local level and focuses on improved biodiversity, agricultural/soil/irrigation management practices, greater food security and improved water quality. We support communities as they seek to understand the interlinkages among land, water and nature in adapting to environmental challenges. We work to empower communities as they seek to assess and reduce their own climate change vulnerabilities and build resilience, demonstrating that solutions start on the ground, but must also be integrated at multiple levels of government and society.
TUF’s research focuses on bringing together scientific, engineering, and community-based knowledge to support the implementation of integrated and sustainable water management, climate change adaptation, and infrastructure projects at multiple levels (local, regional, national and international). TUF draws on and leverages relevant policies and government initiatives that align with established best practices. With community support we also initiate resource management planning, impact measurement and monitoring. See our Research page which highlights key theoretical underpinnings to our work.
We are passionate about the nexus of art and science. We partner with local artists, musicians and actors to create awareness-raising public art pieces that communicate scientific insight and represent local water issues in a culturally appropriate way. To do this we work with community champions and in particular women that have the potential to be leaders in their communities. By developing a collaborative network of partners, we hope to foster leadership and continue to mobilise community champions, particularly amongst those youth and women already promoting community wellness and an ecosystem in harmony with community needs and aspirations.
Our team and collaborators bring extensive technical and specialized knowledge and skill with proven results applied to complex social and design challenges. This includes Science, Engineering, Environment, and Community Planning and Engagement. We apply scientific and technological excellence to finding environmentally and socially sustainable solutions to climate change adaptation. This requires a commitment to a holistic approach and a synthesis of scientific principles with local and Indigenous knowledge systems.