Geographic information systems (GIS) technology (1968)
CURA was an early national pioneer in the creation of this computerbased technology, which is capable of generating detailed electronic maps and has literally transformed how researchers, planners, and others approach the study of land use. As an outgrowth of this early work at CURA, the Minnesota Land Management Information Center was formed in 1977 to provide service and technological support to government agencies and private organizations using GIS technology. CURA continues to support a significant amount of work in the area of GIS technology, and recently received grants from the Department of Commerce totaling nearly $1 million to help neighborhood organizations, cities, and townships in the metro area use the technology for planning, housing development, and other purposes.

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All-University Council on Aging and the Center on Aging (1969)
The All-University Council on Aging at CURA began as an effort to provide a focus to aging-related research and outreach activities at the University by providing financial support for research, creating a network among University faculty interested in aging issues, and establishing a graduate minor in aging at the University. In 1995, the council spun off to the University’s School of Public Health and changed its name to the Center on Aging, a state and national leader in basic and applied aging research.

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Shoreland Management Act (1969)
In 1969, the Minnesota State Legislature passed the Shoreland Management Act to ensure preservation and wise development of land bordering lakes and rivers by requiring appropriate setbacks for septic systems and buildings. This groundbreaking legislation, the first of its kind in the nation, resulted directly from work on the Lakeshore Development Study at CURA, which investigated various threats to Minnesota’s precious lakes and wetlands.

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New Careers Program (1969)
The United States in the 1960s was, in the now-famous words of the Kerner Commission Report, “a nation moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal.” The Johnson Administration’s “War on Poverty” was a response to the social ills and civil disorders that grew out of this fundamental dilemma, and the New Careers program emerged as one of the most innovative and far-reaching means of repairing the inequities of the past. The idea behind the program, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, was to provide a work-study opportunity for unemployed and underemployed adults, who could work as a “bridge” between schools and social agencies on one hand, and inner-city residents in need of education and social services on the other. The University of Minnesota was the first and only major institution of higher education to commit itself to providing an educational component for the New Careers program. Enrollees spent half their day employed as paraprofessionals in preparation for careers in human and social services, and the other half enrolled in college classes, primarily through the General College. The program, which was administratively housed at CURA beginning in 1969, changed the lives of many of its participants, the agencies in which they worked, and the curriculum and counseling services at the University. In 2005, CURA and General College hosted a reunion and reception at the Campus Club for graduates of the program, at which special guest Vice-President Walter Mondale and many New Careers graduates spoke eloquently about the historical significance and impact of this innovative program.

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Government Training Service Program (1976)
In 1976, CURA sponsored a conference that examined the quality and coordination of training and continuing education programs for public officials. The conference led to the creation of the Minnesota Government Training Service Program. This joint powers organization (which recently became an independent nonprofit organization based in St. Paul) offers workshops and seminars, sponsors conferences, and provides skills training to government employees on issues ranging from telecommunications to cultural diversity.

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Artspace (1980s)
Finding and retaining affordable live/work space is an age-old problem for artists. Artists frequently gravitate to old warehouses or industrial buildings, but their very presence in a neighborhood often sets in motion a process of gentrification that drives up rents and, over time, forces out the artists. This is precisely what happened in Minneapolis’ historic Warehouse District in the 1970s, prompting the creation of Artspace in 1979 as an advocate for artists’ space needs. In the early 1980s, CURA provided critical support for the development and evolution of Artspace by providing a graduate student with experience in grant writing. The student prepared several successful funding proposals that not only ensured the continued viability of the organization, but also provided an opportunity to assess Artspace’s long-term strategic direction and demonstrated that grant-makers were open to this new mission. Since then, the scope of Artspace’s activities has grown dramatically and it is now America’s leading nonprofit real estate developer for the arts.

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Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (1986)
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits is an influential “chamber of commerce” for the nonprofit sector in Minnesota that engages in lobbying, conducts research, publishes an annual nonprofit telephone directory and economic report, and sponsors educational events and internships for nonprofits. The council was created as a direct outgrowth of the Philanthropy Project at CURA, a three-year project that gathered information on patterns of grant-making in hopes of persuading corporations and foundations to increase the proportion of grants that went to disadvantaged communities. The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits continues to lead the national movement of state associations for nonprofits that work for a more politically visible role for the nonprofit sector in the United States.

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Minnesota Housing Partnership (1987)
Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) assists Minnesota communities in the creation and preservation of housing that is affordable to low- and moderate income people through loans and grants, technical assistance, organizational capacity-building, and public policy initiatives. The catalyst for the organization’s creation was CURA’s support of MHP founder Charlie Warner, who in the mid-1980s spent several years at CURA as a Visiting Scholar investigating the issue of low-income housing. Under Warner’s leadership, MHP first organized in 1987 as an informal coalition of community groups and nonprofit developers working for affordable housing. In 1989, the organization incorporated as a member-based nonprofit organization. Today MHP has earned the respect of affordable housing advocates throughout the state as it continues to support housing for all Minnesotans.

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Minnesota Ground Water Protection Act (1989)
In 1984, CURA supported the Duschee Creek Water Quality Study, which documented agricultural and land management practices by localfarmers that affected water quality in southeastern Minnesota’s Duschee Creek. The groundbreaking study, and an accompanying documentary about the project, persuaded a local state representative formerly opposed to water quality regulation to push for state legislation protecting water quality, resulting in the landmark Minnesota Ground Water Protection Act of 1989.

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Nationwide legislation on establishing paternity (1990)
In 1990, CURA launched research on establishing paternity that has changed the laws of every state in the nation. The Paternity Project documented the benefits of establishing paternity for children of unmarried parents, and discovered that the period in the hospital following the birth of a child provides the best opportunity to establish paternity. The project gained national recognition by Congress in 1992, and as a result of this research, all states now require hospitals to determine paternity immediately following childbirth.

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Hollman v. Cisneros Consent Decree Evaluation (1998–2001)
In 1998, CURA was contracted by the Family Housing Fund and the State of Minnesota to conduct an evaluation of the implementation of the consent decree in Hollman v. Cisneros, a lawsuit alleging that the public housing and Section 8 programs in Minneapolis perpetuated racial and low-income segregation. The consent decree, which was signed by all parties to the suit, involved a series of dramatic policy changes aimed at deconcentrating family public housing in Minneapolis. A research fellow at CURA conducted the three-year evaluation, which produced a series of eight reports that concluded the implementation of the consent decree had produced mixed results with respect to the construction of replacement housing units, the reduction of race and poverty concentration in public housing in the Twin Cities, and the use of special housing mobility certificates.

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Ban on Phosphorus in Lawn Fertilizer (2002)
In 1992 and again in 1999, CURA supported research that led to changes in state laws regarding the use of phosphorus in lawn fertilizer. These two research projects found that soils across the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota are naturally high in phosphorus, and that applying additional phosphorus via lawn fertilizers was a significant contributor to eutrophication, the “greening” and subsequent degradation of water in Minnesota lakes and rivers. In 2002, the Minnesota State Legislature passed the Fertilizer, Soil Amendment, and Plant Amendment Law (Minnesota Statutes § 18c) prohibiting routine phosphorus use on lawns in the Twin Cities. The ban was recently extended statewide.

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Reducing arsenic levels in Minnesota well-water supplies (2003)
In response to research showing that long-term exposure to low levels of arsenic increases the risk of skin cancer and disorders of the circulatory, nervous, and digestive systems, the federal government in 2001 significantly lowered the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic in U.S. drinking water. Many small communities throughout Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas have unique geology that contributes to concentrations of arsenic that exceed the new federal level. In Minnesota alone, approximately 100 public water systems that rely on groundwater as their source, and thousands of private wells, exceed the new standard. Because the construction of a water treatment facility capable of removing arsenic can cost $1 million or more, Minnesota’s small water suppliers are faced with a severe financial burden in complying with the new drinking water standards. Two CURA-supported researchers worked with state and local governmental agencies to develop groundbreaking low-cost alternatives for public water systems and private well owners to meet the new federal drinking water standards, including changing well operation practices and drilling new wells at different depths or locations.

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