Green Construction Human and Institutional Development

Additional partners: Mi Casa Resource Center.

Inconsistent educational experiences at the primary/secondary levels, and high youth unemployment are widely considered factors that lead many young people to turn to organized crime for career opportunities.

Colorado State University, Universidad Iberoamericana's Tijuana campus and Mi Casa Resource Center are implementing the Green Construction Human and Institutional Development partnership to provide workforce development and education to at-risk youth in the growing industry of environmentally-friendly construction. This multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary partnership is at the same time focused on enhancing the human capacity, knowledge and skills of the participating faculty.

The program is using an experiential learning approach that focuses on effectively managing people, materials, and resources—the necessary building blocks for any successful enterprise. Such skills are essential to starting and/or sustaining businesses on any scale and can provide experiences that have the potential to allow at-risk youth a broader choice of opportunities for the future.