About Us
Overview
Welcome to the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida. The Patel Center supports distinguished research and educational programs that promote sustainable, healthy communities in a globalizing world. The Patel Center brings together people from the academic, public, private and non-governmental sectors to work collaboratively on finding solutions to pressing global problems. In particular, we focus on water and sanitation, sustainability, and urbanization and migration.
The Patel Center’s mission is to promote and support nonpartisan, independent applied research that leads to the discovery, dissemination and application of new knowledge about the sources of and solutions to problems of global concern. In addition to research programs, the Center supports educational programs that train current and future leaders and educators and expand public awareness about global concerns. The Patel Center further serves as a networking hub, bringing together people from academic, government and private sector settings to discuss areas of mutual concern. We also host two academic journals and serve as a publications outlet when appropriate. Occasional travel awards and the Patel Fellows program are two additional ways that the Center supports USF faculty. As outlined in the Patel Center's Strategic Plan, the Patel Center’s efforts are focused on the intersecting areas of the Natural Environment (specifically potable water and sanitation), the Social Environment (urbanization) and the Economic Environment (sustainable activities).
Research Plan
The Patel Center research plan is a response to a changing relationship between humans and the natural environment brought on in part by world-wide conditions associated with globalization. The Center supports research leading to on-the-ground solutions that increase sustainable economic activities and improve access to quality potable water and sanitation systems.In past years the Center has co-hosted conferences that address climate change related development concerns (2003 Florida’s Global Frontiers; 2005 Symposium on Globalization and the Environment, 2006 Global Blues and Public Policy Conference; 2008 Coastal Cities Summit). The Center supports two journals (Organization & Environment, Globalizations) that routinely publish sustainability-related research and in June 2009 its leadership edited a special issue of Management of Environmental Quality titled “Human-Ecosystem Interdependence in Coastal Cities.” The Center currently has grant projects to address export markets for Florida small businesses producing alternative energy products and services; Florida water workforce needs assessment; and potable water tank improvements in the Dominican Republic. It also supports the development of undergraduate research skills through in-country sustainability projects in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica. Finally, it has been successful in championing the Gold Leed certified Patel Center building currently under construction on the University of South Florida campus.