Welcome to the Blog of the Center for Human Environments!

The Center for Human Environments, also known as CHE, is one of 30 research centers and institutes located at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Like the Graduate Center’s academic programs, CHE is founded on a consortial idea–collaboration across programs, departments, disciplines and campuses.

CHE’s research mission brings together psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, earth and environmental scientists, and public health experts to address the relationship between people and their physical settings. By providing a forum where the social sciences meet environmental research, CHE seeks to produce deeper understanding of–and potential solutions to–the problems faced by schools, neighborhoods and larger communities, nonprofit organizations, community-based groups and advocacy movements, and government agencies.

CHE consists of several specialized research sub-groups that share administrative resources and often pool their expertise and contacts in developing research proposals or sponsoring events. These sub-groups are: the Children’s Environments Research Group, the Health & Society Research Group, the Housing Environments Research Group, the Public Science Project (formerly known as the Participatory Action Research Collective), the Public Space Research Group, and the Youth Studies Research Group. The Center also houses ActKnowledge, a consulting organization that works with community groups, not-for-profits, foundations, and government agencies to evaluate their programs and to help them enhance their effectiveness.