Duluth, Minnesota One Block Project

The One Block project in Duluth, Minnesota expanded upon prior relationship-building and collaboration among the Lake Superior Great Lakes One Water Partnership Community of Practice. The University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program and Natural Resources Research Institute built on these existing partnerships to develop a multi-phased effort focused on addressing the impacts of flooding and extreme weather in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Partners surveyed neighborhood needs and concerns on climate and urban flooding, facilitated three visioning sessions with a community leadership team of local residents and hosted a block party education event paired with a rain-barrel-for-residents program. Through this work, we strengthened relationships among organizations focused on water, climate and energy, the City of Duluth and Lincoln Park residents and supported workforce development through collaborations with the AmeriCorps VISTA program and Community Action Duluth. We provided 20 rain barrels, installed gutters on nine homes and offered water runoff education materials specifically for Lincoln Park neighborhood needs. Throughout the project we employed equitable community engagement practices to bolster trust and reciprocity with community members and neighbors, beginning to collectively co-create community resilience to water challenges at the small, neighborhood scale.

2023_OneBlock_Duluth_Final.pdf

More details about the Duluth project

Collaborators and partner organizations


A special thank you to the Lake Superior Great Lakes One Water team:


Additional gratitude to:


And a sincere thank you to Ron & 2023 Community Construction Crew for installing barrels & gutters!