“Liquid Assets” Gains Support of ASCE
Penn State Public Broadcasting’s (PSPB) new public service media project toraise awareness about America’s water and wastewater infrastructures — “LiquidAssets” — has received the full support of the American Society of CivilEngineers (ASCE).
“The development of clean drinking water and wastewater systems has greatlyimproved human health, which makes raising public awareness of our urgent waterand wastewater systems needs vitally important,” notes ASCE executive directorPatrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, CAE. “Years of underinvestment, coupled withincreasing demands, have pushed America’s water infrastructure to the brink ofcrisis. We must motivate support among the public and policy leaders for thedevelopment and implementation of innovative solutions.”
The goal of the “Liquid Assets” project, which is scheduled to debut in 2008,is to raise public awareness of the nation’s water and wastewater systems andtheir vital role in protecting our health and supporting our economicprosperity. A comprehensive public education initiative by PSPB, “Liquid Assets”will include two 60-minute national broadcast programs, nationally distributedtoolkits with components to facilitate public meetings and local governmentofficial education and an outreach grant program to support and promote localissues-based television productions that tie in with the national broadcasts.
“Having the ASCE on board as an outreach partner ensures that “Liquid Assets”will be more than just broadcast,” says PSPB creative director Tom Keiter. “Ourgoal is to stimulate community discussion and bring this issue into the publicconsciousness using television as a catalyst. The reach of ASCE and itsexperience in facilitating outreach activities is significant and we lookforward to working together.”
PSPB is part of Penn State Outreach, the largest unified outreachorganization in the world. “Liquid Assets” originated out of a relationship withthe Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in Penn State’s College ofEngineering.
