PIN’s Safe Water Together for Brunswick project wins national award

October 28, 2025, 2:10pm EDT

By Karen Kirkpatrick

BRUNSWICK, GA — The Partnership for Innovation’s (PIN) Community Research project Safe Water Together for Brunswick has won a P3 Social Impact Award. The winners of the P3 Awards were announced at a ceremony in New York City, on Oct. 22, 2025. P3 recognizes the important work of public-private partnerships around the U.S. and in Canada.

“We’re thrilled that Safe Water Together for Brunswick has been named the winner of the P3 Social Impact Award,” said PIN’s Community Research Manager Katie O’Connor. “This recognition celebrates a truly community-driven approach — training residents to test their own water and share results as Safe Water Ambassadors.”

By combining local knowledge, skill-building, and environmental awareness, the project strengthens trust and equips the community to take an active role in protecting its water resources, she said. “It’s an inspiring model for civic engagement and environmental stewardship that can be replicated well beyond Brunswick.”

Ultimately, this endeavor seeks to improve water quality, address environmental disparities, and contribute to long-term solutions for a more sustainable and just community in Brunswick and Glynn County.

PIN’s Community Research grant program is a competitive process that supports teams of university researchers and local governments with funding, expert advice, project management, access to the Partnership’s Summer Internship Program, and a network of peers, on year-long pilot campaigns. Brunswick is just the latest project city to be shortlisted for an award. Several alumni cities and counties across Georgia have won national and international awards and garnered additional funding and technical assistance to continue serving residents.

Brunswick: Safe Water Together

Brunswick and Glynn County on the coast of Georgia are home to beautiful marsh lands, historic sites, and popular beaches. The region is also home to four U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites — areas of toxic, hazardous waste that can leach into the ground and the water – that are being cleaned by federal Superfund dollars with the goal of returning them to productive use.

The Safe Water Together at Brunswick project focuses on developing a public health promotion program to improve communications on sensitive environmental health topics.

“Access to safe water is a global challenge. It unlocks economic development, improves health, and provides opportunities so people have a shot at a quality life,” said Asli Aslan, project lead, professor of environmental health sciences, and director of the Institute for Water and Health at Georgia Southern University.

“Environmental pollution continues to impact human health along our coastline. Communities in Brunswick face heightened challenges because several sites remain under long-term monitoring, creating ongoing concerns for water quality, ecosystem health, and public well-being. At the Institute for Water and Health, our mission is to provide science-based information that helps people make informed decisions to protect their health.”

A collaboration with Rebuilding Together Glynn County, the local school system, Georgia Southern University, and Georgia Tech, the project aims to develop solutions based on community experiences and scientific data. By utilizing advanced water quality detection technology, the initiative targets microbial and chemical contamination exacerbated by sea-level rise.

Working with 12 pastors in Brunswick, researchers have assembled a group of citizen scientists that will help measure the chemicals in water and determine community needs.

“One of the objectives for this grant is to build the foundations of a community-led citizen science group,” Aslan said. “During COVID-19, we saw residents fishing in areas where authorities had advised against it due to contamination concerns. Working with community leaders is extremely important for us because those are the trusted liaisons to share information, raise awareness, and increase perceptions and knowledge.

“The project aims to inform citizens about these potential risks and to provide practical guidance on how they can protect their well-being by following state and federal recommendations.”

By partnering with communities, the Institute for Water and Health is working to translate scientific findings into clear, actionable steps for improving both environmental and human health.

To meet these objectives, the research team set up a water quality lab in Brunswick that will be owned by the citizens. The team has trained the citizen science group to collect field samples, assess them, and develop protocols for ensuring the data is collected properly. The team is also working with citizens on creating outreach and education materials.

The project team has been approached by several universities and local governments inquiring how they can adopt a community approach to improving water quality.