The number of local governments and universities working toward sustainability goals is ever growing. Especially in today's political climate, we see cities and universities signing onto pacts such as the “We Are Still In” Campaign, or the Sierra Club’s “Ready For 100” Campaign. However, rarely do we see universities and local governments working together to accomplish a common goal around sustainability or climate change. These collaborative efforts are new and slowly becoming common place; however, only a few of these partnerships are well known, and fewer still are considered models from which other cities and universities base their collaborative efforts. We want to know why this is the case. Why are there so few partnerships of this kind? And where there are partnerships, what makes these flourish? Further, in what ways can local governments and universities do work together that furthers community-wide sustainability, resilient energy systems, emissions reductions, and climate mitigation goals?
Our research into these collaborations between local governments and universities will primarily be conducted via interview at three city-university case communities. We will also be conducting interviews with individuals outside of those three case communities who we have identified as being key to furthering these relationships between universities and local governments by providing themselves as an example of ‘leader’ partnerships. The three case communities are: Auburn University, and the City of Auburn, Alabama; the University of Northern Iowa, and Cedar Falls, Iowa; and our own local community- the University of Colorado, Boulder and the City of Boulder, Colorado. The reason for choosing these three case communities is that all three have an affiliation with our capstone partner, ICLEI USA. Auburn University and University of Northern Iowa were the first to become ICLEI USA Higher Education Affiliates, and the City of Boulder has been a long-time ICLEI USA member city.
Research and interviews are being conducted over a five-month period between March and August of 2017, with our final deliverable being completed by early December of 2017. Although our final deliverable is due in December and most of our time after August will be spent analyzing our research, we hope to continue adding #TownGownCoSustainability stories to our website. Ideally, this site will live on past our Masters careers, providing communities with ideas and solutions that they can incorporate into their university-local government partnerships for many years into the future. If you are interested in learning more about our research or wish to take part in one of our interviews, please feel free to reach out!
We look forward to hearing more #TownGownCoSustainability stories!