Public-Public Partnerships for a New Paradigm in the Civic Role of the University

Abstract

Abstract

Recognizing the need to proactively prepare engaged citizens for the dynamic socioeconomic and environmental conditions of the 21st century, the Institute for Sustainable Development at California State University (CSU), Chico, launched a Resilient Cities Initiative, a concerted effort to scale-up place-based applied interdisciplinary research and teaching to address community sustainability needs throughout its Northern California service region. This initial effort, in collaboration with the City of Chico, is a two-phase study of the South Campus Neighborhood. The project focuses on a 42-square-block residential area immediately adjacent to the university and downtown Chico, with the ultimate goal of assisting in the development of a Neighborhood Improvement Plan. The first phase of the project has been focused on developing an Existing Conditions Report with seven principal components: Neighborhood History, Neighborhood Character, Urban Forest, Transportation & Circulation, Street Lighting, Criminal Activity, and Stakeholder Identification & Engagement. This phase has included participation of an interdisciplinary team of nine faculty members from seven departments across three academic colleges on campus, and has involved over 400 students actively applying classroom theory to real-world problems in their backyard. The South Campus Neighborhood Project represents a clear precedent for CSU, Chico, in terms of the scale of interdisciplinary faculty and student involvement on campus in a single community-focused and community-funded project. This collaboration with the City will have numerous benefits for city administration, community stakeholders, and in particular, university priorities to engage faculty and students in an applied interdisciplinary scholarship and to work regionally to promote community resilience.