Sustainable Solutions: University–Community Partnerships

Praise for the Sustainable Solutions series: Portland State University continues to be at the forefront of advancing sustainable outcomes in partnership with local communities. This book provides the toolbox for successful campus-community efforts for the cities around the world looking for tools to more sustainably address complex urban challenges. I'm continually impressed with the success of PSU's sustainability programs, research and partnerships. Let Knowledge Serve the City proves that their model is not only replicable, but revolutionary for cities around the globe. -- Congressman Earl Blumenauer Praise for the Sustainable Solutions series: A great example of vision, execution, and civic engagement led by faculty and administration of PSU ... an exceptional and inspiring story about cross-fertilization between higher education and Main Street that works to sustain and energize. -- David W. Orr, Counselor to the President, Oberlin College

Sustainable Solutions shares best practice in community-engaged teaching and sustainability-focused research at Portland State University. This volume explores how these partnerships work in practice, analyzing 13 projects to offer pragmatic guidance, critical reflections and inspiration for creating effective university-community partnerships.

What is the role of the university? Current systems may stress research output, but Wortham-Galvin, Allen, and Sherman seek to re-establish the importance of teaching and service in the work of the 21st-century university. The Sustainable Solutions series shares Portland State University’s experience of community-engaged teaching and research. With a focus on sustainability, we see that such collaboration is vital to making Portland one of the world’s most sustainable cities.

Volume 2, University–Community Partnerships, builds on the themes introduced in Volume 1, Let Knowledge Serve the City, to explore how these partnerships play out in practice. Covering 13 projects, which range from supporting local artisans and researching food access, to sharing Indigenous history and decolonizing perceptions of knowledge, readers receive pragmatic advice on working with community organizations. Authors also offer critical reflection on how theories of engagement have structured PSU’s work and how their findings impact our very understanding of partnership.

This reader-friendly text provides an ideal introduction to anyone wishing to learn more about models of effective collaboration and how to put these into practice. Explained through the context of specific projects, the book offers both inspiration and practical guidance to anyone — in local government, academia, or the third sector — looking to set up productive community–university partnerships.