Oberlin College
EN-13: Community Stakeholder Engagement

Oberlin is a small town and Oberlin College is arguably the largest employer in the city. The college is also a large owner of space. The city and college were founded in the same year and continue to work together on important issues. From parking to utilities, education to finance, the college collaborates with many community groups and partners. The Oberlin Project is a collaboration between the City and College and partners to catalyze full-spectrum sustainability in Oberlin. This effort is staffed and governed by many partners throughout the community and region. Oberlin College signed Second Nature's Resilience Commitment and is establishing a stakeholder group comprised of community and college representatives charged with increasing resilience in Oberlin. Capital projects are coordinated with the city as appropriate. Parking, transportation, and roadway projects are coordinated with the community. Many commissions on the city level and school board have cross-over between community and college folks. Oberlin College purchases electricity from our municipal utility and coordinate power supply and renewable energy generation and purchase accordingly. The College employs an Office of Community and Government Relations to coordinate between college, community, and regionally. The Community Giving Campaign joins together Oberlin College, Oberlin City Schools, and the City of Oberlin to collaborate to raise funds for charitable giving. The Community-Engaged Research Fellowship provides summer research opportunities for College students to work in the Oberlin community under the mentorship of local partners to collaborate and solve problems. There are many such educational partnerships.

Depending on the issue or project, an organization, group, or individual is identified and reached out to (if there isn't already a forum for engagement, such as a committee, task force, commission, or project).

Oberlin Community Services City of Oberlin (Public Works, OMLPS, City Manager, Finance, Police Department, and others) City Council Oberlin City Schools (Superintendent) Oberlin Business Partners Mercy Allen Hospital First Church and many other religious leaders Community leaders

One notable recent achievement is that Oberlin College signed the Resilience Commitment through the Second Nature framework. This commitment aims to engage community stakeholders in increasing the resilience of our community. A task force has been established representing many sectors in the community and focused on sharing resources and ideas.