Ohio University
EN-9: Community Partnerships

On April 22, 2014, the Office of Sustainability hosted an Earth Day celebration and invited ReUse Industries to use the event as a means for promoting their recycled art competition. ReUse Industries is a local non-profit community organization that specializes in diverting reusable goods from being landfilled. The organization is constantly expanding and, therefore, works diligently to create jobs within our community and support the local economy. During the Earth Day event, by means of their recycled art competition, ReUse provided community-wide education about the importance of waste minimization, landfill diversion and community beautification. They were able to widely broadcast this message through marketing, promotion and day-of-event festivities due to the funding and support they received from Office of Sustainability. This supportive community partnership was an opportunity for Ohio University and the Office of Sustainability to provide a venue and promote a valuable message generated by this local small business; this partnership will continue for the 2015 Earth Day celebration.

The Office of Sustainability staff and student employees serve as regular representatives on several community committees such as the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway Committee, the City of Athens Environment and Sustainability Commission, and the Athens County Pedestrian and Bike Committee. Via the Office of Sustainability employees, Ohio University's representation on these committees is aimed at reducing social injustice and economic disparities in Athens and the surrounding towns, which are among the poorest communities in the state. For example, a representative from the Office of Sustainability sits on the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway Committee, which works to promote the bike path (and bike acquisition/rental) as an alternative transit option for low-income workers within the region to have a reliable, low-cost commuting option between Nelsonville and Athens. Additional partnerships are developed regularly for programmatic offerings such as sustainable service learning events in the community. For example, the OHIO Ecohouse donated all produce grown in its gardens 2014 to a local food pantry and local meals for the homeless. Also, the Office of Sustainability partnered with a local non-profit called Community Food Initiatives to host a gardening workshop at the Ecohouse to help local families learn low-cost gardening techniques and acquire free seeds; a workshop that is especially important in the most impoverished region of the state. These and similar partnerships between local committees and initiatives are not time-limited, they are expected to continue into the foreseeable future.

Beginning in Spring 2014, a graduate assistant in the Office of Sustainability joined the City of Athens Environment and Sustainability Commission as a representative of the office. In the summer of 2014, the Commission began work on a sustainability plan for the City of Athens. The Commission planned a community town-hall meeting at which all community members and university personnel were invited to voice their ideas for the new sustainability plan. The Office of Sustainability supplied student employees for the event that acted as facilitators. This university/community partnership is on-going; the Office of Sustainability has offered all documentation from the university sustainability planning process to the commission for their reference. Additionally, the office is ready to give the commission the support they may need while drafting the plan so as to allow for direct partnerships in the development of goals and implementation efforts.