| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.74 |
| Liaison | Krista Bailey |
| Submission Date | Oct. 20, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Pennsylvania State University
EN-9: Community Partnerships
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
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Does the institution have at least one formal sustainability partnership with the local community that meets the criteria as “supportive”?:
Yes
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A brief description of the institution’s supportive sustainability partnership(s) with the local community:
Penn State has a number of supportive sustainability partnerships within the greater State College area, which include:
"Trash to Treasure" is a recycling partnership between Penn State and the local United Way. The program collects discarded items from student move-out in the spring, diverting them from the landfill, and selling them to raise money for the United Way. This is an annual event. http://sites.psu.edu/trash2treasure/
Penn State's Shaver's Creek Environmental Center parners with a number of community groups. For example, it works with regional school districts to provide programming in the form of Outdoor School and educational field trips, and partners with the Central Pennsylvania Native Plant Society annually to sponsor the Central PA Native Plant Festival, which celebrates native plants and local food.
http://shaverscreek.org/about-us/environmental-partners/
The Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP) is an ongoing federal-state-university partnership for economic development. The program services the entire state of Pennsylvania through a network of technical specialists. Often the assistance provided has been in the area of economy, energy, and the environment. http://penntap.psu.edu/success-stories/
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Does the institution have at least one formal sustainability partnership with the local community that meets the criteria as “collaborative”?:
Yes
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A brief description of the institution's collaborative sustainability partnership(s):
The Conewago Creek Initiative is a locally-led, collaborative partnership effort in the Conewago Creek watershed in Dauphin, Lebanon, and Lancaster Counties of Pennsylvania. The Initiative seeks to improve water quality in the Conewago Creek watershed by working with local residents and landowners in the community to increase awareness of and interest in adopting land management practices that will improve water quality of local streams, ensure healthy farms, forests, and communities, and protect and maintain quality of life.
Penn State is the lead university partner in this Initiative; its Agriculture and Environment Center and Cooperative Extension program are key participants. Penn State Public Broadcasting (now Penn State Public Media) has helped to document and share the lessons learned. Other partners include local, state, and national entities, both government, private, and nonprofit.
http://agsci.psu.edu/aec/conewago-creek-initiative
Date Revised: Nov. 20, 2014
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Does the institution have at least one formal sustainability partnership with the local community that meets the criteria as “transformative”?:
Yes
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A brief description of the institution's transformative sustainability partnership(s) with the local community:
The "Penn State Center: Engaging Pittsburgh" provides an example of a transformative sustainability partnership. The Center connects citizens, communities, businesses, and corporations who want to collaborate with Penn State through learning and research partnerships that help to solve critical issues impacting the Greater Pittsburgh area, in support of a sustainable future. The Center's strategic program areas include Community Revitalization; Energy; Land Use; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM); Stormwater Management; and The Arts. Although the Center is located in Pittsburgh, the majority of its faculty and budget come from the University Park campus.
http://pittsburgh.center.psu.edu/
Examples of specific projects and partnerships include:
- The Penn State Center collaborated with the city of Pittsburgh on a demonstration storm water mitigation project that planners hope will reduce flooding in Pittsburgh’s Four Mile Run neighborhood, and serve as a model for the rest of the city and beyond.
- Pittsburgh Green Innovators is an extensive local partnership that seeks to energize the Hill District of Pittsburgh by advancing a blended economy that uses the best of Pittsburgh's work ethic and skilled labor to position this region as a global leader in sustainability.
- The Penn State Center is a lead organization bringing new perspectives to the issue of home energy evaluations and weatherization retrofits through the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory–funded project.
Many other examples can be found at: http://pittsburgh.center.psu.edu/program-areas
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A brief description of the institution’s sustainability partnerships with distant (i.e. non-local) communities:
As a land-grant institution, Penn State has substantial sustainability partnerships with several other communities across the state, including:
The Penn State Center: Philadelphia connects Penn State students, faculty, and staff with Philadelphia citizens, communities, and organizations for learning-research partnerships in support of a sustainable future for the City of Philadelphia. http://www.outreach.psu.edu/outreach/the-penn-state-center-philadelphia/
The Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI), located at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia, is focused on generating impact in the small- and medium-sized commercial buildings retrofit market through developing and demonstrating systems solutions in a real-world regional context for future national deployment. http://cbei.psu.edu/
Penn State also supports sustainability partnerships with international communities. For example, The Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) initiative of the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs develops innovative and practical technology-based solutions to address the most compelling challenges facing the developing world and marginalized communities. The quest is for solutions with the four hallmarks of sustainability – technologically appropriate, environmentally benign, socially acceptable and economically sustainable. HESE seeks the convergence of the tripartite university missions of teaching, research and outreach to educate globally engaged social problem solvers and create sustainable value for developing communities, while generating and disseminating knowledge and lessons learned.
Date Revised: Nov. 20, 2014
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The website URL where information about sustainability partnerships is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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