Roosevelt University
IN-2: Innovation 2

The Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future (SSF) online social media project is a student-faculty collaboration at Roosevelt University that addresses sustainability issues, challenges, and solutions in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and, more generally, suburban communities. Conceived as an experimental class assignment in 2011, the SSF website and blog has become a locally relevant publication venue that engages sustainability topics in an interdisciplinary fashion and provides constructively critical information for the public about local suburban communities’ efforts to become more sustainable in government operations, use of water and energy, and transportation systems. Students and faculty benefit from the opportunity to produce meaningful and potentially useful research and commentary through specially focused class writing projects (both individual and collaborative), the university community has become more aware of its role in the “edge city” suburban community of Schaumburg IL, a major employment and shopping center in suburban Chicago, and local organizations have connected with the university in mutually beneficial ways through the website. In a time when urban sustainability is a primary focus of city planning, parkland development, urban farming, and green infrastructure projects—all worthy endeavors most assuredly—the SSF Project (1) highlights the need for and impact of suburban-focused sustainability initiatives in public/active transportation, stormwater reduction and water conservation, and restoration of native ecosystems and (2) demonstrates the role colleges and universities can play in this process.

A quick glance at the numbers: to date, the Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future (SSF) project includes over 160 blog posts and 100 in-depth essays on a wide range of sustainability issues, problems, and solutions. The vast majority of this content is student-authored, which we believe demonstrates the value of the site as a learning tool and educational resource. As of Dec 2014, word of the SSF project began circulating through the channels of professional scholarship on sustainability education. SSF editor and SUST professor/director Mike Bryson published the article, “Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future: Student Research, Social Media, and the ‘Edge City’ Suburb,” in the _Journal of Environmental Studies and Science_ (12 Dec 2014). The article appeared as part of a special issue on “Integrating and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainable Cities and Regions.” http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13412-014-0200-1