South Dakota State University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Residential Life, the Sustainability Specialist, and the Sociology & Rural Studies Department, hosted Don't Dump! Donate! during finals week. As students moved out of the dorms for the summer, there was a collection point for students to drop off used, but good condition items for various local non-profits. Donations items included, but were not limited to furniture, carpet, hygiene items, office supplies, clothes, and food. The non-profit partners included Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter, The Giving Closet, SDSU Jack's Cupboard, and Share the Warmth. The program started in the spring of 2018, occurred in 2019, and is expected to continue on an annual basis. This program supports all three pillars of sustainability by keeping reusable material from the landfill, supporting organizations who take care of vulnerable citizens, and providing usable material at a price that more people can afford.

The Local Food Education Center is working with communities in the southern Black Hills (based in Igloo, SD) to design a geothermal-based greenhouse that will serve the low-income population.

Prof. Don Burger conducts assessments as a part of his City Planning class (LA 342). The work is sponsored through an annual grant from the South Dakota Department of Health (SDDOH), and is a partnership between SDDOH, SDSU’s Landscape Architecture program, and one or two target communities in South Dakota per year. The University provides students and a faculty member to help with this work. Since 2013 they have completed assessments for the following SD communities: • Huron • Mitchell • Fort Pierre • Volga • Salem • Sioux Falls • Harrisburg • Crooks • Burke • Tripp After conducting walkability assessments and meeting with community members to discuss problem areas, the students work with me to develop recommendations for improving walkability in the target community. Those recommendations are vetted with community members throughout the project, and then presented in a community open house at the end of the semester. The team does their best to include underrepresented/vulnerable groups. The team tries to ensure that representation from all segments of society is provided during the information gathering and open house phases. The partnership simultaneously supports all three dimensions of sustainability. The project promotes wellbeing for residents (active transportation through walking and cycling) while fostering economic prosperity (development of walking destinations such as corner stores, cafes, and other small businesses); one of the desired outcomes is less dependence on motor vehicles, thus reducing ecological impacts of urban places.

Below are additional community partnerships that take place on campus. They are broken out by department or unit they are housed under. Local Foods Education Center • The Local Food Education Center collaborated with a gated community in South Dakota to design and build a greenhouse and high tunnel for sustainably grown produce. Through the project, both the gated community members and local non-profits received produce. • The Local Food Education Center collaborates with the local Boys and Girls club to teach the students how to grow food. Health & Nutritional Science Department • USDA NIFA-funded project entitled, ‘Voices for Food: Utilizing Food Policy Councils to Bridge the Gap between Food Security and Healthy Food Choices.’ As part of this research, six states (Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota) have combined efforts to implement an integrated community-based model in diverse rural food deserts to enhance food security among low-resource adults. • Worked on evaluations of SDSU Extension’s ‘Harvest of the Month’ and 'Pick It, Try It, Like It' programs, aiming to better understand the program impact on fruit and vegetable consumption in SD children and adults. Both projects are believed to fit into sustainability as they deal with providing a basic need (food) to communities. Natural Resource Management Department • Statewide precision agriculture and precision conservation initiative Sun Grant Initiative • Partnership with Ducks Unlimited looking at soil health & water quality. SDState Extension • Re-Member - Tribal Local Foods Program training in sustainable agriculture and food production. This effort takes place in the community of Parmalee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. • Sinte Gleska University - This effort takes place in the community of Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation o Offered 21 Small Acreage Producer Workshops in the areas of sustainable speciality food products - including honey, bison, meat goat, box elder berries. 314 producers impacted. o Initiated the Stock Healthy, Shop Healthy Grocery Store Education Project with Turtle Creek Grocery in Mission. o Worked with SGU to do Disaster Planning for environmental related events and climate adaptability. School of Design • Trail Ridge Senior Living Community. Community Trail Visioning Engagement Process and Design Development. Pat Crawford, Don Burger, Peter Reinholdt. School of Design – Landscape Architecture and Studio Art. • Laingsburg City Council, Michigan. 2018. City Park MasterPlan and Community Engagement. P. Crawford. School of Design • City of Clare, Michigan. 2018. Historic Downtown Gateway Design and Community Engagement. P. Crawford, School of Design • 2018 Tripp Active Transportation Collaboration Project. South Dakota Department of Health. Principal Investigator School of Design • 2018 Burke Active Transportation Collaboration Project. South Dakota Department of Health. Principal Investigator School of Design • 2017 Crooks Active Transportation Collaboration Project. South Dakota Department of Health. Principal Investigator School of Design • 2016 Fort Pierre Active Transportation Collaboration Project. South Dakota Department of Health. Principal Investigator School of Design • Crooks, SD AIAS / Public Works Community, 2017-present Student led master planning and visioning, mixed use residential and retail development Partnership between the DoArch AIAS and the Crooks Housing and Redevelopment Commission School of Design • Flandreau, SD AIAS / Public Works Community, 2015-present Student led master planning, church and residential design project, with DoArch AIAS membership School of Design Pack the Pantry occurs each year. It is a friendly competition between units and departments to see who can donate the most items to the Harvest Table (local food pantry) and Jack's Cupboard (on campus food pantry). All items are donated to these two entities. For two weeks in November, Transportation services allows people to donate canned goods for a discount on their parking ticket. Around 500 pounds of food were donated this year. John McMaine and the Extension Office partnered with the local chapter of Dakota Rural Action to build, study, and offer workshops around creating a residential rain garden in Sioux Falls.