Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 61.04
Liaison Tina Woolston
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Tufts University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Shirley Mark
Director, Lincoln Filene Center for Community Partnerships
Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
DSNI and Tufts 3-year CORE (Co-learning/Co-research) agreement

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus?:
The partnership simultaneously supports social equity and wellbeing, economic prosperity, and ecological health

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation and review? (Yes, No, or Not Sure):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability, including website URL (if available) and information to support each affirmative response above:

Tufts University and the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) announced the launch of an innovative, community-based collaboration for teaching and research in September 2017. Recognizing that a multi-year approach holds the potential for greater impact, the Co-Research/Co-Education (CORE) program is a three-year initiative that integrates joint learning, research, and action.

The agreement is built on almost three decades of collaboration between the Tufts University Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP) and DSNI.

Announcement article: https://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/tufts-university-announces-three-year-collaboration-dudley-street-neighborhood

All of Tufts work with DSNI in this partnership is centered around community ownership and governance of land and food economy. Much of it is dedicated to supporting the growth of the community land trust (CLT) model and its application to permanent affordable housing (anti-displacement), urban farming, and sustainable economic development.

DSNI is a nonprofit community-based planning and organizing entity birthed in 1984 out of the passion, ingenuity and determination of Dudley residents seeking to reclaim a neighborhood that had been ravaged by disinvestment, arson fires and dumping. DSNI’s mission is to empower Dudley residents to organize, plan for, create and control a vibrant, diverse and high quality neighborhood in collaboration with community partners.

Examples of this partnership between Tufts Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning department include:
Fall practicum in 2015: https://pennloh.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/fall-2015-community-practicum-explores-community-control-and-ownership-strategies/
Summer fellow in 2017: https://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/tufts-university-announces-three-year-collaboration-dudley-street-neighborhood
Student class project in 2018: http://as.tufts.edu/uep/sites/all/themes/asbase/assets/documents/fieldProjectReports/2018/soilInCity.pdf


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH)

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
The partnership simultaneously supports social equity and wellbeing, economic prosperity, and ecological health

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation and review? (2nd partnership) (Yes, No, or Not Sure):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability, including website URL (if available) and information to support each affirmative response above (2nd partnership):

CAFEH is a series of research and implementation projects that are all either community-based participatory research (CBPR) or community engaged research (CEnR) in which community partners are co-investigators (and in one case co-principal investigator). The projects are run democratically. Each partner to funded CAFEH research is included in the budget. CAFEH makes sure to have community partners as co-authors.
The CAFEH partnership combines community and academic resources to advance scientific understanding of the health risks of highway pollution. The research efforts are being actively translated into policy and practice in both the partner communities (primary) and at the municipal and state level (secondary). They hope the findings will continue to inform policymakers about the risks of siting new housing, schools or playgrounds next to highways and help to identify measures to reduce exposures.
https://sites.tufts.edu/cafeh/


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Greentown Labs

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (3rd partnership):
The partnership simultaneously supports social equity and wellbeing, economic prosperity, and ecological health

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation and review? (3rd partnership) (Yes, No, or Unknown):
No

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability, including website URL (if available) and information to support each affirmative response above (3rd partnership):

In September 2017, Tufts University entered into a partnership with the largest clean technology incubator in the U.S., Greentown Labs.

Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, Greentown Labs is the largest incubator in the world for cleantech startups. Greentown provides co-working space for the development of projects focused on renewable power, sustainable transportation, battery storage, industrial waste recycling, and a variety of other focus areas.

Through this partnership, Greentown Labs and Tufts share their collective expertise, resources, and networks to collaborate with and support a network of local startup companies and entrepreneurs who combat environmental issues through advancement and innovation. https://environment.tufts.edu/initiatives/greentown-labs/


A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.