Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.50
Liaison Chris Bond
Submission Date Nov. 27, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Unity Environmental University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 3.00 Jonathan Gibbons
Sustainability Engagement and Data Coordinator
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Maine Farmland Trust's "Veggies for All" project

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 supports at least one, but not all three, dimensions of sustainability

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:

Veggies For All is a food bank farm founded in 2007 to produce organically-grown vegetables for food pantry clients in Unity, Maine and other communities throughout the state. Between 2009 and 2013, VFA and Unity College have collaboratively developed agricultural infrastructure on campus through grant funding and other mutually beneficial development actions. As a result of the partnership with UC and other entities, VFA has supplied nearly 145,000 pounds of food to food insecure Mainers in 25 towns around Maine through a network of 9 food pantries.


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Foothill Fuels

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 supports at least one, but not all three, dimensions of sustainability

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):
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 (2nd partnership):

Foothill Fuels is a business start up developing a bio-fuel alternative to white gas (comparable to Coleman Fuel) for adventure and camping stoves and appliances in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and grow a sustainable enterprise. Unity provides Foothill Fuels with students who will be able to test out the fuel and students get to test out an environmentally friendlier product. Students in our adventure programs at Unity College, including our Nova wilderness orientation program, use the product on school sponsored trips and collect and submit performance data for the company.


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Maine Climate Table

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):
Not Sure

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):

President Melik Peter Khoury serves on the advisory committee for the Maine Climate Table. Faculty member Mick Womersley (Sustainable Energy) and CSO Jennifer deHart serve on the Energy Efficiency subcommittee of the Maine Climate Table. From the website: The Maine Climate Table is a broad coalition of individuals and organizations from the nonprofit, business, philanthropic and government sectors whose vision is to create a state-based model for climate communication and climate action that will increase civic engagement and lead to action by elected officials. Maine Climate Table supports increased private and public investment in job creation and workforce training that advance climate mitigation and adaptation and build on Maine's comparative advantages. In addition, MCT will contribute to associated benefits such as moving toward energy independence, food security, healthier forest management and improved public health. http://go-worldlee.com/projects/


A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:

Unity College is a partner and pick up site of Waldo County Woodshed, a local program providing no-cost wood for stoves to needy residents http://waldocountywoodshed.org ; Maine Campus Compact and Unity College have partnered on an AmeriCorps position focused on energy efficiency, both on campus and in the local community; Camden International Film Festival is a longtime partner bringing environmentally-focused films to their annual film festival https://pointsnorthinstitute.org/ciff/


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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