University at Albany
EN-9: Community Partnerships

The Office of Sustainability has a partnership with the Upstate NY Chapter of the US Green Building Council. This partnership includes hosting the monthly Sustainability Speakers continuing education program as well as special events such as GPRO training. The office also promotes their Green Drinks series.

The Department of Geography and Planning routinely works with a community partner as part of their spring Planning Studio class. An example of the kind of work they do is exemplified by the Spring of 2014 project when the department collaborated with the hamlet of Palenville, town of Catskill and Green County Economic Development to create a plan to develop nature trails, open space and eco-tourism for the area.The students listened to various stakeholders voice their ideas and opinions about what they would like to see happen in their community. Students were broken up into groups and each group was mentored by at least one community member who was able to provide the opportunities and challenges the about the community. The planning studio completed their first technical memo covered the existing conditions of the community. A second technical memo discussed the opportunities and challenges. Students met with committee members in the middle of March 2014 to get feedback and finalize details for a public meeting to be held at the end of month. This meeting allowed for further interactions to take place between the planning studio students and community members. Attendees were encouraged to talk to the students working on the respective topic areas and mark up maps that were displayed with comments, questions, and suggestions. The studio then gave a presentation about why they identified the chosen topics areas and where they were headed with their proposed ideas. Following the public meeting, the planning studio took all the comments, questions and suggestions that were made and applied them to the draft final plan for Palenville which was submitted at the end of April 2014. The document went through several revisions and edit stages based on community feedback and a final plan was rendered at the end of the semester. The final report can be found at: http://www.albany.edu/gp/files/2014_Spring_Palenville_Studio.pdf This adheres to the criteria of collaborative in that the UAlbany faculty member that is teaching the studio and the students taking the course work closely with the appropriate community partner on a selected sustainability program or project development. The community partner plays an active role in setting the parameters of the study, providing feedback on the advance of the study and implementation of recommended actions.

The Albany Promise was launched to improve educational outcomes for Albany's K-12 students and is co-led by Dr. Nancy Zimpher, SUNY Chancellor, the Albany School District Superintendent and a member of the Albany Common Council. Albany Promise is made up of education, community, business, civic and philanthropic leaders. Partners have jointly developed a cradle to career education vision, mission, and goals for the Albany community and meet frequently. Action teams have been developed to focus on three key areas: Early Childhood, Fourth Grade success and High School success in order to gauge progress. Since Dr. Robert Jones came to UAlbany as its President in January 2013, he has embraced The Albany Promise and its potential to have a positive impact on students and the City of Albany. UAlbany has taken the lead on the evaluation piece of the program and compiled the first Albany Promise report card in 2014. http://www.albany.edu/news/files/ReportCard_2014-2.pdf This fulfills the definition of a transformative partnership as it is a multi-year commitment devoted to improving the educational outcomes of students living in the Albany area for which the university and other entities are providing significant staff time and resources to make a success. The partnership involves a wide range of active stakeholders which play a role in setting the agenda, conducting program implementation and reviewing progress to inform future decision making.

The University has several programs that focus on international issues. One such program that focuses on sustainability related concerns is our Center for Global Health. This serves as the School of Public Health's focal point for public health related international collaborations, research and programs. The Center offers opportunities to faculty for exchanges and research collaborations with partners throughout the world on a range of health-related topics and offers students opportunities for study abroad, short and semester-long exchanges, and international internships. Existing collaborations with universities and public health agencies include those in Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Estonia, the Republic of Georgia, Turkey, Russia, Romania, China, Vietnam, and India. The Center offers a Global Health Seminar series which focuses on preparing students to live and work in other cultures.