Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 76.93
Liaison Ezra Small
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Massachusetts Amherst
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Nathanael Schildbach
Marketing Manager
University Relations
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Valley Bike Share Initiative

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?:
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:

The communities of Amherst, Holyoke, Northampton, South Hadley, and Springfield, along with the University of Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission have contracted a collaboration and partnership with Bewegen Technologies and Corps Logistics to bring bike share to our region. To meet Pioneer Valley’s unique challenges, ValleyBike Share is designed to promote short bike trips within core communities, where clusters of large employers, colleges, shopping, tourist destinations and residents can readily be connected. Five stations are conveniently located on the UMass Amherst campus. All 540 bikes are pedal electric-assisted (Pedelec) bikes and the system is one of the largest electric assisted bike share program in the world. In 2019, the City of Easthampton joined the program adding 4 more stations and 40 bikes to the network.

UMass Amherst contributes $6500 annually to ValleyBike Share as part of this agreement.

Found within the Regional Bike Share Feasibility Study the Advisory Committee has established the following goals for this project:
1. To use bicycles to enhance and extend the range of the transit and rail services
2. To promote healthy, active living and support recreational use of bikes
3. To build demand for bicycle infrastructure, including bike lanes and bike parking
4. To provide visitors and local residents with an effective means of moving around the region, that is equitable and inclusive of elderly, lower income and other traditionally underserved populations
5. To promote economic development including jobs and schools
6. To promote green transportation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
7. To create a bike share system that is financially sustainable
8. To create a bike share system that functions regionally
9. To make use of local opportunities to support bike sharing, such the prevalence of large health care institutions, the number of higher-learning campuses and large student population, and supportive local businesses.
10. Create more livable communities, and reduce the need for new areas to be developed for additional parking in our urban core and commercial areas.

More info: https://www.valleybike.org/


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Clean Energy Extension

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):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):

The UMass Clean Energy Extension (CEE) provides a resource to reduce market barriers and accelerate the adoption of clean energy for Massachusetts cities and towns, businesses, institutions, farms, low income and multiunit housing, and others. CEE carries out this work by helping entities to understand their energy use and increase their energy efficiency and use of renewable energy through energy audits, energy profiles and technical assistance. CEE assists entities in evaluating and implementing clean energy opportunities and supports applied research to address technical and policy challenges facing clean energy.
Besides helping these entities become more energy efficient and adopt sustainable energy plans, CEE also promotes the adoption of Pollinator-Friendly Solar PV and on-farm Solar PV installations, researches the design and implementation of large scale energy storage projects, and works on initiatives to green municipal fleets.
UMass Amherst provides base funding for CEE and material support in the form of office space, equipment, transportation, logistics and academic facilities.
https://ag.umass.edu/clean-energy


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
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Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
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Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
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Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
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Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
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A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
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A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability 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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