University of Massachusetts Lowell
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Sustainability is a core commitment in the University’s comprehensive strategy to manage growth and respond to societal needs. As a result, the university opened an Office of Sustainability in 2015 in light of increasing demand for sustainable solutions to every aspect of campus life. In considering the social, economic and environmental components of sustainability in an urban community such as Lowell, food access and justice has emerged as an issue that the university is passionate to address. The Office of Sustainability manages an urban growing space on its East Campus. The approximately 1 acre site is in a prominent location on our primary residential campus and is established to serve as an innovation center for urban agriculture by linking community needs into the academic & research expertise that exist at the university. In light of this, the Office of Sustainability has partnered with Mill City Grows, a local non-profit that focuses on urban food justice in the City of Lowell, to develop a unique urban growing space that will have a lasting impact on sustainable innovations for urban agriculture. The overarching goal of the partnership is to increase the distribution of locally and sustainably produced food to low-income residents in Lowell and beyond. Sales and donations of produce have increased and hundreds of UMass Lowell students and local youth and volunteers actively work in partnership to gain first-hand experience in urban agriculture.