University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
IN-4: Innovation 4

University of Minnesota Outreach, Research and Education (UMore) Park

The University of Minnesota Outreach, Research and Education (UMore) Park is a 5,000-acre property 25 miles southeast of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ campus in Dakota County, Minnesota. It is among the largest contiguous properties in the United States that is owned by a land-grant university. The University’s vision for UMore Park is development of a unique, sustainable, University-founded community of 20,000 to 30,000 people over 25 to 30 years. The vision to create a sustainable community at UMore Park property is distinctive through the opportunities for University faculty, students and staff to participate in research, education and public engagement throughout planning and development and in the community over time to address the complex issues of the day. By creatively advancing goals for sustainability including energy efficiency and renewable energy, education and lifelong learning, health and wellness, and transportation and transit, the new community at UMore Park will establish a model for sustainable development in Minnesota, the nation and the world.

The Office for UMore Park Academic Initiatives is responsible for the integration of research, teaching and outreach into all aspects and phases of development on the UMore Park property. Planning and development of a sustainable community at UMore Park is a system-wide effort, providing opportunities for disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, education and public engagement across the breadth of the University. The UMore Park Academic Mission Advisory Board represents the range of interests and expertise across the colleges, coordinate campuses, interdisciplinary centers, and outreach and public engagement programs. Given proximity to the UMore Park property, the academic strengths of the University’s Twin Cities’ campus generate unique research, education and outreach opportunities for faculty, students and staff. These initiatives will not only further the academic mission of the University, but also contribute to shaping the future community at UMore Park.

UMore Park engages in many public engagement events to inform and seek input from the broader community in the planning process. Facilitated by international nonprofit organization, BioRegional, the University conducted a Sustainability Workshop and Public Forum to seek citizen input and ideas from community leaders and experts on goals and strategies for achieving social, environmental and economic sustainability in the planned community. The performance targets for sustainability are centered around ten key areas including health, sense of community, culture, job creation, energy, water, the landscape and others. Other community forums in the recent years have included renewable energy opportunities, environmental assessments, onsite sand and gravel resources, and concept master planning. Community engagement is an integral part of the University’s mission, fostering partnerships with the public and private sectors and with citizens and community organizations.

The following is a listing of select research, education and public engagement accomplishments within the last three years:

2011
•Carlson Ventures Enterprise projects. Two teams, each consisting of four graduate MBA students, in the UMTC Carlson School of Management explore business development opportunities at UMore Park including best practices and approaches for developing energy-efficient affordable housing, and a market analysis of an innovative ground-source heating and cooling technology, Spring 2011.

•Computer applications in land use planning class. Graduate students in the UMTC Humphrey School of Public Affairs explore scenarios for future development at UMore Park. The class provides students with hands-on experience with software used to simulate models for land use planning and design of neighborhoods, cities and regions, Spring 2011.

•Design, Housing and Apparel curriculum development. Faculty members in the Department of Design, Housing and Apparel in the UMTC College of Design develop new curriculum in three spring 2011 courses—two undergraduate courses and one graduate course—to explore retail, housing and branding for the planned community at UMore Park in class discussions and projects, Spring 2011.

•Information design class projects. Graduate students in the Writing Studies Program of the UMTC College of Liberal Arts analyze how information design best practices can enhance UMore Park communications to University faculty and students about opportunities for research, education and public engagement through UMore Park planning and development, Spring 2011.

•Public Forum on Sustainability Goals for UMore Park. A community forum in Rosemount highlights facets of sustainability including health, community culture, job creation and economic development, transportation, renewable energy, the environment, and other areas, for the future community at UMore Park. More than 150 citizens attend to learn more and share their ideas on what makes a community sustainable, April 2011.

•Institute on the Environment grant award. The Office for UMore Park Academic Initiatives and the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory receive a grant award from the UMTC Institute on the Environment to convene a UMore Park Energy Roundtable that brings an interdisciplinary group of faculty, staff, students and individuals from other public and private sector entities to define synergistic research and education strategies that can strive to address energy systems and related systems including infrastructure and water, Spring 2011.

•Wind turbine commissioning event. The Eolos Wind Energy Research Consortium team and UMore Park will host the national U.S. Department of Energy commissioning of the Eolos Wind Research Station at UMore Park following construction of a 2.5 megawatt Clipper wind turbine and meteorological tower for research and education, tentatively October 2011.

2010
•Engaged department grant. The UMore Park team collaborates with the UMTC Office of Public Engagement to support a faculty team of eight in the Department of Design, Housing and Apparel that focuses on housing needs at UMore Park, the incorporation of retail into the development, and community identity. Work includes teaching, research and case studies, January 2010.

•Community of Scholars proposal. The UMore Park Academic Mission Advisory Board and its committee crafts a strategy for integrating interdisciplinary scholarship that leverages opportunities for faculty, graduate students and undergraduates. The proposal was completed in May 2010 and is being coordinated with the University of Minnesota Foundation and other units, January 2010.

•American Association for the Advancement of Science symposium on UMore Park. A proposal on sustainable master-planned communities is selected as a 90-minute symposium session under the international annual meeting theme ‘bridging science and society.’ Speakers: C. Carlson, University of Minnesota; F. Merrill, Sasaki Associates, Inc.; R. Borchelt, USDA, February 2010.

•Affordable housing internships. Two undergraduate summer interns through the Department of Design, Housing and Apparel in the UMTC College of Design focus on affordable housing financing programs, models for maintaining affordability over time, energy-saving technologies utilized in affordable housing construction and highlights of the related consumer education programs, Summer 2010.

•Renewable energy internship. A summer intern from the UMTC College of Science and Engineering focuses on new renewable energy technologies and energy conservation products that are market-ready and being incorporated into homes and commercial buildings. The information addresses approaches and best practices that can be incorporated into planning, Summer 2010.

•Supporting smart grid research faculty. The UMore Park team collaborates with an interdisciplinary team to prepare a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy for smart grid research, using UMore Park as a demonstration site, June 2010.

•Enhancing the UROP program. The UMTC Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Office (UROP) partners with the Office for UMore Park Academic Initiatives to promote activities on the property as a unique hands-on research experience for students and faculty mentors, with the goal of engaging more new mentors and increasing participation overall in the UROP program, June 2010.

•Renewable energy public forum. A community forum in Rosemount focuses on renewable energy research and education opportunities, and specifically aspects of the wind turbine research project that related to public-private partnerships, education opportunities in collaboration with the local school district and Dakota County Technical College, and innovation that can bring recognition to the community and region, July 2010.

•Master of Technology (MoT) capstone project. The Office for UMore Park Academic Initiatives collaborates with the director of the UMTC Technological Leadership Institute to seek competitive proposals for a smart grid analysis for UMore Park. A team of four second-year MoT mid-career students are conducting financial and implementation analyses, to be completed in the 2010-2011 academic year, Fall 2010-Spring 2011.

•K-12 partnerships. Partnership discussions with local independent school district 196 will be launched through natural resources research and learning projects with the Environmental School in Apple Valley. Projects are based on ongoing efforts related to the wind turbine research project and the groundwater monitoring and modeling project, September 2010.

•Distinguished interdisciplinary lecture. The first in a proposed annual distinguished lecture series brings Joachim Eble of Joachim Eble-Architektur, Tübingen, Germany, to campus for a lecture and faculty-student seminars on sustainable community design. Nine University units have joined with the Office for UMore Park Academic Initiatives to co-sponsor the event, September 2010.

•Groundwater monitoring continues. Graduate students in the UMTC Department of Earth Sciences continue to collect data on groundwater at UMore Park, including temperature, elevation, flow and recharge, to contribute to unique, long-term, pre-development research and analysis, Fall 2010-Spring 2011.

2009
•Design performance standards research. Researchers from the U's College of Design explore the impacts for housing and community design of integrated energy and water systems to achieve sustainability goals for the future community at UMore Park. The project includes recommendations for an integrated district-scale heating and cooling, potable water and wastewater system as a highly efficient, cost-effective solution for phased development, April 2009.

•Groundwater monitoring and modeling. A graduate student in the UMTC Department of Earth Sciences initiates a segment of an envisioned long-term monitoring study on the characteristics of groundwater. The work complements the sand and gravel Environmental Impact Statement process, April 2009, extended on November 2009.

•Focus on students, faculty engagement. Three committees convene under the auspices of the UMore Park Academic Mission Advisory Board to address (1) guiding principles for research, education and outreach, (2) faculty incentives and rewards, and (3) student opportunities.

•Supporting wind research faculty. The UMore Park team provides support for preparation of the proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a wind turbine research grant, including location for the turbine, June 2009.

•Architectural design studio class. An undergraduate class of 18 students in the UMTC College of Design during Fall 2009 work on neighborhood concepts and residential building designs, based on the concept master plan for the sustainable community at UMore Park, Fall 2009.

•Academic mission report. Integrating Academic Mission into Planning and Development of the UMore Park Property: Opportunities for Faculty, Students and Staff Members is distributed broadly across University units, with promotional efforts that engaged student organizations, classes and departmental faculty in exploring opportunities at UMore Park, November 2009.

These and other unique research, education, and outreach endeavors flowing out of the University of Minnesota are contributing significantly to the development of this unique and groundbreaking sustainable community. The UMore Park property is an asset that can generate a wealth of academic, intellectual, economic and social benefits for the University, the State of Minnesota, and the world.