University of New Hampshire
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

UNH is New Hampshire's Land, Sea, and Space Grant University actively engaged in extending its expertise, ideas, and resources to New Hampshire, the New England region, and the world. Our faculty, extension educators, staff, and students impact daily life through outreach scholarship, cutting-edge research, and discovery. UNH programs actively involved with local, state, and regional governments, non-profits and businesses span from the University Office of Sustainability and its initiatives to the Master Gardner's Program, the Leitzel Center Marine Program to the NH Carbon Challenge, UNH Outreach Scholars Academy and much more. Following are but a few examples of UNH-community sustainability partnerships.

UNH Office of Community Service and Learning – The Office of Community Service & Learning links students, staff, and faculty with community agencies and non-profits. Our goal is to encourage the development of meaningful connections throughout the local, national and international community through support for community service and service-learning initiatives.

Food Solutions New England – Food Solutions of New England is a University of New Hampshire-based collaboration among diverse stakeholders in the food system including state agencies, non-profits, business and industry partners and associations, as well as educators and practitioners. The Center was created to address the need for coordinated, comprehensive action linking agriculture, the food environment and health and nutrition in our state and region.

Carbon Solutions New England – CSNE is a public-private partnership based out of the University of New Hampshire to promote collective action to achieve a low carbon society. CSNE achieves this through conducting independent analysis and research and communicating its findings to key decisionmakers.

NH Farm to School – The NH Farm to School (NHFTS) Program is a project to connect NH farms and schools by integrating agricultural production, school food procurement and school curriculum. The vision of NHFTS is to develop a healthy, community-based, community-supported school food system. NHFTS is a program of the University of New Hampshire's University Office of Sustainability Food & Society Initiative. Support for the program also comes from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

Cooperative Extension:
-Marine Docents: A Marine Docent is a volunteer in the UNH Cooperative Extension/NH Sea Grant Program. The mission of the Docent Program is to "provide a lens through which the marine and associated environments can be viewed, understood, and appreciated by people of all ages." Docents also provide a link between the University's research community and the public, through their educational programs. http://www.unh.edu/marine-education/
-Great Bay Coast Watch: High school and adult volunteers monitor the water quality at 20 selected sites in the Great Bay Estuary from April through November. They also do Pollution Source Identification shoreline surveys, rainfall characterizations, habitat surveys, monitoring for toxic phytoplankton, and data entry on the computer. Collected data is used by scientists studying the Estuary as well as by local and state planning and conservation boards. All volunteers are trained in sampling techniques and meet once a month to turn in their results and to hear speakers on marine science research and coastal issues. http://www.gbcw.unh.edu/
-NH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program: Founded in 1978, NHLLMP was conceived by two University of New Hampshire (UNH) faculty, as a way to involve local residents in detecting long-term trends in lake water quality.

The Carsey Institute: The Carsey Institute conducts national and regional policy research on vulnerable children, youth, and families and on sustainable community development. We give policy makers and practitioners the timely, independent resources they need to effect change in their communities. http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/index.html

Forest Watch: An inquiry-based scientific outreach program aimed at improving understanding of the impact of ground-level ozone (smog) on sensitive forest species across New England.

Seacoast Reads: Undergraduate volunteers in local elementary schools and after-school programs helping elementary school students improve reading and writing skills.

UNH Slow Food chapter/Slow Food USA/International: Slow Food at the University of New Hampshire is a collective effort to educate students, faculty, and the local Durham community about the production, consumption, and enjoyment of foods that are Good to the senses, Clean for the environment, and sold through Fair practices that support local economies.

OXFAM UNH: Based on the model created by Oxfam International and Oxfam America, Oxfam UNH is dedicated to the issues of hunger, poverty, and social injustice. The group strives to create an awareness of global hunger, poverty, and social injustice on the UNH campus and within the larger Durham community. We are working to create a constituency of active, compassionate students and community members who use their voices to create effective global change.

Engineers Without Borders: The mission of Students Without Borders-UNH is to establish an organization that encourages, supports, and implements environmentally and economically sustainable technical projects in disadvantaged communities nationally and internationally, while developing globally responsible and knowledgeable students.

Julia Williams is the Senior Vice Provost for Engagement and Academic Outreach, and can speak to many of UNH's community sustainability partnerships.
Phone: (603) 862-1997
Email: julie.williams@unh.edu

For general inquiries about community sustainability partnerships, please contact Sara Cleaves at the UNH Sustainability Academy at sustainbility.info@unh.edu