University of Richmond
EN-10: Community Partnerships

We have partnered with the City of Richmond Office of Sustainability for over eight years. They have been one of our key co-educators frequently speaking in classes and providing research projects for students. They are also a continuing Bonner Site. Bonner students have worked on a variety of projects including community outreach and the development of the Office’s Climate Equity Index. This interactive map is playing an essential role in how the city moves forward with its sustainability plans within the framework of climate equity. The University hosted one of the Office of Sustainability's grant writing workshops that was designed to help various non-profits in the region to collaborate on larger grants.

Two members of the Office for Sustainability staff  participated as working group members n the creation of RVA Green 2050, the City of Richmond's equity-based climate action plan. The Office of Sustainability convened residents from frontline communities, community organizations serving frontline communities, institutional partners, government content experts, city employees, and other stakeholders for the RVAgreen 2050 Racial Equity & Environmental Justice Roundtable (as the central advisory group) and topical working groups: Buildings and Energy, Community, Environment, Transportation and Mobility, and Waste Reduction and Recovery. The Plan’s Vision is that All Richmonders, regardless of their identity or neighborhood, thrive in a climate-resilient and climate-neutral community. 

The mission of the James River Association (JRA) is “to be a guardian of the James River.” University of Richmond  has worked closely with the James River Association over the past eight years. Like many of our partnerships, they take a variety of forms that are not all overseen by the CCE. For example, the JRA and Noah Sachs (Law) have been frequent research partners. The University continues to play a role on its invasive species task force to remove invasive species within the James River Park System. 

The James River for All and the JRA Strategic Equity initiatives aim to increase opportunities for all people to gain access to the benefits of the James River. 

The Rethink Waste department, the Office for Sustainability, and the Sierra Club partner every year to throw the Big Yard Sale, an annual event the takes the leftover items from student move out and sells them to the community at a reduced price with all proceeds going to the Sierra Club and sustainability at UR. The Sierra Club also joins UR for the Sustainability Fair at the beginning of the year to connect with students and share information about their programming and volunteer opportunities.

The top 2 initiatives from the local Sierra Club (the Falls of the James Group) are as follows:

1. A just transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy with all possible speed.
2. Racial and Environmental Justice

We partner with many more organizations across interconnected sustainability issues, including the following: 

• James River Park System
• Shalom Farms
• Viridiant 
• PlanRVA
• Southside ReLeaf
• Feed More
• Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
• Science Museum of Virginia
• Caritas
• PlanRVA

Derek Miller from the Center for Civic Engagement provided much of this information. The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) is dedicated to working with and supporting local community partners in making the Richmond community more sustainable and just. The center has designated one liaison (Derek Miller, dmiller4@richmond.edu) who maintains and curates partnerships with local organizations and leaders. Below I will provide a general overview of the what the CCE means by partnership and then share three examples how such partnerships look. 

The CCE defines program partnership as an ongoing, long-term relationship that aims to address community-identified needs and to enhance student learning. We seek to create relationships constructed out of authenticity and shared authority. The liaison acts as a bridge for community organizations by removing barriers to more easily connect with the University and to cultivate new initiatives. The goal is to create sustained partnerships with layered connections that link multiple UR departments to a community partner allowing for multiple aims of the both the University and the community partner to be reached.

As a “bridge,” the CCE’s approach to partnership focuses on the relationship as opposed to specific projects. This relationship approach recognizes that community needs and university needs are dynamic and constantly evolving. As such, the exact nature of a partnership looks different overtime. For some partnerships, the CCE has been in relationship for over a decade representing a host of different projects and activities. The CCE’s liaison meets every summer with their sustainability partners to have a detailed discussion about what needs they have, community issues they are seeking to address, and potential places of connections. The CCE itself often connects through seven different modes: funded summer internships, course engagement, Bonner scholar placement, community-based research, consistent volunteers, one-time service project, and speaking on campus. However, these are just some of the mechanisms, and more often, the liaison serves as a bridge connecting the community organization to the specific unit, program, or person(s) on campus who may be able to best participate and support the identified community need.