University of Vermont
EN-10: Community Partnerships

This partnership grew out of ongoing research from the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative (ALC), under Professor Ernesto Mendez in the Plants and Soil Science Department. Farmer-collaborators came to Dr. Mendez requesting longitudinal research on soil quality and other outcomes of agroecological practices in Vermont. Dr. Mendez won an institutional Engaged Practices Initiative grant to transform an upper-level Agroecology class into a Service-Learning Participatory Action Research Practicum, which develops cycles of iterative research driven by farmer needs, but facilitating student learning. Student leaders facilitate the research at each of the participating farms, under the guidance of staff and graduate students in the ALC. Farmers are vulnerable because their livelihoods depend on the land and natural disastres and slow changes to the climate can have impacts that are difficult to recover from.

Vermont-Based Projects, including the partnership described: https://www.uvm.edu/agroecology/research/current-projects/local/

Partner descriptions: https://www.uvm.edu/agroecology/community/partners/

Funded Grant Proposal for Course/ Partnership Development: https://www.uvm.edu/~provost/epigrant/EPI%20Grant%20Proposal%20-%20Co-Learning%20through%20Participatory%20Action%20Research%20100217.pdf

The partnership simultaneously supports social equity and wellbeing, economic prosperity, and ecological health.

This ongoing, transformative project out of the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics works collaboratively with mobile home park residents and multiple agencies that serve them to inventory needs, and engage in collaborative and participatory research. As a result of these processes, driven by and responsive to residents’ concerns, residents are supported to engage in community organizing and advocacy. In light of the challenges of Hurricane Irene, in 2011, this work is critical for obvious ecological and social reasons: floodplain locations lead to worse outcomes and lesser support from FEMA. For more information, please see: https://www.uvm.edu/~cdaemhp/

UVM Extension has many programs serving the state connected to sustainability in multiple dimensions: the Lake Champlain Basin Program which is working to reduce phosphorus run-off from farming practices that result in algae blooms; and the Northwest Crops & Soils project that supports Northern Grain Growers’ Cooperative, and is bringing heritage wheat back to Vermont in order to contribute to food capability.