Wells College
EN-9: Community Partnerships

The director of the Center for Sustainability and the Environment served on the volunteer team for the 2015 Solarize Cayuga campaign, and hosted a Solarize educational workshop on campus for the public to learn about the benefits of "going solar" and to meet with and sign up for no-obligation solar assessment from pre-qualified solar contractors. The Center director provided support for producing Solarize Cayuga campaign materials and organizing workshops throughout the county during the summer/fall months of 2015. In addition, the Center director supervised a student internship program support the Solarize Cayuga project.
Timeframe: the Solarize Cayuga campaign ran from Jan - December 15, 2015. A revamped Solarize Cayuga campaign, focusing more on community solar, is anticipated for 2016.

The Center for Sustainability and the Environment director has served on the environment team advisory committee since August 2014 and was elected to the board of directors of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Cayuga County in November 2015.

The Center director has offered CCE-Cayuga the use of the Sustainability Center classroom and audiovisual support for several community educational events in collaboration with Cooperative Extension, including a community workshop on Seed Saving as well as hosting a two-part webinar on Deer Management practices in conjunction with CCE-Cayuga and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Center director joined CCE-Cayuga's committee on Strategic Development, looking to expand the organization's programming around climate change adaptation in the environment and agricultural teams, and around youth education with the 4H team.
Timeframe: continuous since August 2014 in different capacities
Dimensions of sustainability addressed: collaborative educational programming has addressed environmental, social and economic impacts (seed saving, deer management)

To address the community problem that the Village of Aurora is a classic "food desert" (no regular local access to fresh fruits and vegetables), the Center for Sustainability and the Environment at Wells College worked with representatives of the Village of Aurora to solicit and win grant funding to implement the Village of Aurora Farmers Market. in 2015, the College provided the market site and provided funding to support a paid summer market internship position to assist the market manager. In addition, the College supports several academic interns during fall and spring semesters leading up to each market season to assist with planning and recruitment efforts. The Village of Aurora market advisory committee includes representation from the College and the local community, and regularly solicits input from key stakeholders (market customers and market vendors) to assess market function, to make recommendations for improvement, and to help grow the market in the future.
Timeframe: continuous since November 2014
This transformative partnership promotes economic prosperity for local growers and producers, giving some their only off-farm sales opportunity, and giving others additional exposure and market reach. The farmers market promotes social equity and community well-being by providing access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables within the local community - many of the market items are sold at prices lower than in area grocery stores, the nearest of which is nearly 10 miles away and not accessible by transit.
The Village of Aurora Farmers Market project is creating change in the local food system, but creating infrastructure support for local growers and producers and helping to address the local "food desert" situation.

Through their relationship with a local Friends Meeting congregation, representatives of the College foster an active "sister city" relationship with the San Pedro community in the Dominican Republic. Handmade products from San Pedro artisans (bags, hammocks, hats, etc.) are brought into the country and sold by the Friends congregation to support the community - the College Bookstore sells these products to the public. Through our management relationship with the Aurora Farmers Market, we provided an exception to the "locally produced" restriction on vendors to allow the Friends congregation reps to sell products on behalf of the San Pedro community.