Introduction
UConn’s Community Research & Design Collaborative (CRDC) is the umbrella organization for the outreach work of the landscape architecture faculty.
OUR MISSION IS TO BE A REGIONAL LEADER IN SUSTAINABLE PLANNING AND DESIGN. WE HELP OUR CLIENT’S PLAN AND DESIGN AFFORDABLE, EQUITABLE, AND ECOLOGICALLY HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS.
Our mission is accomplished by providing our client’s with objective, multi-disciplinary, state-of-the-art planning and design expertise. We promote and encourage academic-based collaborative research with an emphasis on “real world” projects as they apply to sustainable development.
How does it work?
If you need some assistance with managing growth and/or protecting the environment...we can help. Please contact us to discuss your needs. Once we determine that our abilities match up with your needs, we set-up a custom project team to work with you.
All project teams are multi-disciplinary. Each team will be headed by a tenured landscape architecture faculty member. Other team members will include CRDC faculty and graduate/undergraduate students from the Program of Landscape Architecture.
DEPENDING ON PROJECT COMPLEXITY, EXPERTISE FROM OTHER UCONN UNITS AND OTHER STATE ORGANIZATIONS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE TEAM.
Some of the past team members include faculty from UConn Departments of Plant Science, Natural Resources Management and Engineering, Fine Arts, and Business. We have also partnered with; Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Transportation, United States Department of Agriculture and the National Park Service.
Who do we work with?
We work with citizens, landowners, public officials and municipalities to incorporate new and emerging policies/techniques for sustainable development into community planning and design.
Our Academic based, multi-disciplinary team approach results in specific land use plans that help guide future development in an orderly manner
Orderly development protects existing natural and built environments while allowing for reasonable, sustainable growth which celebrates the human condition.
Why do we want to help you?
We want to help you because UConn is a land grant university committed to serve the state. The land grant mission is a living, working reality that impacts communities at all points along the socio-economic spectrum. Outreach is an essential component of a land-grant university. The University of Connecticut recognizes, supports and encourages outreach and engagement through a wide variety of activities and programs, including service learning as an educational model. Service learning is:
… A METHOD OF TEACHING THROUGH WHICH STUDENTS APPLY THEIR ACADEMIC SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE TO ADDRESS REAL-LIFE NEEDS IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES. SERVICE LEARNING PROVIDES A COMPELLING REASON TO LEARN, TEACHES THE SKILLS OF CIVIC PARTICIPATION AND DEVELOPS AN ETHIC OF SERVICE AND CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY. BY SOLVING REAL PROBLEMS AND ADDRESSING REAL NEEDS, STUDENTS LEARN TO APPLY CLASSROOM LEARNING TO A REAL WORLD CONTEXT. AT THE SAME TIME, STUDENTS PROVIDE VALUABLE SERVICES TO SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES."
We exist not only to educate the students who enter our campus, but also to meet the needs of residents of our state.
Please feel free to contact us regarding:
- Any general questions regarding UConn's Community Research & Design Collaborative services.
- Any specific issues related to a proposed or existing land use.
- Various types of collaborative relationships.
- The potential to work together.
Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.