Welcome!
A Message From Dr. Paul Shrivastava:
Each semester, the Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC) at Penn State connects students and faculty with community partners from across Pennsylvania to engage in practical, real-world projects and research that increase the community’s capacity to make educated decisions which move them towards a sustainable future. The breadth of community engagement, the diversity of problems addressed, the quality of research, and the practical solutions proposed continue to inspire me year after year.
The projects below address many of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, including the reduction of inequality, the promotion of responsible economic growth, increased access to affordable and clean energy, and beyond.
The student work outlined throughout this virtual expo reinforces not only the need for more collaboration towards sustainable solutions but perhaps, more importantly, the strength of our human desire to contribute towards the greater good and our capacity to execute actionable solutions. This progress is both commendable and uplifting.
Through the SCC, students have refined their skills in teamwork and collaboration and can now share their sustainability achievements with a broader audience. We look to them with pride and gratitude as they share their experiences, opportunities, and accomplishments.
Likewise, we are thankful to our community partners for challenging SCC participants with increasingly complex problems. By presenting us with their deepest challenges, these communities have the opportunity to address their most endemic concerns and provide solutions that will have a notable impact.
Finally, to our faculty who mentor these student projects, thank you for your perseverance and dedication throughout the semester. You have provided our students with educational opportunities that promote and infuse sustainability principles far beyond the walls of your classrooms. Your involvement has facilitated an immeasurable impact.
Our heartfelt congratulations to our students, faculty, and community partners. We are excited to see how these solutions will impact the future of our communities.
We invite our future community partners to explore projects that will address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis, climate change, and economic challenges.
--Dr. Paul Shrivastava
Thank you, State College Borough for your ongoing commitment to sustainability and our partnership!
State College has been the Sustainable Collaborative Communities (SCC) primary partner since the program’s humble beginnings nearly 10 years ago. A leader in sustainability then, State College continues to be a role model for sustainability in the region and beyond. As the borough is approaching its second iteration of a sustainability plan in the near future, it has firmly positioned sustainability within its administration. Jasmine Fields, the current Sustainability Officer is building on previous success as she plans for a bright, sustainable future.
The Sustainable Communities Collaborative is pleased to share student projects from the fall 2021 semester. Despite ongoing COVID-19 challenges, students and community partners have worked together virtually, and we hope you enjoy a 'scroll' through this virtual EXPO.
1
Students in COMM 473 collaborated with community partners in Williamsburg and Newton Hamilton, small, central Pennsylvania towns with ongoing community development initiatives to be promoted in a student-generated communications plan. A third partner was the Central PA Film Festival, which sought an event-based communications plan.
2
Students in CED 309 partnered with the planning office of the City of Harrisburg to explore land economics, land use, and related issues such as housing equity and transportation. Students visited Harrisburg and sought input from leadership in neighboring counties.
3
Law students in this experiential learning class worked with Pennsylvania county planners in Mifflin and Blair Counties and a community group in Erie and Crawford Counties to identify alternate and effective approaches to solar development, including regulations for installation and decommissioning of distributive and utility-scale solar, and suggested ordinance language.
4
Students in LER 460 address ethical dilemmas in the workplace and have assisted local governments and non-profit organizations in revising and further defining their HR policies. This semester, a sample of projects includes a non-profit organization and continued work with the Ethics Game company, which has developed a tool employed by institutions, businesses, and governments to ensure an ethical workplace.
5
A long-term partnership with faculty of ASM/ERM 309 has created opportunities for students to conduct water quality measurements in the field and analyze local streams for macro and micro invertebrates. This semester, the class worked with the Penns Valley Conservation Association in a first step to future partnerships.
8
Thompson Run in Walnut Spring Park in State College is the focus of current borough MS4 efforts. Increased and more severe storm events in combination with urbanization have caused the small stream to become eroded, contributing to significant sedimentation, and overall degradation of the surrounding natural environment.
Students in ERM 447 are providing detailed field surveys and design options to address identified issues and advance the community's sustainability efforts and MS4 compliance.
10
Foxdale Village is a State College retirement community that prides itself in its sustainability efforts.
Students have been asked to research and perform conceptual designs on various possibilities for on-site solar electric generation during the fall semester, leading to a detailed design of a solar generation system in the spring.
11
Ongoing collaboration with Williamsburg focuses on trail development as an asset to the community. Students in BBH 416 started a 2-semester project that explores community health needs and community utilization of the existing trail, including handicapped accessibility.
12
Students in the energy and mechanical engineering programs at PSU Berks are striving for innovation in handicapped accessibility. Their project aims to develop solar-powered charging stations for wheelchairs to be utilized in natural environments and locations with no accessibility to electric service.
This is a two-semester project. Please visit the Spring 2022 Expo to see the prototype.
14
An avid bicyclist and trail enthusiast, professor Alec Spangler expressed interest in exploring the development of the trail and adjacent community and with support from a faculty grant set out to develop some tools to help the community imagine their town's future.
"My vision for this project is to provide a set of tools to help visualize those ideas so that by the time there is funding for projects, community members already have things like graphic plans, models, and other visualizations that will allow them to engage on common ground with designers and planners." - Alec Spangler
Thank you for visiting!
If you have additional questions or would like to learn more about the SCC and how to partner, please contact Ilona Ballreich at ixb20@psu.edu.
Credits:
Created with an image by Couleur - "leaves autumn water"