91探花 students have been working with city of Auburn staff and community members throughout the past year on a wide range of projects tackling challenges around livability and sustainability in the city.

These projects were part of the , which connects one Washington community with UW聽faculty each year. The faculty incorporate projects identified by that community into their classes, giving their students opportunities to tackle real-world challenges, produce deliverables to a city client and communicate their findings. The partnership with Auburn during the 2016-2017 school year was the program’s first, with more than 160 students working on throughout the year.

“This was a tremendous opportunity for our students to partner with residents in Auburn and to put what they鈥檙e learning in the classroom to the test out in the world,” 91探花President Ana Mari Cauce said. “That sort of experiential learning is central to the Husky student experience, and it鈥檚 a key part of the UW鈥檚 public mission. We greatly appreciate the partnership with the city of Auburn and the entire community, and look forward to seeing the fruits of that partnership continue to blossom.”

Research and work on the projects wrapped up in spring quarter, and the final reports for all of the year’s projects have been delivered to Auburn and are now available online.

“I am inspired by UW鈥檚 first Livable City Year with Auburn,” said Jennifer Otten, Livable City Year co-director and assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences. 鈥淭his partnership allowed us to demonstrate the UW鈥檚 deep commitment to service and the public good and to engage in ways that meet the real needs of the community. At the same time, our students benefited tremendously through experiential learning.”

The Livable City Year program coordinates student teams from a variety of disciplines who work on projects and programs identified by the community partner. Faculty who led projects for this inaugural year include LCY co-directors Otten and Branden Born of urban design and planning, along with Kyle Crowder, sociology; John Scott Meschke, Amy Hagopian and India Ornelas, public health; Ashley Blazina and Sara Brostrom, environmental studies; Kim Perdue, Foster School of Business; and Richard Conlin, urban design and planning.

The latest batch of projects included a study on preventing food waste in Auburn schools; landscape design of an alleyway into a vibrant public space; a study of Auburn residents’ preparedness for emergencies and disasters, including proposals for improvement; and strategies to establish more healthy food alternatives across Auburn.

This initial year was a success thanks to the collaboration, guidance and feedback of Auburn city staff and decision-makers who helped shape the learning experience for 91探花undergraduate and graduate students. The partnership provided Auburn with research, analysis and recommendations, the result of more than 19,000 hours of student work. The relationship will continue as 91探花and Auburn assess the program’s lasting impact and benefits to the community.

“The dedication that 91探花students put toward the partnership with Auburn is beyond compare,” Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus said. “Each project they took on addressed a unique facet of Auburn, and gave us both results and starting points to address needs and improvements in our community. The partnership through the LCY program is one that has built a bridge between Auburn and the 91探花 which will continue long beyond this single year.”

The first year of the Livable City Year program received foundational support from聽the聽, the聽UW鈥檚聽听补苍诲听 and collaboration with聽听补苍诲听.

Livable City Year is in partnership with the city of Tacoma. This upcoming partnership will allow the 91探花to build on Tacoma’s existing relationships and connections with 91探花Tacoma, expanding those links and identifying new opportunities across all 91探花campuses and disciplines.

For more information on all of the completed Livable City Year projects with the city of Auburn聽visit the .

The 91探花’s Livable City Year (LCY) program has selected the City of Tacoma as the program’s community partner for the 2017-2018 academic year. This partnership establishes a yearlong relationship connecting students and faculty with city staff working on projects that advance goals outlined in its and strategic visioning framework.

鈥淎s聽Tacoma continues to evolve and attract more residents,聽we want to ensure that聽this growth is sustainable and our entire community benefits,鈥� said Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland. 鈥淲e聽are pleased to be聽selected as a聽91探花 Livable City Year partner听补苍诲听we聽look forward to a partnership that will聽achieve聽realistic, specific and measurable goals to address education, employment, equity and accountability.聽We are particularly excited about the opportunity to strengthen our ties聽with UW’s Tacoma campus.鈥�

The program will connect 91探花courses with projects identified by Tacoma related to the city鈥檚 livability and sustainability needs. The program works with faculty across all 91探花schools, colleges and campuses to match the projects to courses and students who can best address the real-world problems, while providing city staff with the resources of 91探花student and faculty research and project work.

鈥淭he 91探花 is incredibly proud to honor our public promise through partnerships like this one, which creates so many opportunities for our students, faculty and staff to work with the Tacoma community toward a tangible, positive impact,”聽said 91探花President Ana Mari Cauce.聽“We鈥檙e especially pleased to be doing Livable City Year in the home of our 91探花Tacoma campus, and can鈥檛 wait to see how these interdisciplinary and hands-on learning projects extend and build on the thriving partnership we鈥檝e had with Tacoma for more than two decades.鈥�

鈥淚n the upcoming year, city staff will work with the 91探花鈥檚 Livable City Year program to identify projects and programs that would benefit from 91探花 student and faculty assistance,鈥� said Tacoma2025 Program Manager Tanisha Jumper. 鈥淚t is an exciting partnership.鈥�

The 91探花鈥檚 Livable City Year program is led by faculty directors with the Department of Urban Design and Planning, and with the School of Public Health, in collaboration with 听补苍诲听, and with foundational support from聽the , the聽91探花鈥檚 and .

The UW鈥檚 Livable City Year program launched in the 2016-2017 academic year, with the City of Auburn serving as its inaugural partner. 91探花students and faculty worked with the City of Auburn on 18 projects during the initial Livable City Year partnership.

“We are excited to partner with Tacoma and build on the success of our inaugural Livable City Year,” Otten said. “Students and faculty have done very exciting work on livability projects in Auburn this year, and working with Tacoma will provide new opportunities for students to work on projects which will benefit residents in Tacoma and our region.”

Anne Taufen Wessells, a professor with 91探花Tacoma Urban Studies, will serve as faculty co-director and the primary 91探花Tacoma contact throughout the Livable City Year partnership with the City of Tacoma, helping identify opportunities for 91探花Tacoma students to connect with Livable City Year projects.

鈥淚t鈥檚 terrific that we have the opportunity in Tacoma to leverage our university-wide resources and relationships to forge this unique partnership in the South Sound,鈥� said Wessells.聽 鈥� 91探花Tacoma’s academic programs, including urban studies, have long defined themselves by their commitment to local communities, and we are thrilled to have the yearlong added support and investment of the Livable City Year program to target and amplify the work of the entire campus as an urban-serving institution.鈥�

One of several across the country based on the University of Oregon’s Sustainable City Year Program, the UW鈥檚 Livable City Year program is part of the Educational Partners for Innovation in Communities Network, which provides resources and connections for schools with similar programs. The 91探花and Western Washington University are the only two schools in Washington state currently offering a program under this model.

鈥淐ities are a great laboratory for today鈥檚 students and tomorrow鈥檚 leaders to put their ideas and training into action,鈥� said the聽Association of Washington Cities CEO Peter B. King. 鈥淭he unique projects and creative solutions that emerge from partnerships like this strengthen our cities and towns.鈥�

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For more information, contact Born at聽bborn@uw.edu听辞谤听206-543-4975; Otten at jotten@uw.edu; and Maria Lee, communications specialist with the City of Tacoma at maria.lee@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-2054.

The Livable City Year program will hold a celebration event marking the successful completion of the initial partnership with the City of Auburn at 4 p.m. May 24 at the Auburn Community & Event Center, 910 Ninth St SE, Auburn.

The project is a sizeable challenge: Students will pour over census and public health data, interview residents, photograph neighborhoods and summarize their findings in a report. The end result will help officials in Auburn, Washington, know how to best engage and communicate with the culturally diverse populations in the city.

The neighborhoods endeavor is one of 10 initial projects in the UW’s inaugural program, which to advance the city’s goals for livability and sustainability. The idea is to give students real-world experiences while addressing current needs identified by city leaders.

The program will formally celebrate the start of its first year at 10 a.m. Oct. 6 at w菨色菨b蕯altx史 鈥� Intellectual House on the UW’s campus in a open to all. Professors leading Livable City Year courses this fall will talk about their projects, followed by a time for Q&A.

“My students are really excited to be part of a larger initiative,” said , a 91探花assistant professor of health services who is teaching the class that will profile each Auburn neighborhood.

“They get to do something they really know will be valued and practice their professional skills to engage with each community.”

The new program is a cross-university collaboration led by faculty directors with the Department of Urban Design and Planning and with the School of Public Health, in collaboration with and , and with foundational support from the and . The program is also working with the nonprofit organization .

The projects in Auburn this fall include addressing homelessness issues, building awareness of city values, understanding wastewater discharge, managing pet waste and evaluating the success of a buy-local program. 91探花undergraduate and graduate students in six different courses spanning environmental and public health, sociology, and urban design and planning will deliver reports and recommendations to city leadership at the end of the quarter.

Sociology professor is tackling three separate projects on homelessness in Auburn with his upper-level undergraduate course on cities and neighborhood dynamics. One will assess and prioritize Auburn’s plans for addressing homelessness, and another will develop innovative strategies for understanding the size, change and distribution of the city’s homeless population.

A third project will focus on finding incentives to maintain the city’s relatively affordable older homes in the midst of expensive residential expansion.

“These are neat projects in that they allow students to work on things that are practically important, but there’s also, in a way, a ‘dream big’ element,” Crowder said. “There are great tools and resources at this university, so the more we can bring those to the community, the better off everyone will be.”

Several projects from this quarter will continue with Auburn for the rest of the academic year, and a half dozen new ones will begin winter and spring quarters. Other cities around Washington can apply to work with the 91探花through the Livable City Year program in future years.

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For more information, contact Livable City Year program manager Jennifer Davison at jnfrdvsn@uw.edu or 206-240-6903.

In this inaugural year, 91探花faculty will lead classes to work on 15 to 20 projects identified by the City of Auburn. Students will provide tens of thousands of hours of study and production toward specific projects identified by Auburn, while benefiting from the opportunity to apply classroom lessons to real-world problems.

鈥淭his partnership represents the very best kind of 91探花student experience by creating opportunities for community engagement, practical problem-solving and interdisciplinary study,鈥� said 91探花 President Ana Mari Cauce. 鈥淭he 91探花could not be prouder to partner with the City of Auburn through the Livable City Year program to combine education with making positive change in a Washington community.鈥�

The Auburn City Council voted unanimously Aug. 29 to enter into an agreement with the 91探花for the program.

The UW’s Livable City Year program is a cross-university collaboration led by faculty directors Branden Born, an associate professor in the , and Jennifer Otten, an assistant professor in the , in collaboration with and with foundational support from , the and , as well as from the聽non-profit organization聽, which works with cities and their partners around the state. The program connects local governments with 91探花classes to address community-identified areas of need. The coordinated, cross-discipline approach provides the local partners with a new option to enhance sustainability and livability elements within existing and future projects and programs.

鈥淚 think the most powerful thing about Livable City Year is that it allows 91探花to connect with communities throughout the state using this field-tested and mutually beneficial model,鈥� said program manager Jennifer Davison, who also manages Urban@UW. 鈥淭his partnership with Auburn will be fully supported every step of the way by the program, from project identification and connection with faculty and courses, to student experience and final delivery of meaningful work to the city. It鈥檚 really exciting to see it coming together.”

Auburn’s government and administration were early champions of the program, and the city’s willingness and preparedness to take on this opportunity helped move the program forward from an idea to a reality.

鈥淲e are incredibly honored and excited to be partnering with the 91探花 on these projects and to be part of this ground breaking year for the program,” Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus said.

鈥淭his program is an incredible example of what higher education can do for our community,” said Auburn Deputy Mayor Largo Wales. “Not only does this give students a unique hands-on learning opportunity, it provides the city with the opportunity to complete valuable projects that we would not have been able to otherwise.鈥�

Livable City Year is based on the University of Oregon鈥檚 and is a member of the .

鈥淏y聽connecting many courses over one academic year to projects that address the partner聽city鈥檚 specific goals, Livable City Year can have broad impacts that are difficult for faculty to聽achieve on their own,鈥� Born said.聽鈥淟ivable City Year gives faculty across many disciplines a chance to work together in a fully collaborative 91探花effort.”

As part of the Livable City Year process, Auburn directors and staff identified almost 50 different possible projects for consideration. 91探花faculty will select 15 to 20 of these projects as subjects for classes in a variety of disciplines. Students will work on the projects in conjunction with Auburn staff for a meaningful end result. Projects were identified over a wide range of topics, such as public works, innovation and technology, urban planning and more.

鈥淭his program provides students with an opportunity to tackle meaningful and challenging real-world problems,鈥� Otten said. “Projects addressed in these 91探花class and city collaborations directly affect the health and well-being of the city鈥檚 population. Students will gain an introduction to the civic process and get an opportunity to become better engaged with local communities.鈥�

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For more information, contact Born at聽bborn@uw.edu听辞谤听206-543-4975; Davison at聽jnfrdvsn@uw.edu听辞谤听206-240-6903; and Jenna Leonard, Auburn’s climate and sustainability practice leader, at聽jleonard@auburnwa.gov听辞谤听253-804-5092.

Marc Schlossberg, co-director of the University of Oregon’s Sustainable Cities Initiative, is available to talk about this similar program:聽schlossb@uoregon.edu听辞谤听541-346-2046.

The Livable City Year program will hold a kickoff event highlighting the projects 91探花students will be working on during the fall quarter on Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. in the聽w菨色菨b蕯altx史 鈥� Intellectual House at the 91探花.