Hilary Nixon, Chair of Department of Urban & Regional Planning at San Jose State University Sustainable Urban Systems Symposium Stanford University, June 2016

1. SUSTAINABLE URBAN SYSTEMS
COMMUNITY-BASED LEARNING AT SAN JOSÉ STATE

2. A LITTLE DEPT. BACKGROUND
• Department
• Graduate program
• ~100-120 students
• Faculty mix
• Emphasis on applied
learning
• Long history of
community-based
learning

4. COMMUNIVERCITY SAN JOSÉ
• Place-based focus
• Long-term commitment
• Community-driven
priorities**
• Multi-sector partnership

5. COMMUNITY-ENGAGED LEARNING
Community
University City
Building
Community

6. PROJECT TYPES
• Multi-disciplinary — every College represented
• Scalable — short course component full class focus
• Driven by communities priorities many sustainability-
themed projects

7. SUSTAINABILITY-RELATED PROJECTS

8. BENEFITS
• For communities…
• Access to skills/services
• Creative/innovative
approaches (not
constrained by political
process)
• For students…
• Real-world skills/training
• Exposure to professionals/
networking

9. CHALLENGES
• Time-consuming (for all!)
• Competing priorities —
clients, faculty, students
• Project evolution

10. –Philip Randolph
“A community is democratic only when the
humblest and weakest person can enjoy the
highest civil, economic, and social rights that the
biggest and most powerful possess.”