City of Chandler partners with ASU on Project Cities Program
August 25, 2023
Project Cities is excited to announce its new community partner, the City of Chandler!
The partnership is kicking off with the inaugural project focusing on park equity with School of Sustainability undergraduate students
"Through the program, undergraduate and graduate students from multiple disciplines will research issues selected by the city. ASU faculty and staff and city staff will collaborate on experiential learning projects that will help them gather data. At the end of each semester, students will present their innovative solutions, designs, recommendations, and strategies to city staff. The ideas can then be used by city staff to make more informed decisions to move projects, planning, and community sustainability efforts forward."
New summary report released: Strategies for Municipal Fleet Electrification
May 31, 2023
The future of transportation in cities lies in the implementation of fleet electric vehicles (EVs). With the benefits of decreasing fossil fuel consumption and reduced maintenance costs, the City of Peoria is identifying opportunities for more sustainable transit systems. As Peoria expands its sustainable transportation systems, including the recent launch of RoboRide, the City is interested in adapting its fleet vehicles to include EVs. Students will research the costs and infrastructure needed for wide scale adoption of electric vehicles, and critically examine the benefits and limitations of fleet electrification.
Partnership highlight: ASU class helps small Arizona town with tourism, retention planning
May 25, 2023
"Students pointed out that social media is an important resource for both tourism and retention and can be launched quickly. They recommended letting younger town residents manage the accounts, using organic and paid social media to highlight news, the history and beauty of the town, future events and more.
“This is a team,” Rivera said. “This is not a solo team, this is not a golf team, this is not a volleyball team. … This is a huge team in order to accomplish everything that we want for the future of Miami.”
Project Cities highlight: Landscape architecture student creates xeriscape designs for city of Phoenix
May 9, 2023
ASU News highlighted a recent partnership between Project Cities and the City of Phoenix Water Services! Here is a short excerpt:
"Lomeli’s project includes three possible designs based on the average size of a small, medium or large plot in Phoenix. Her plans incorporate a guide for how residents can transition to native and drought-tolerant landscaping. The city will distribute her plans to Phoenix residents free of charge."
New summary report released: Resource Guide to Support Aging in Place
May 3, 2023
As one of the fastest growing communities in Arizona, Peoria’s population continues to age, creating a need for the City to further develop its resources available for its population of older adults to ensure the well-being and active participation of all members of the community. In response to this need, the City’s Neighborhood and Human Services Department is interested in developing a resource guide for older adults that includes information about the City’s health services, recreation programs, and classes, as well as how to be an active member of the community
Students kick off partnership with Town of Miami
April 28, 2023
The Town of Miami is a historic community with a rich history in copper mining. Incorporated in 1918, the Town established itself as a copper boom town while blending a new wave of business, arts, and tourism. While the Town seeks to revitalize its community by attracting new business and tourism, it also wants to preserve its historic roots. In a new partnership with ASU Project Cities, the Town of Miami is collaborating with ASU students and faculty to leverage the university for community development projects.
Project Cities releases first Impact Report, measuring five years of community partnerships
March 14, 2023
Since its start in 2017, Project Cities has partnered with four local communities, engaged 38 interdisciplinary faculty members, and facilitated over 75 high-impact projects with over 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students. As we look back on a transformative five years and celebrate our recent President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness, Project Cities is excited to announce the release of its first Impact Report.
Project Cities celebrates five years with the President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness
January 9, 2023
ASU Project Cities has been awarded the President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness, a university-wide initiative to recognize the work of ASU faculty, staff, and programs for their work in social embeddedness. As part of ASU’s charter and design aspirations, social embeddedness encompasses the university’s commitment to serving its surrounding communities by sharing its resources and knowledge networks through mutually beneficial community partnerships.
New summary report released: Community Engagement Strategies
November 14, 2022
Community engagement is a critical component of ensuring that a community has input and is receiving information from its local government. Cities have used a variety of engagement strategies to gather feedback on its services, as well as inform future planning. As a growing community, the City of Peoria is tasked with facilitating engagement with the community but is often challenged by communicating with “hard-to-reach” community members, often those underrepresented in their communities.
In fall 2021 and spring 2022, Peoria’s Office of Communications partnered with three classes to design strategies for bettering its community engagement processes.
The original student content is available on the Project Cities website. Read the full summary report here.
Student recommendations inform Sustainable Peoria Plan
November 4, 2022
The City of Peoria recently approved its Sustainable Peoria Plan, a roadmap for sustainability that outlines goals and initiatives around its eight pillars of sustainability.
In 2009, the City established its first Sustainability Action Plan, which was then revised and relaunched in 2012 as the Sustainability Action Plan 2.0. Following an extensive review and publication of Peoria’s Peoria 2040 General Plan, the Water Conservation and Sustainability Division began the process of developing its new Sustainability Peoria Plan, which would include community input. As part of this process, the City of Peoria enlisted the help of ASU Project Cities to facilitate four projects with students from the School of Sustainability and School of Public Affairs that would inform the City’s sustainability planning efforts and provide the foundation for its community input process.
New summary report released: Water Policy Strategies for a Sustainable Peoria
October 26, 2022
In a growing community, water is a valuable resource for the City of Peoria. The City is guided by its general planning document, PlanPeoriaAZ 2040, which outlines the City's commitment to ensuring the best quality of living for Peoria residents through the Livability Initiatives. One of its key priorities is Smart Growth, which emphasizes sustainable development, mainly conserving water resources in anticipation of future growth.
Student spotlight: Hunter Hedelius
October 24, 2022
To highlight some of Project Cities star students and faculty, PC staff sat down to interview Hunter Hedelius, an undergraduate student in the School of Social Transformation. During the spring 2022 semester, Hunter worked on a project with City of Peoria as part of Greg Broberg’s JUS 301 Research Methods course. As a culmination of student projects in the last three years, students in Greg’s class set out to understand how Peoria residents get information from the City about events and community services. From this, students conducted a survey of Peoria residents to understand what information is being left out of communities in order to inform recommendations for Peoria to engage its residents. Hunter analyzed the survey data and synthesized the findings for the showcase presentation.
Check out the project final summary report | Community Engagement Strategies
Projects with purpose: New journal article highlights Project Cities model
October 19, 2022
Empowering the environmental advocates of tomorrow: New article highlights Project Cities
October 12, 2022
ASU's Full Circle, a publication focusing on news from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, recently highlighted one of our star faculty members, Al Brown!
Students head to Town of Clarkdale for semester kickoff event
October 6, 2022
On September 22, 2022, students from 3 classes traveled to the Town of Clarkdale for the first in-person visit in two years. Joined by Clarkdale leadership and staff, students met with Town Manager Susan Guthrie, Community Development Director Ruth Mayday, and Mayor Robyn Prud'homme-Bauer to brainstorm for their projects.
Peoria leadership kicks off fourth year of student projects with Project Cities
October 5, 2022
On September 14, 2022, ASU Project Cities hosted its first in-person kick-off event since the start of COVID. Over 50 undergraduate and graduate students from 5 Peoria projects joined their project leads and Peoria executive leadership to learn more about the community they are working with this semester and plan for the coming semester.
New summary report released: Policy Proposals For Employee Handbook
September 28, 2022
The Town of Clarkdale, Arizona is a historic community nestled in the Verde Valley. Human resource management is a constantly evolving practice that focuses on the management of people in a way that fosters professional development and employee well-being.
Student spotlight: Gabriella La Caria
August 29, 2022
To highlight some of Project Cities' star students and faculty, PC staff sat down to interview Gabby La Caria, an undergraduate student in the School of Social Transformation. With a double major in Justice Studies and Public Service and Public Policy, Gabby is focusing on law and policy, hoping to attend law school in the future. She is interested in racial and social justice and wants to pursue constitutional law since it affects everyday people.
Student spotlight: Shrut Kirti Chawla
August 17, 2022
To highlight some of Project Cities' star students, PC staff sat down to interview Shrut Kirti Chawla, a recent master’s graduate from The Polytechnic School Environmental and Resource Management program! With a background in biotechnology, Shrut enrolled in the ERM program to pursue her passion for environmental health and safety. As a student, Shrut was the Vice President of the Environmental & Resource Management Club at ASU, as well as a Safety in the Built Environment office assistant.
New summary report released: Novel Applications for Fine Glass
August 10, 2022
As a leader in sustainable solid waste, the City of Peoria is always on the cutting edge of sustainable solid waste management. As part of a larger Solid Waste Management project portfolio, the City of Peoria has worked with ASU Project Cities on three solid waste projects, including Textiles & EPS, E-Waste, and Biomass Gasification.