The proposed “Sustainable Futures for Linden Village” project is a partnership between OSU Faculty in the Colleges of Engineering, Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Greater Linden Development Corporation (GLDC), and it has been supported by a grant from the Office of Outreach and Engagement at OSU and the Columbus Foundation. It supports the realization of community- defined priorities for affordable green, energy efficient housing development, job training opportunities, homeowner assistance with renovation, and practical, hands‐on learning environments in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills development for local students. Specifically, this project is closely related to a comprehensive local redevelopment effort, the Linden Village Initiative, designed to revitalize and improve a target urban area surrounding the Linden McKinley STEM Academy on Duxberry Avenue. This initiative integrates urban revitalization, home rehabilitation, energy retrofit, repair and maintenance with sustainable development goals.
The OSU project team and involved students played several roles in the initiative through integrated research, education, and outreach programs that will enhance local revitalization efforts by providing technical assistance to the community and increasing the awareness, knowledge, and skills of local community residents, teachers/students, and organizations in sustainable community and housing development. This project is innovative in that it integrates larger scale healthy community and green infrastructure planning, GIS mapping for urban opportunity, and micro‐scale green home renovation and new construction. It also provides a unique design‐build experience to OSU students and far‐reaching learning experience to community residents and STEM school teachers and students. The project is transformative by applying collaboratively developed knowledge to guide the future of the community and its residents in positive, sustainable new directions.
To meet our course objectives, the class engaged in a parallel process called service-learning with our community partners in the Linden Village area. Service learning joins academic departments with community groups to “positively respond to community challenges” and to develop “opportunities for collaboration.” Service learning helps students to “gain a deeper understanding of course objectives in the context of civic life.”
