The climate and biodiversity crises are global challenges that require collective solutions that start with education. The Learning about Forests (LEAF) program advocates for outdoor learning and hands-on experiences, allowing students to connect with nature and develop a deeper understanding of the natural world. In order to empower schools,…

This article investigates how strategic community partnerships form the bedrock of successful institutional community engagement activities. In this investigation, these engagements encourage institutional practitioners to consider how truly effective community economic development materializes when the university assumes a reactionary role by…

Twenty-five years ago, the aspirational vision of a newly formed national SENCER initiative led one of the authors (Wood) to initiate a long-term relationship between the Smithsonian Institution and George Mason University, involving a residential, immersive approach to education focused on biodiversity conservation. In the Smithsonian-Mason…

This paper describes and analyzes the social relations that emerged from an ongoing adult education internship/community-based garden project in Montreal. I employ institutional ethnography to explore and uncover how adult education internships in community gardens and gardening programming can work to produce disproportionate outcomes for adult…

This article presents the findings of a longitudinal study documenting the progress, challenges, adaptations, and outcomes of a strategic community--academic partnership (S-CAP) to address substance misuse between a local university and a medium-sized county in East-Central Indiana. The article details how the S-CAP built on initial successes to…

This article speaks to the challenge of public land-grant universities addressing public need through community--academic partnerships and presents a case study to explain and illustrate these challenges. Included in this approach is the acknowledgment that as universities strive to bring the community perspective to their knowledge production,…

Community Writing has emerged as a relatively new subdiscipline that spans elements of larger fields such as Rhetoric and Writing Studies, Technical and Professional Communication, and Composition Pedagogy. Despite this recent emergence, teacher-scholars are still grappling with three major problematics traditionally associated with Community…

This paper uses a reflective, retrospective case study methodology to analyze data from a 10-year University-Community partnership focused on supporting implementation and improvement of a Prenatal-Grade 3 (P3) system in an elementary school. Using a framework for centering equity in Collective Impact approaches, we analyze the steps we took as…

"Just Schools" by Dr. Ann M. Ishimaru examines how schools can achieve educational equity through collaborative leadership and actively involving historically marginalized families and communities in the decision-making process. Dr. Ishimaru's book emphasizes the importance of rethinking traditional power dynamics and transforming…

In this report, the authors describe how implementation of restorative practices in educational settings and a juvenile diversion program run by the National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC) in San Diego County are working to stem the school-to-prison pipeline. The authors focus on how NCRC is serving as an intermediary organization for…

This paper examines how public education can ensure equity and diversity by clarifying the "democratic aspects" that can be captured through school-community collaborative activities in Japan and the U.S. As a result of comparison and analysis, it is indicated that in both Japan and the U.S., these activities are conducted in the context…

Cooperative Extension has a long-standing history of placing individuals in communities to lead community-wide change. These individuals are employees of the nation's land-grant universities, with significant roles and responsibilities working between and among institutions and their communities. They often must maintain dual identities and roles,…

Citizen science, community science, and related participatory approaches to scientific research and monitoring are increasingly used by environmental educators and conservation practitioners to achieve environmental education (EE) goals. However, evidence of EE learning outcomes from these approaches are typically reported on a case-by-case basis,…

Work-based learning experiences (WBLEs) provide students with opportunities to learn about careers and gain work skills required for post-school employment. WBLEs may be especially important for students with extensive support needs (ESN) who often struggle to access competitive, integrated employment after graduation. The purpose of this study…

Founded on the principles of place-based education, land-based learning collaboratively engages learners and community members in a four-step process of identification, understanding, intervention, and evaluation to enhance the sustainability of community-based agricultural systems. While scholars have provided the philosophical foundation for…