Como Green Village Student Involvement Project
2011 Environmental Initiative Awards
Como Green Village Student Involvement Project
The Como neighborhood in Minneapolis is located just north of the University of Minnesota east bank campus. This location provides some unique advantages as well as challenges; including a demographic population with a very high number of 18-25 years old, mostly University connected residents. Recognizing this, the Southeast Como Improvement Association (SECIA) made a goal of increasing student involvement in the work of the neighborhood organization and in the overall health of the community in which they reside, often for a short time. Increasing involvement with a temporary population has been challenging and has required a consistent and sustained effort to not only outreach, but develop options of interest to a younger generation. Ten years of effort has achieved remarkable results, hitting its stride with the creation of the Como Green Village Project, which has been the primary draw for a number of students.
The Green Village Project has provided the framework whereby University students have been able to engage their passion for environmental issues at a grass roots, hands on level. Involvement opportunities have ranged from participation on the neighborhoods Environment Committee, project implementation, project idea generation, internship (paid and unpaid) opportunities, peer outreach, event participation, materials preparation and other items related to the community’s successful and award winning environmental programming. Participation within the Como community has also provided the unique benefit of allowing multiple students to be involved at the same time within the organization (something more difficult for other organizations to accomplish). SECIA also provides direction and mentorship from highly qualified staff that provide expertise ranging from non-profit management, to community gardens and urban farming, to environmental pollution reduction methods.
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
2011 Environmental Initiative Awards competition.
Contact Information
About You
First Name
Wendy
Last Name
Menken
Organization
SECIA
Project Contact (if different from yourself)
Project Contact First Name
Stephanie
Project Contact Last Name
Hankerson
Project Contact Organization
Southeast Como Improvement Association (SECIA)
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Your idea
Project Name
Como Green Village Student Involvement Project
Date of Project Completion
on-going
Category
Environmental Education
Project Summary
The Como neighborhood in Minneapolis is located just north of the University of Minnesota east bank campus. This location provides some unique advantages as well as challenges; including a demographic population with a very high number of 18-25 years old, mostly University connected residents. Recognizing this, the Southeast Como Improvement Association (SECIA) made a goal of increasing student involvement in the work of the neighborhood organization and in the overall health of the community in which they reside, often for a short time. Increasing involvement with a temporary population has been challenging and has required a consistent and sustained effort to not only outreach, but develop options of interest to a younger generation. Ten years of effort has achieved remarkable results, hitting its stride with the creation of the Como Green Village Project, which has been the primary draw for a number of students.
The Green Village Project has provided the framework whereby University students have been able to engage their passion for environmental issues at a grass roots, hands on level. Involvement opportunities have ranged from participation on the neighborhoods Environment Committee, project implementation, project idea generation, internship (paid and unpaid) opportunities, peer outreach, event participation, materials preparation and other items related to the community’s successful and award winning environmental programming. Participation within the Como community has also provided the unique benefit of allowing multiple students to be involved at the same time within the organization (something more difficult for other organizations to accomplish). SECIA also provides direction and mentorship from highly qualified staff that provide expertise ranging from non-profit management, to community gardens and urban farming, to environmental pollution reduction methods.
Website URL
Partners
Who were the project partners? What role did each play in the partnership, and how did the partnership operate?
SECIA Student Group – an active subcommittee of SECIA officially registered as a student organization with the University of Minnesota. This group provides students with a self-directed structure to prioritize and plan environmental initiatives within the neighborhood.
Restorative Justice Community Action (RJCA) – student offenders who choose to do community service often chose to participate in one of SECIA’s community projects, often working in community gardens or on other environmental projects; some have even continued to participate after their required service has been completed
Minnesota Student Association (MSA) – the University’s undergraduate association; SECIA has an official board seat set aside for a representative from MSA.
Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) - the University’s graduate association; SECIA has an official board seat set aside for a representative from GAPSA.
Student Chapter of the Sierra Club – some of our student volunteers are members of this organization and have brought issues that they are working on to SECIA.
University Student Liaison Program – the University created a student liaison program three years ago to hire student leaders living in each of the University neighborhoods to provide outreach to peers and other neighbors; SECIA works actively with the student liaisons assigned to Como as a method to increase outreach to student neighbors.
Numerous Others – the roster of specific partners change depending on the specific needs of each project
Innovation
How is the partnership and/or project goals, outcomes and process innovative or groundbreaking?
SECIA’s student involvement in our environmental programming has provided a truly unique opportunity for students to get hands-on, community level experience in the development, implementation and outreach of environmental projects. The location and population provides the geographical and demographic opportunity that isn’t available elsewhere. The Como Green Village Program provides the structure, focus and expertise that can give this young and environmentally aware generation the framework to be innovative, while educating them on the sometimes difficult practicalities of project implementation, local politics, funding restrictions and other factors that can affect promoting change. SECIA has been able to offer this experience, and grass roots educational opportunity, through volunteer options, standing environmental committees (SECIA Environment Committee and the SECIA Student Group), paid and unpaid internships, service learning options and as a focus for a variety of specific university class projects. In addition, SECIA’s Green Village Project provides one model that most others cannot – the ability to bring in multiple interested students at the same time, allowing for an unprecedented volume of younger participation in environmental issues and the creation of a peer dynamic that generates energy and innovation.
In practical terms, having an office, staff with a variety of expertise, a decade of award winning programming and a large roster of partnerships and connections with other environmental agencies and non-profits (100+ and growing), provides students with the knowledge and the network that they would not be able to get many other places. Some of the experiences and work of past students has resulted in future employment with companies or agencies they connected with through SECIA, or career advancement using what they learned while working with SECIA and the Como neighborhood.
Goals
Describe the project goals
SECIA had, and continues to have, a goal of increasing outreach to the neighborhood, encouraging resident involvement in the community, particularly our environmental programming. In particular, SECIA has actively sought to include the 18-25 year old population, which had traditionally been difficult to engage. The SECIA environmental programming was recognized early on as a powerful tool to outreach to an environmentally aware, younger generation. As part of this overarching goal, SECIA specifically wished to:
Increase the number of students volunteering in the neighborhood or otherwise participating in neighborhood and environmental programming.
Increase the number of volunteer hours of students in the neighborhood, which had traditionally been very low in relation to their percentage of population in the neighborhood.
Leverage and support the creative energy of the younger generation, many of whom are environmentally aware and concerned but often don’t feel empowered by the current structure to promote change and improvement.
Provide experiences outside classroom theory that help students gain practical knowledge of project development, implementation, working within existing systems, politics, funding issues, material development, outreach and other hands-on learning opportunities that they will be able to take with them in their future careers.
Support an environmentally concerned generation with the structure, knowledgeable staff, internships and even short-term employment opportunities when funding allows.
Outcomes
What were the outcomes of the project (if completed)? What have been the outcomes so far, and what are the anticipated future outcomes (if ongoing)?
SECIA student outreach and engagement has been highly successful. Beside the creation of the MSA and GAPSA official SECIA board seats, and the creation of the SECIA Student Group, student involvement throughout the organization, and as part of the Como Green Village Project, has exceeded expectations. Some highlights include:
SECIA’s Environment Committee regularly host a number of student members with sometimes up to half of the representatives being students.
In 2010 alone SECIA’s environmental work logged over 3,316 volunteer hours by 200 people – 111 of them students – with over 42% of those hours being volunteered by students.
In the last 10 years, SECIA has had over 25 student interns, 100 service learners and over 500 student volunteers.
Student volunteers have helped in community gardens, build-your-own rain barrel workshops, promoted biking, Como Cookout events, Earth Day events, energy reduction projects, waste reduction projects and environmental education.
Current activities include preparing for the next round of SECIA’s waste reduction project – move-in/move-out (MIMO), creating and marketing grow bins for small scale gardening in difficult locations, promotion of Como’s new HourCar hub, development of events for “Como Earth Month” and continued outreach to student peers.
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