On a Wednesday afternoon at the University of Oregon in the historic Gerlinger Hall, guests and stakeholders of all ages came together to celebrate the start of another Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) service year. The kick-off on Wednesday saw university, state, and city leadership come together to preview the work coming in the following weeks and months. The excitement from the stakeholders in attendance was palpable, as the presenters and speakers talked at length about the forthcoming partnership.

Read this newsletter to find out more about the excellence that is happening in PPPM. We welcomed a new cohort of grad students to campus and began getting to know everyone. The faculty and students were busy demonstrating their expertise worldwide over the summer.

Associate Professor, Nicole Ngo, joins industry experts in this article by the BBC to talk about the dangers of heatwaves, especially for children in urban environments.

The University of Oregon's Resource Assistance for Rural Environments AmeriCorps Program secured $100,000 to work with area partners to increase implementation of renewable energy generation by rural small businesses, farms, and agricultural producers throughout the state of Oregon.

The College of Design celebrates the life of one of the visionary leaders of the School of Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM), David Povey, after his tragic death in May 2023.

The School of Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) is celebrating a competitive grant award earned by Associate Professor, Rebecca Lewis, and Assistant Professor, José Meléndez. The research team secured a competitive research grant from the Housing Solutions Lab, housed at the NYU Furman Center.

Robert Parker and Rebecca Lewis from PPPM and IPRE join other housing experts in an article about housing affordability in Portland.

Rebecca Lewis and other PPPM experts talk about the Oregon housing shortage in new OPB article.

School of Planning, Public Policy and Management Associate Professor, Yizhao Yang, has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to Japan. Yang will study Japanese cities’ use of Voluntary Local Reviews, which assess United Nations Sustainable Development Goal achievements and provide sustainability education to its citizens.

What have our RARE service members been up to? Find out!

Are you looking to strengthen your local community but are limited by time, budget, or maybe knowledge? The Sustainable City Year Program might just have the answers for you!