CURA supports projects that address the economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainability in a variety of public policy contexts. CURA's newest program, the Resilient Communities Project, builds community-university partnerships for sustainability by working with one city partner per year to facilitate course-based projects that meet city-identified sustainability needs. CURA is also a partner in the three-year HUD Sustainable Communities Grant that was awarded to the Twin Cities region in 2010. Other recent projects in the area of sustainability have included creating a sustainable regional development framework for the Twin Cities region, designing sustainable development plans for redevelopment projects in the cities of Minnetonka and Apple Valley, conducting a LEED-ND assessment for the Loring Park neighborhood in Minneapolis, creating sustainability plans for the cities of Forest Lake and Prior Lake, expanding sustainable agriculture and local food systems in northern and central Minnesota, and investigating conservation design approaches to land development.

CURA programs that support projects in the area of Sustainability include:

• Community Assistantship Program (CAP)
• Faculty Interactive Research Program (FIRP)
• Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs
• Resilient Communities Project (RCP)
• Sustainable Development Research Opportunity Program (SDROP)
• University Metropolitan Consortium (UMC)

CURA Contact: Mike Greco