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MEMORANDUM 4.A DATE: March 6, 2013 PC Agenda Item TO: Planning Commissioners FROM: Meagan Beekman, City Planner SUBJECT: Resilient Communities Project Requested Action No action requested. Background TheResilient Communities Project (RCP) is a program through the University of Minnesota and administered by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA). The program selects one Minnesota city per year to participate. The program matches University coursework with community projects that have a sustainability impact. The program defines sustainability broadly to include environmental, social, and financial sustainability for a community. The projects should have a relatively narrow scope and clear deliverable. Once a city is selected, CURA staff match up the individual projects with graduate courses at the University of Minnesota that have a community-project component related to one or more of the city's needs. The purpose of the program is intended to better connect University resources with communities, regional entities, and organizations interested in sustainability in the Twin Cities and other metropolitan areas in Minnesota. RCP provides the community with access to hundreds of students and faculty across a range of academic disciplines, from design, planning, law and engineering to business, environmental sciences, and the humanities. The selected community and their projects are imbedded throughout the University of Minnesota curriculum, which provides extensive resources to which the community would not otherwise have access to. In addition, the program offers students real-world opportunities to apply their knowledge and training, as well as to engage with professionals and students in other programs and fields of study. The University of Minnesota calculates the value of work produced through the project at approximately $175,000. City of Arden Hills March 6, 2013, Planning Commission Meeting 14 Page of