University of Virginia
EN-13: Community Stakeholder Engagement

The Planning and Coordination Council (PACC), consisting of representatives from the City of Charlottesville, the County of Albemarle, and the University of Virginia, is a 20+ year formal partnership between the University and its municipal neighbors on coordinating planning projects within the community. This Council has two sets of quarterly meetings with a technical meeting and a formal meeting with community members and elected leaders to coordinate and improve upon community participation. The meetings are open to and attended by the public-at-large for broader community involvement. The meeting agendas are developed based on community wide needs and allow for public discussion.

In addition to the PACC noted above, in recent years, a number of community partnerships have emerged under the auspices of PACC, including the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP), the Local Climate Action Planning Process (LCAPP), and the Livable Communities Project (which also involves the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission). UVa has an Office of Community Relations which unites the University with its surrounding community through outreach efforts designed to provide accurate, timely information about U.Va.’s programs, services, news and developments. The office helps foster better understanding of the University's priorities while ensuring positive relations between the University and its neighbors, through regular meetings with all adjacent neighborhood associations. The University supports a large number of community support activities to give back to the community. The largest is the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC) which is an annual campaign for faculty and staff to donate funds to a large number of self-identified charity organization throughout our community. This campaign yields ~1 million in funds to community organizations on a yearly basis. UVa has an Engagement team whose mission is to foster lifelong relationships with alumni, parents, families and friends that strengthen their relationship with the University of Virginia. To accomplish this mission, the team creates and supports over 1,300 events and programs each year in cities and communities around the globe that include both in-person and digital engagement opportunities. The Engagement team is comprised of 25 staff, six students and coordinates with over 1,000 volunteers that work together to create world class networks, learning and engagement through five programs: UVaClubs, Lifetime Learning, Alumni & Parent Travel and HoosNetwork (Digital Engagement). UVa has an Institute for Environmental Negotiation (IEN) which has the distinction of being one of the first professional environmental conflict resolution services in the nation. IEN is an environmental dispute resolution organization whose expertise has been sought for local and statewide environmental disputes as well as national policy issues. IEN has gained international recognition as a leading environmental and public policy dispute resolution organization and has participated in more than 300 projects. IEN conducts about 60% of its work in Virginia, 20% in nearby states, and the rest is national in scope or performed in localities outside of the region. IEN attracts scholars from all over the world who are visiting or spending sabbaticals here, and IEN faculty serve on numerous local, state and national boards and programs.

UVa Neighborhood Associations Planning and Coordination Council Master Planning Council City of Charlottesville Neighborhood Development Services Albemarle County Community Development

The Local Climate Action Planning Process (LCAPP), an 18-month process involving a Steering Committee of representatives of the City, County, and UVA, local business representatives and other interested parties, supported by a network of more than 50 subject matter experts, examined best practices to assess their appropriateness and effectiveness for our community. Through this process, a "Five-Part Framework for Our Community Energy Profile" was crafted identifying guidelines to inform planning and programs. Further detailed recommendations were formulated into a set of "Framework Action Strategies", which represent opportunities for win-win efforts that can contribute to community well-being in economic, health and environmental terms. The recommendations of the LCAPP Steering Committee are a guide for the City, County and University of Virginia to utilize in pursuing their own Action Plans to establish the scope and scale at which each entity is committed to engage. The Charlottesville Better Business Challenge has formed a partnership between the Darden School of Business and students in an undergraduate Global Sustainability class with the Local Energy-efficiency Alliance Program (LEAP) among other non-profits to help small local businesses reduce their environmental impact.

http://ien.arch.virginia.edu/ http://im.dev.virginia.edu/wp/engagement/