Colby-Sawyer College Students Partner with PermaCityLife to Support Franklin’s Revitalization Efforts

May 25, 2017 • Saved under Other Organizations
By Reprinted with permission from Green Energy Times Issue #43, page 31, April 2017. On line at: greenenergytimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/GET_April-2017.pdf

 

Rayla Putnam ’18, Nat Mengesha ’17 and Amber Sweeney ’17 performed water quality analyses in the Winnipesaukee, Pemigewasset and Merrimack rivers for their community partner Mill City Park, as part of Professor Nick Baer’s Aquatic Ecology class at Colby-Sawyer College. Photo by Chris Kontoes.

The ongoing collaboration between Colby-Sawyer College and the city of Franklin, New Hampshire continues to blossom and bear fruit. During the 2016 – 2017 school year, one hundred and fifty students participated in revitalization efforts spearheaded by a group of dedicated community members including Todd Workman, executive director of the nonprofit, PermaCityLife. The students are participants in an innovative new curricular program at the college called the Sustainable Learning Initiative at Franklin Falls (SLI), which pairs the learning outcomes in majors across campus with the to do lists of the revitalization project partners.

SLI is an experiential learning opportunity for students to explore, design, and develop sustainable solutions to real and evolving community needs. To complement the SLI, Colby-Sawyer launched an innovative three-year degree in sustainability studies in September 2016 that allows students to save approximately 20 percent on the cost of their college education, and gain professional hands-on experience while still in school. In November, Colby-Sawyer and PermaCityLife also celebrated the grand opening of a shared field studies office in downtown Franklin.

The remodeled storefront serves as the hub for partnerships and projects within the downtown, functioning as the main office for PermaCityLife and home base for Colby-Sawyer classes, and interns working with project partners. CATCH Neighborhood Housing, which recently began work on quality affordable housing in the former Light and Power Company mill, will also use the space.

Last semester graphic design and exercise and sport sciences students collaborated on a comprehensive branding strategy and business plan for Mill City Park’s biking and whitewater project, and ecology students analyzed aquatic life to assess water quality prior to the in-river modification and park restoration. The sustainable food systems class developed a community garden design, and the social entrepreneurship club wrote a business plan for the Twin Rivers Interfaith Food Pantry. This spring students inventoried riparian invasive species, conducted sociological interviews related to quality of life, offered web design input for Take Root Coworking, and evaluated the embodied energy and bioremediation options for the Amory and Stanley Mill buildings.

PermaCityLife, in association with the City of Franklin and other dedicated residential and commercial partners, has helped launch eight new businesses with plans for more. And, as Colby-Sawyer students lend their time to help these new entities succeed, they gain invaluable skills while also helping this remarkable community continue to grow and flourish. Learn more at: sli-franklinfalls.com and permacitylife.com.