UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC), an experiential scholarship program of the Penn State Sustainability Institute that primarily partners University classes with local governments and non-profit organizations in Pennsylvania, recently received a newly created certification. The certification evaluates the impact and success of experiential learning projects based on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and criteria set by the EPIC (Educational Partnership In Communities) Network, also known as EPIC-N.

The SCC program give students the opportunity to engage in applied, real-world research and projects as part of their curriculum to build capacity, inform about new developments and advance the sustainability goals of their community partners. To help students and community partners have meaningful experiences, the SCC facilitates identified projects from inception through the semester-end Expo when student findings are displayed at the public event, held this past semester on April 27 in State College Borough. 

The SCC was an early member of EPIC-N, whose mission is to provide support for models like SCC to grow and become more impactful by leveraging the strengths of a membership organization and ultimately, to strengthen community capacity. In 2022, EPIC-N adopted the U.N.’s SDGs as a guiding framework for its member organizations, in part led by the example of Penn State’s SCC. At the same time, and influenced by COVID-19 impacts, EPIC-N sought to strengthen the organizations by strategically recognizing its member organizations. The newly created certification is part of an effort to create a common reinforced framework adopted by its member organizations, as well as to facilitate future funding opportunities. 

“The SCC has been a really great member program that has displayed the EPIC model tenants to a T.” said Ada Inman, program support coordinator at EPIC-N, “They have been an excellent program to have in our network to showcase.” 

EPIC-N evaluates member programs for certification based on 5 tenets, which they determined the SCC met through their evaluation process. Through these tenets, the program:

• Respects existing administrative structures, utilizing classes and programs that already exist to leverage its goals. 

• Creates a genuine partnership with local governments or community organizations. 

• Intentionally aims at improving quality of life. 

• Focuses on community-identified, -driven and -evaluated contribution to the community. 

• Catalyzes multi-disciplines and large numbers (of courses, students, credit hours). 

The SCC is one of 70 programs EPIC-N supports throughout the United States. Additionally, EPIC-N also supports programs across the world, with established hubs in Asia, Africa, and soon in Latin America. As of 2022, the EPIC Network had partnered approximately 350 communities with institutions through the EPIC model.  

This year, the SCC program manager, Ilona Ballreich, also accepted an election to the board of directors for the EPIC-N organization.

“I hope that I can not only contribute to EPIC-N in achieving its goals but will be able to identify opportunities for Penn State to strategically partner and serve as a role model for the organization”, said Ballreich. “We hope to leverage the strength of an international network to connect partner members with funding opportunities, as well as other opportunities for partnerships, including in the international academic arena.” 

With EPIC-N certification, members gain access to a wide breadth of resources and networks. Members are given access to tools such as webinars, training materials, and templates on how to engage with community partners. Additionally, EPIC-N also shares available funding and media exposure with programs to help uplift the visibility of its partners.   

Overall, the SCC has upheld the EPIC-N tenants and continues to through this year’s student projects. This semester, through the SCC, Penn State classes representing eight colleges have addressed over 30 projects with community partners from the State College region and beyond, including the City of Hazleton, and Huntingdon and Blair counties. 

This spring, the expo was co-hosted by the State College Borough on April 27 and included a poster exhibition of student projects with students, faculty and staff, as well as community partners in attendance. For more information, read about the poster expo here.