Integrated Education Program Description

Integrated Education
This project will support the efforts of Sustainable Williamson to help local, regional, and national innovators to understand and replicate successful community-based programs that provide diverse employment options, including environmentally sustainable jobs and entrepreneurship. Additionally, this project will expand upon these ideas by including a service learning program targeted at university level students from across the country. The goal of the project is to add value both to the existing projects and to the students. The program aims to be a mutually beneficial sustainable program providing financial support in the form of continuing service learning programs to the community of Williamson and valuable experiential learning programs for students.

By integrating service learning into the class curriculum, students will create fundamental connections between theory and practice that will simultaneously provide them with real world experiences as well as build the capacity of the emerging CASE network. Utilizing Sustainable Williamson as a regional hub, Central Appalachian communities will work side by side with local sustainability practitioners as well as university faculty and students on specific projects that are identified collaboratively. Synthesizing both local needs and the specific course goals and themes of each faculty member, our team will develop a curriculum and service learning program with the goal of ensuring a just transition throughout the coalfields of central Appalachia. The following are some general examples of classes our team will explore developing over 2013: Community Health: In collaboration with an identified university, our team will develop a practicum focusing on measuring the specific health outcomes of Sustainable Williamsons programs. Food Systems: In collaboration with an identified university, our team will develop a practicum focusing on developing a market-based approach to local food production with an emphasis upon organic farming and permaculture. Sustainable Tourism: In collaboration with an identified university, our team will develop a practicum which focuses on building a regional outdoor recreation plan. Sustainable Building: In collaboration with an identified university, our team will develop a practicum which focuses on integrating LEED and other certifications into planning and design. Energy Optimization: In collaboration with an identified university, our team will develop a practicum which focuses on developing financing models for a variety of renewable energy, energy efficient and demand-response applications.
At this point, all potential practicums are tentative. Upon securing funding, our team will begin firming up commitments with interested universities, utilizing Amizades established network of universities across the country, in order to develop one or more pilot programs. Additionally, this project will provide an opportunity for eight interested faculty members and administrators to participate in a site visit to Williamson in order to explore future project ideas and service learning programs.

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Integrated Education Program Description Collaborative Partners

As a part of the integrative education component of CASE, Sustainable Williamson has partnered with Amizade Global Service-Learning to develop an innovative service learning program targeting both universities and civic groups across the nation. Amizade, Ltd. is a US 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that offers 19 years of expertise and experience in organizing and overseeing exchange programs focused on experiential service, learning and civic development. Amizade has successfully connected thousands of volunteers, students and adult learners with service and learning opportunities around the world through organizing and hosting more than 600 international experiential learning exchange programs. In addition to running service learning programs internationally, Amizade also works domestically, partnering with communities for service learning experiences in Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico. Amizades programming has led to clear community outputs in the form of the construction of rainwater harvesting systems, schools, community centers, and libraries, among other definitive infrastructure. Amizades efforts have also led to outcomes as varied as developing citizens with leadership skills in diverse social settings, building reconciliation through deliberate cross-cultural programming, and advancing young peoples professional preparation and competencies through community-engaged university study. Amizade has been formally partnered with West Virginia University (WVU) for eight years. Through the partnership with WVU and over fifty other institutions of higher education, Amizade has successfully offered numerous courses on community development, civic education, and development of intercultural communication competencies. As a global leader in service-learning, Amizade seeks to integrate the following values into all components of the CASE network: 1. Community-Driven Service: Amizade has a 19-year record of cooperating with communities on service that local individuals and organizations define and direct. We not only cooperate with communities on issue identification, we also work collaboratively on project implementation, continuous evaluation, and regular improvements. 2. Deliberate Learning: One of Amizades core assumptions is that context matters. We cooperate with community members and organizations to educate Amizade participants about local culture, local concerns, and local assets. 3. Intercultural Immersion and Exchange: Amizade encourages connections across cultures. Through cooperative service efforts, deliberate local learning, and in some cases, homestays, Amizade experiences ensure deep learning about cultural assumptions, worldviews, and of course the concerns and happiness that we all hold in common. 4. Consideration of Global Citizenship: Amizade invites all participants to reflect on fundamental human equality and how we might each work to build a world where human life is treated more equally across traditional cleavages of ethnicity, nation, class, or gender. Consideration of personal, political, and economic opportunities for enacting global citizenship provides Amizade participants with the opportunity to extend their global civic service beyond their Amizade program. 5. Reflective Inquiry: All of the preceding themes are woven together through a final core Amizade value, which is reflective inquiry. The questions we face when engaged in intercultural service around the world are often difficult. And it can be challenging to stay connected to global civic engagement after a short-term experience. But Amizade believes 2|Page

Integrated Education Program Description

strongly that it is important to continue asking: What is service? How have I learned from others cultures? What do I understand better about my own? How can I value others around the world, even from my home? What are the ways I can be a good global citizen right here? These are just a few examples, but Amizade encourages reflective inquiry throughout experiences and afterward. As a part of Amizades comprehensive service-learning program, our team has identified several interested universities to develop integrative practicums which will provide future practitioners of sustainability with real-world experience in the field of sustainable development. Additionally, this project will utilize Amizades existing relationships with universities across the country. Amizade collaborates with over fifty different colleges and universities each year, working directly with faculty members to plan meaningful service learning programs that integrate each faculty members own discipline and research area with intercultural immersion and community-driven service. Amizade has worked with faculty and administrators from West Virginia University, Arizona State University, Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, Central Michigan University, Community College of Allegheny County, Penn State University, George Washington University, Middlesex University Dubai, Roger Williams University, Santa Clara University, Slippery Rock University, Susquehanna University, University of California Los Angeles, University of Wyoming, West Point Academy, and many more.

Program Description
Develop Curriculum: This project will draw upon Sustainable Williamson and the CASE networks existing projects along with Amizades existing service learning pedagogy and curriculum. The resulting curriculum will be an integrative practicum unique to the issues of the Williamson and central Appalachia region that will provide future practitioners with real world experience in the field of sustainable development. Further, this curriculum will be designed to complement various academic disciplines allowing for the curriculum and program to be attractive to a variety of faculty, universities, and civic groups. Pilot Program: This project will culminate in the implementation of 1 or 2 (depending on group size) pilot programs. Arranged in collaboration with faculty and university partners, the pilot program will include program scholarships for student participants and may include faculty and administrators from other universities as part of their initial site visit. Faculty and Administrator Site Visits: This project will bring eight faculty and administrators from other interested universities around the country to participate in site visits. This will allow faculty and administrators to work with community members and program staff to develop appropriate programing and course work, integrated with established curriculum, for their students leading to future, incomegenerating programing. Future Programing: Stemming from the faculty and administrator site visits, as well as existing relationships with universities and civic groups, this project will establish the foundation for future program-fee based service-learning courses.

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