Southwest Minnesota residents with an idea to strengthen sustainability in their community can now apply for partnership support from the University of Minnesota Extension Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, or Southwest RSDP.
Southwest RSDP supports local innovation by connecting community ideas to University of Minnesota resources. Community members work on diverse project teams that research, design and plan local sustainability projects with university students, faculty and staff.
Southwest RSDP has several resource opportunities to support community-university partnerships. Residents and organizations are encouraged to submit their sustainability project ideas through the RSDP idea brief application. The RSDP annual call for ideas has supported hundreds of sustainability projects in the southwest region for over 25 years.
RSDP is also seeking applications from local farmers interested in building a deep winter greenhouse using the latest University researched design. Additionally, RSDP is launching a new program, “Empowering Small Minnesota Communities,” to help small Minnesota communities benefit from federal, state and local investments. This program is seeking applications from communities interested in collaborating with the University to advance or plan projects that support sustainable economic, social, or transportation infrastructure.
Applications for all resources are being accepted through Feb. 14. Call (320) 235-0726 ext. 2012 to learn more.
