CBL Grants

Co-Create: Community-Based & Applied Research Lab
Amy Hilgendorf, Associate Director of the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies

This new course, “Co-Create: Community-Based & Applied Research Lab,” in which upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Human Ecology programs can practice applied research, evaluation, and outreach skills in the service of community partners. This will be a course-based adaptation of our center’s Co-Create initiative, in which staff leverage the toolbox of community-based and applied research to answer nonprofit organizations’ practical questions. Co-Create projects have included program evaluations, needs assessments, research-informed program development, and stakeholder engagement efforts, among others. Students who work on our Co-Create teams regularly report on the value of these applied experiences to their skill development and their understanding of the challenges of the third sector and ways to address them. Through this course version, they will be able to extend this opportunity for hands-on learning to more students, especially students in the Community and Nonprofit Leadership BS and certificate programs and Human Ecology MS programs, who will apply these skills in their future work, and in the Civil Society & Community Research PhD and Community Engaged Scholarship PhD minor programs, in which future researchers will enhance their skills for community partnership. They also hear from many nonprofit organizations and community groups who have interest in Co-Create project partnerships but do not currently have funds for contracting with them in the current structure. Accordingly, this course can extend real world impact to more nonprofit organizations and community groups, especially to BIPOC-led, small, and/or newer organizations who may benefit most.

Mindfulness & Restorative Environments
Nathan Larson, Planning and Landscape Architecture

In this experiential learning course, students will explore the intersection of mindfulness practices and design of restorative environments that support well-being in public places—including school gardens and parks—with a focus on health equity and social justice. Students will co-design restorative environments through a participatory planning process with partners at two school communities in the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and with members of the Mindfulness in MMSD team.