The Importance of City-University Partnerships

Posted by Shayna Pollock on January 29, 2011

At the City-University Partnerships: Best Practices in Urban Sustainability in Europe and the U.S. Conference, hosted by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, city and university leaders emphasized the importance of urban partnerships in generating successful cities. Wim Wiewel, Portland State University  (PSU) President and CEOs for Cities partner, talked about the importance of a seamless relationship between Portland and PSU in facilitating sustainable growth. In Portland, the city and the university are so well integrated that PSU graduates must complete a capstone within the community before receiving a diploma.

Leaders from Washington D.C., Philadelphia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden all further corroborated Wiewel’s points on the importance of integration of urban areas and surrounding universities for research and development. CEOs for Cities’ partnership network will see this model first-hand at our spring national meeting in Portland April 27-27, hosted by PSU.