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By 2050, an estimated 6.3 billion people or 66% of the world population will live in cities. Therefore, cities are in a high impact position regarding sustainability. The question is, how do we increase awareness of the sustainability challenge among these populations and gain citywide buy-in and multi-stakeholder collaboration to address this challenge? The Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) at the University of Oregon offers one approach to tackle this issue by matching higher education institutions (HEI’s), with local and regional cities to address their sustainability related needs through publicly engaged scholarship. The objective of this research was to examine how SCYP contributes to strategic sustainable development (SSD). Our research methods included a peer-reviewed literature review, semi-structured interviews, surveys and further document review. Our sources included SCYP co-founders, partner city program managers, strategic sustainable development experts, and municipal planners from around the world. Our research suggests that SCYP creates a subtle paradigm shift towards sustainability among partner city staff and community members while accelerating practical implementation of sustainability related projects. Furthermore, the added layer of SSD concepts can increase the efficacy of this approach and allow the model to embrace a larger systems level perspective over time.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This research focused on understanding the process of nonprofit growth through geographic expansion, including challenges, opportunities, and critical decision points. A qualitative case study design was used. City Year and Citizen Schools, two Boston based, youth-serving organizations, served as the subjects of this study. Data collection included interviews with founders/leaders, board members, staff members, and other key informants; observation; and a review of internal and external documents. Using the principles of grounded theory, a Preliminary Nonprofit Geographic Expansion Model was developed through analysis of the two cases. Several major themes that emerged from the analysis were explored. This discussion of themes led to a Revised Nonprofit Geographic Expansion Model. Further study is required to test the generalizability of the Revised Nonprofit Expansion Model and relevant insights. / 2031-01-02