The University of Denver (DU) is taking an innovative, community-engaged approach to its institution-wide grand challenge initiative. Programming across DU Grand Challenges is grounded in principles of mutually beneficial and reciprocal community-university collaboration. This community-engaged approach is highlighted in the Collective Impact Cohorts, which bring together community and university voices to develop and implement an action plan to improve daily living.

Members of the Crime and Safety Cohort Discuss Ideas Moving Forward

Building upon what was learned in the Aspirations phase of the Improving Daily Living issue area, the Actions phase comprises a structured, facilitated collective impact process that engages communities, faculty, staff and students.

Each of four Cohorts is tackling one issue central to daily living: 1) crime and safety, 2) migration, 3) environmental sustainability in an urban environment, and 4) housing and food insecurity. Each Cohort is charged with developing a proposal for specific actions that substantively address these issues. Cohort participants will also identify and connect with people engaged in synergistic work to build distributed networks that incorporate existing projects and seed new projects that connect back to the Cohorts’ issue areas.

Sustainability Cohort Members Brainstorm Areas of Overlap in their Work

To read more about the Collective Impact Cohorts and their members, check out the Bridge article here.