About 60 members of the UMass faculty and staff and the wider Pioneer Valley community attended a panel discussion last week that addressed ways that social scientists from the university are conducting research in and partnering with the city of Springfield, Mass. Two members of the Center for Public Policy and Administration faculty sat on the panel.
Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy welcomed the audience, reminding the crowd that UMass has a long history of working with the neighboring towns and communities in mutual partnership. He stressed that the relationship can’t be one way, and that UMass has neither the funds nor the ability to fix widespread problems by itself. But the chancellor also said that he remains optimistic about the work that UMass can do in Springfield.
“As a land grant university, we can’t change everything, but we can be the catalyst,” Subbaswamy said.
That is the idea behind the UMass-Springfield partnership, which was formalized in 2010. At that time, university and city officials agreed to promote collaborations that would lead to the revitalization of Springfield’s economy. The goals of the partnership include positioning the city in the long term as a center for environmentally beneficial green industries; boosting the city’s arts and creative economy; and expanding relevant university teaching and outreach initiatives.
CPPA Researcher Fred Rose, one of last week’s panelists, is directly involved with efforts to revive Springfield’s economy. Rose co-directs the Wellspring Collaborative, an economic development project that aims to strengthen the area’s local economy by channeling the purchasing power of Springfield’s largest employers through new worker-owned businesses in city neighborhoods.
Another panel participant was Assistant Professor Frank Sleegers (landscape architecture and regional planning), who works with the Springfield-based UMass Design Center. The center is a collaborative effort between UMass Extension, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, the Art and Architecture program and the City of Springfield Planning Department. Together, they are working to revitalize the cultural and commercial heart of the city.
The final panelist was Associate Professor Sylvia Brandt (resource economics and public policy), who spoke about childhood asthma in Springfield. Through partnerships with Springfield-area health care facilities, Brandt has worked directly with many families in the city who have children with asthma. She cited that Springfield is the 12th worst city in the U.S. to live in for asthma sufferers, because manufacturing and traffic-related pollution, among other factors, irritate their sensitive airways.
The panel was hosted by the UMass Institute for Social Science Research. By highlighting the work of three social scientists who are conducting research through public engagement projects in Springfield, the event aimed to address the needs and strengths of the city, and to assess the current state of the UMass-Springfield partnership.