The UO’s Sustainable City Year Program will kick off a one-year collaboration with the city of Albany at a special event Thursday, Sept. 29.

At this event, city staff and faculty will describe upcoming projects, ranging from economic development to parks and recreation planning to catalytic design projects for the city. It takes place at 3:30 p.m. in the atrium of the Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes.

During the partnership, students and faculty will pour 40,000 hours of work into the city. Hundreds of students during the 2016-17 academic year will work on applied projects that focus on real-world issues students investigate and then recommend sustainability-focused solutions.

The Sustainable City Year Program was developed by the university in 2009 and has worked with the cities of Redmond, Medford, Salem, Springfield and Gresham. This large-scale university-community partnership model is also now being adopted and adapted by more than 25 universities throughout the U.S. and internationally.

In 2014, several of these universities formed the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network. This partnership will help universities across the country address sustainability practices while educating and training the next generation.