On October 14th, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel as part of Atlanta’s first ever Climate Week. The panel, organized by the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN) and co-hosted with RCE Greater Atlanta, included myself as a representative from academia, as well as representatives from Gwinnett County and the Atlanta Regional Commission. 

I truly believe in the power of research partnerships between academic researchers and local governments, with bidirectional benefits for both parties. Researchers are able to ground their work in real community needs and base results on real datasets. Municipalities are able to tap into the expertise and enthusiasm of researchers wanting to make a difference. 

On the panel, I gave examples of successful research partnerships with municipal organizations, including a project we had with the City of Atlanta on increasing resilience of interconnected critical infrastructure systems, as well as a large collaborative project building new curricula for youth to increase sustainability and resilience in coastal communities. 

It was great to hear about successes and challenges of promoting sustainability from the local, to regional, to statewide scale, both from my fellow panelists and from the engaged audience with representatives from across the state. Ongoing challenges highlighted included: motivating local stakeholders, working in smaller communities with limited resources and personnel, and adopting state-wide sustainability practices. 

As we continue to grapple with challenges to increase sustainability and resilience across communities, continuing to build academia-local government partnerships will both enhance the research questions and outcomes we as researchers are able to produce, and make sure our work serves to benefit municipalities across the State of Georgia. 

Interested in strengthening relationships between academia and local governments across the Atlanta region and State of Georgia to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals and support sustainability across the state? 

1. Join the RCE Greater Atlanta network: https://rcega.org/  
2. Send your ideas to Iris Tien: itien@ce.gatech.edu  
3. Send stories of your successes to Iris Tien for broader dissemination: itien@ce.gatech.edu