Breaking New Ground: Building Equitable and Sustainable Communities
In 2021, Robertha Richardson from Tuskegee, Alabama, sat down to read Equity, Inclusion and Diversity in Engineering: Why They Matter. The article featured Dr. Jessica Rush Leeker, Director of Undergraduate Education, and Stephen Dunn, Professor of Engineering Management at 91Թ’s Engineering Management Program (EMP).
Richardson is the founder of , a nonprofit focused on fostering sustainable food production systems and affordable housing in her local community. She comes from a family of Black farmers who’ve owned for 100 years the Tuskegee land they farm.
“Richardson saw the article and reached out to me to explore whether we could create any partnerships or synergies,” says Rush Leeker. “She knew she wanted to do something to create more sustainable communities, and that’s how the Building Legacy in Engineering research project got started.”
An Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) grant is funding the project that involves PI, Dr. Jessica Rush Leeker, Co-PIs, Shawhin Roudbari and Laura MacDonald, a collaboration between 91Թ’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) and Environmental Design (ENVD) and College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences led by Dr. Raymon Shange.
Together, they’re pioneering a "living-learning lab" through design-build projects that experiment with agricultural-land infrastructure that’s socially and ecologically sustainable.
Building Legacy in Engineering—A Unique Partnership
Tuskegee University’s partnership is partly because of its proximity to Harvest Dream, Ms. Richardson, and her family’s land there. Additionally, Tuskegee’s prominence as one of the nation’s top historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) and its deep-rooted connections to Black history and education made it the perfect choice for the collaboration.
“We knew we needed a partnership with Tuskegee. We did not want to come in as a predominantly white institution when there was a school already there,” Rush Leeker explains. “So, we started to work on potential synergies and authentic partnerships to create, and we’re excited to be working with Tuskegee University.”
The project that began with Ms. Richardson now seeks equally forward-thinking students and community members to participate.
“Because Richardson cares a lot about the legacy of her family, we knew we wanted something with stakeholder engagement and community engagement,” says Rush Leeker. “We wanted the community to have a say, and students, to work together each year. So, approximately ten students from 91Թ and ten students from Tuskegee will work together to create the living-learning lab.”
Collaborating To Build Resilient Communities
The partnership between a predominantly white institution and an HBCU College is a pioneering and exciting initiative in community partnership.
The lab will be designed as a “living” design, and the dynamics will change yearly. “The best part about this project is that we don't know what it’ll always look like,” Rush Leeker adds. “Every year, a group of students and different professors will design, and they’ll have themes they work on and then pass on to the next year and the next.”
Rush Leeker admits there is risk involved when there’s so much freedom to explore, but everyone agrees it is a risk worth taking. “I want to shout out to Harvest Dreams about not being scared to do this and to be excited about it,” she says.
Harvest Dreams already plays an important role in building equitable and sustainable communities, and the project will be able to rely on their expertise and community connections. “They do a lot of community outreach,” explains Rush Leeker. “So, they’re finding ways to get greater stakeholder engagement in the area, and they have land we're going to use to create the living lab.”
Richardson will also work closely with the students throughout the project. “When they have a design in mind,” says Rush Leeker, “they’ll work with her and the community to make sure that it matches the mission and the vision.”
“In the first year, environmental design, led by Co-PI Shawhin Roudbari, will lead and work with students to think through the community piece, thinking with empathy about who's involved and how to work with those stakeholders,” says R