| Note from the Director | Dear IISC friends and partners,
Over the past year, the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities continued to demonstrate what is possible when Iowa communities and University of Iowa students, faculty, and staff work side-by-side. This year’s projects across eight Iowa communities reflect the breadth of issues facing Iowa community leaders as they work to help their communities thrive. As I crisscrossed the state over the last two weeks to attend project presentations, I realized once again how fortunate I am to do this work.
Each year the IISC partnerships look and feel quite different since we base our project list on community-identified needs and opportunities. This spring we had the pleasure of meeting with city administrators, mayors, city council members, and non-profit leaders who shared with us their vision for their communities along with very real challenges as we discussed how IISC could serve as a resource and partner. I am pleased to announce our 2026-2027 IISC partner communities: Granger, Lyon County, and Ottumwa! See below for more information about our upcoming partnerships. We can't wait to get started.
Travis Kraus
Director, IISC | | | | IISC heads to Granger, Lyon County, and Ottumwa!
For the first time since 2016, IISC will engage in academic year partnerships with three communities. IISC received strong interest from communities throughout the state. Partnering with Granger, Lyon County, and Ottumwa will provide robust opportunities for students in departments across campus for hands-on, project-based learning. We know that students and faculty teams will bring energy, expertise, and curiosity into the partnerships. Lyon County, across the state from the University of Iowa, borders South Dakota in Iowa's northwest corner. Ottumwa is a city in southeastern Iowa with a strong industrial and cultural history. And Granger is a small community near Des Moines with opportunities for growth given it's proximity to the metro area. Each community brings unique assets and opportunities for partnership.
A full slate of projects will be announced this fall. | | | For this year’s partnership with the City of West Branch, community leaders and residents gathered alongside faculty and students to celebrate a remarkable amount of work together – more than 10,000 hours toward 19 community projects completed by 137 students and faculty from 6 campus units. Projects included a comprehensive plan, housing needs assessment, utility evaluation and replacement study, street streetscaping designs and plans, and a public tree inventory among many others.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP
The students' work for West Branch, including their final presentations (slides and posters), reports, and, when applicable, design drawings will be posted on the IISC website by the end of July. | | | | In May 2026, IISC bestowed awards to recognize important contributions this year. Fern Bultema, a Master of Public Affairs Student (MPA '26) was recognized for her leadership and talents as part of the capstone group project that worked on the West Branch Capital Improvement Plan and Fiscal Policy Analysis in addition to her service as an IISC graduate assistant and intern. Adam Skibbe, Earth & Environmental Sciences, was lauded for his outstanding work and service advising 23 GIS projects with IISC since 2018. We also recognized our partner Adam Kofoed, City Administrator of West Branch, and the City of West Branch for critical contributions to making the partnership a success. | | | In addition to our full partnership with West Branch, IISC supported an additional 11 projects in 7 Iowa communities. For one project, Engineering students created designs for two parks along the Maquoketa River in Manchester, in collaboration with the Manchester Vitality Endowment. Additional Engineering capstone projects included park and trail design projects in Bondurant, a baseball and softball quadplex design and plans in Maquoketa, a public service building design with the City of Granger, and more. Planning & Public Affairs students completed projects focused on building community capacity including a collaboration with the Jackson County Economic Alliance (JCEA) that explored strategies for strengthening inter-organizational collaboration. | | | |
