Fertile Ground for Collaboration: Investing in Community–University Partnerships with Soil Money

摘要

Any avid gardener will tell you that planting seeds is not enough to ensure an abundant harvest. While you might get lucky and hit a patch of fertile ground, you will likely have more success if you first prepare the soil. Community–university partnerships (CUPs) require the same investment. Just as soil provides the physical foundation for plant growth, relationship building between communities and researchers provides the foundation for productive and sustained CUPs. In that vein, we argue that successful CUPs not only require seed money to initiate projects, but soil money to cultivate strong, resilient, and productive partnerships.