MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Iowa’s urban communities are known for having more entertainment, dining, education and networking options for young professionals. But Jackson County leaders say they have amenities to offer that big cities can’t. And they want young people to know about them. The Jackson County Economic Alliance is teaming up with the University of Iowa Outreach’s Iowa Initiative for...

Washington, IA, an IISC community partner in 2013-2014, passed a hotel/motel tax this week, which is another example of a successful IISC project. Prof. Rachel Young and her Strategic Communications Campaigns course worked with the Chamber of Commerce to identify appropriate messaging to ensure the tax would pass a public vote. For many years the residents of Washington were opposed to a hotel...

Two University of Iowa art students celebrated the completion of their mural in Downtown Clinton, Iowa with a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 6th, 2017. Ali Hval was selected by the Office of Outreach & Engagement to design and install the mural, and she recruited fellow artist and MFA student Marina Ross to provide assistance. The project was made possible by a collaboration between two...

Through a partnership between Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) and East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA), eight University of Iowa graduate students collaborated with Delmar city officials, residents, and 4th-6th grade students to record interviews of longtime Delmar residents, or “storytellers”. The purpose of the project, conducted during the Spring 2017 semester...

Driving down Main Street in Delmar, Iowa, is a lot like the drive through many small rural towns across the state. There a few remaining buildings from a bygone era: the church, the school, the convenience store. But to understand Delmar—to really get to know what it’s all about—you have to get out of the car. You have to walk around. You have to find the people who call it home and, when you do...

Lucie Laurian, associate professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning, received the 2016-2017 annual Faculty Service Award presented by the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC). The award is presented to one faculty member each academic year and recognizes the recipient's commitment to community engagement and the impact of his or her project on students and the partnering...

University of Iowa students are partnering with communities in eastern Iowa to help local leaders identify abandoned properties and decide which ones hold the greatest potential for reuse. The properties the students are cataloging are called brownfields. These are sites where redevelopment has been complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or...

Leaders of Iowa City's downtown say a plan to bring recycling services to downtown alleyways next month should keep tons of recyclables out of the city's landfill while at the same time keeping alleys cleaner. Downtown District Executive Director Nancy Bird said the overall plan, which is expected to eventually include composting, is built on a 2015 study of garbage bins in downtown alleys...

The City of Maquoketa recently completed a $4 million renovation of its downtown, and city leaders want to show it off. To help, they’ve turned to the University of Iowa’s Marketing Institute and Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC), working with marketing students in the Tippie College of Business to develop a new brand and marketing strategy to attract more tourists.

Two groups of University of Iowa Graduate Students asked the public for feedback on plans they came up with for the City of Mason City, a partnering community with Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC). One of the groups is looking at the city’s comprehensive plan. The other is focused on a first of its kind sustainability plan. Attendees had the opportunity to look at what the...