What does it mean to "deepen impact"?

The Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) has a 27-year history of fostering relationships between rural leadership and the University of Minnesota. This work exists to empower sustainability and resiliency throughout Minnesota. Based on input from stakeholders, RSDP recently took a step forward and launched the “Deepening Impact” pilot initiative.

“The theme of ‘deepening impact’ is years in the making,” says Connie Carlson, assistant statewide director. “We are always seeking out how to best support Minnesota’s rural communities through RSDP’s unique set of resources. With thoughtful input from staff, partners, boards and working groups, the pilot initiative emerged.”

Every year, RSDP partners with the community to support a broad spectrum of sustainability projects. But for 2024, the pilot program is focusing on deepening the areas of work where rural communities have identified the need for more long-term support. This means community-led projects that may engage new University partners, continue work already underway or advance pivotal next steps.

“At this point, it’s still a pilot and not a permanent change to our process,” says Carlson. “We continue to listen to our community partners to understand whether this is meeting our goals of deepening our relationships and impact. Projects are still unfolding and we’re excited by what we’re seeing.”

Step by step

In St. Cloud, a sustainability project focused on building bridges for a historically underserved group is currently underway. Community Grassroots Solutions (CGS) is a local organization that provides support to Somali and African immigrants. In 2023, CGS partnered with RSDP on a project to help immigrant communities learn more about clean energy. The project also established pathways for Somali community members to access clean energy’s growing career field and work opportunities.

“The community is learning step by step, and we at CGS are also learning in the process,” says CGS Executive Director, Abdiaziz Odiriye. “Since being involved with RSDP and CERTs, we’ve had the chance to learn from a lot of resources, a lot of experts and a lot of organizations. So we are very excited to be involved in the program and a lot of people in the community love the program.”

With a successful clean energy outreach project complete and mounting interest from the local Somali community, taking part in RSDP’s Deepening Impact pilot program was a natural next step for CGS. The organization applied and was selected to continue its work, focusing on providing technical and educational support for clean energy opportunities and solutions. 

Additionally, the team is working with a UMN graduate student. Ural Kafle is pursuing his master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning with the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He is working with CGS to create culturally appropriate information, tools and resources for community members.

“The first year was focused on sharing information with the community, mainly through talks,” recalls Odiriye. “From that, the community understands the basis of clean energy. Now the second year is focused on engaging. This will help the community benefit from resources, from training, and from expert information. That’s the priority and that’s why this second year is so important.”

According to Odiriye, the pilot program is an opportunity to capitalize not only on community momentum, but also the chance to keep growing a meaningful and fruitful partnership.

“We’ve had such good experiences with both RSDP and CERTs,” he says. “The people are available anytime we need evaluation or support. They’re not only supporting the program with seed grant funding, but also always engaging, helping and communicating.”