By Jonathan London, with assistance from Libby O’Sullivan and Chris Benner

How can university teaching and research be made more relevant to the struggles of low-income communities and communities of color? How can university students apply and complement their “book learning” with hands-on experience on social equity issues?

These are big questions with complex and incomplete answers, but some important steps on this road have been taken by the UC Davis Community Development Graduate Group (CDGG) Masters program. In each of the last three years, a professional skills class focused on transportation and regional equity has engaged graduate students, professors, and regional advocates in a mutual process of teaching and learning culminating in projects that have informed advocacy and capacity-building efforts. The class is based on a partnership with the UC Davis Center for Regional Change (CRC), a solutions-oriented research institute dedicated to informing healthy, sustainable, and equitable regions, and the Coalition on Regional Equity (CORE), which advocates for regional change that is equitable and sustainable and promotes public health for lower income people and communities of color in the greater Sacramento Region. Continue reading. . .