UR Action has partnered with Georgetown University in DC and Wilson College in Franklin County, PA since 2019 to implement a joint service learning course with students from Georgetown's Environmental Justice course and Wilson's Food, Culture, and Society class. Students analyze the interrelated dynamics that cause food injustice in DC and Franklin County, PA and work with community organizations in both areas to improve food justice.

Program goals:

1. ​ Enhance students' context analysis and project design skills, including comparative urban/rural analysis of food/environmental challenges and solutions
​2. Apply in-classroom learning on project design and food justice to an intervention that strengthens local community efforts and/or uses advocacy and communication to achieve broader impact
​3. Strengthen relationships among Georgetown and Wilson students and faculty, and among public sector, private sector, and civil society actors in DC and Franklin County ​
​4. Amplify environmental bridge-building opportunities by connecting people around a shared ecology (including across urban/rural spheres)

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Summary of program activities:

1. ​ Community organizations + local public officials share local analyses of food justice in Washington, DC and Franklin County, PA
2. Wilson students and Georgetown students use that knowledge to conduct systems maps to explore the causes and effects of food injustice in Franklin County, PA and Washington DC, respectively. Students share their respective systems maps to examine similarities and differences across urban and rural communities.
3. Wilson and Georgetown students design food justice projects in collaboration with local partners. 
4. Student teams implement projects with local partners to reduce food waste and raise awareness about food injustice. ​Students share successes and challenges in addressing food justice across urban and rural areas.

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"The UR Action team created an amazing 'hands-on' learning experience for our students that all of us hope we can reproduce at other campuses around the country (the long-term goal)" 

Franklin County, PA

• Population density: 168 people per square mile
• 89% white, 5% Hispanic, 4% black
• Median property value: $176,000
• President Trump won 71% of the vote in '16. ​

Washington, D.C.

• Population density: 11,535 people per square mile
• 48% black, 40% white
• Median property value: $563,000
• President Trump won 4% of the vote in '16. ​