The year-long capstone projects by urban planning graduate students in the School of Planning and Public Affairs (SPPA) are receiving considerable media attention this fall. These real-world projects have been selected from community applications and organized by the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities.

The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier and KGAN in Cedar Rapids have run stories spotlighting three projects in partnership with the City of Waterloo. Additionally, the Maquoketa’s Sentinel-Press has given attention to another group of second-year graduate students working on forming a Maquoketa Watershed Management Plan. An additional project, a sustainability plan, is being executed by students for the City of Manchester.

Each project this year by SPPA includes five masters students, three faculty members and one alumni mentor. Every project process utilizes engaged learning, transforming teaching and enhances sustainability across the state. By the end of their work for communities next spring, the students’ undertaking, with faculty input along the way, will result in a high quality, professional report for each community. The opportunity to complete hands-on work, solving a real problem, gives Iowa’s planning students uncommon and advantageous preparation for their first job after graduation.