UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

University Faculty Contact
Barbara Duerst
Population Health Sciences

barbara.duerst@wisc.edu

Local Government / Community Contact
Lila Walsh

County Clerk Administrator
walsh.lila@countyofdane.com

The City of Monona, Wisconsin, a metropolitan suburb surrounded by the City of Madison, has a population of approximately 8,000 people—a population that is older and has a modest number of people with disabilities living in their community. The city has been trying to synthesize strategies which would benefit the seniors and people with disabilities in their city, along with improving resident health by revamping outdated, hazardous housing complexes throughout Monona. 

The UniverCity Year program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an Â鶹ĘÓƵ member, was created to help local government and community partners with identified sustainability and livability projects. Participating University faculty incorporate community-identified projects into classes, and provide students with on-the-ground experience in support of a more sustainable and livable future for the partnered community. 

During the 2016 to 2017 academic year, the City of Monona was chosen to partner with the UniverCity Year program due to its proximity to the university and for strong support from Mayor Bob Miller. 

Students assess health impacts throughout Monona

The UniverCity Year program partnered UW-Madison’s Spring 2017 Population Health 740: Health Impact Assessment of Global Environmental Change course with the City of Monona to investigate the effects produced by implementing public renovation projects. At the direction of Professor Jonathan Patz, students inspected the benefits which would be produced by draft plans created by Fall 2016 UniverCity Year undergraduate courses, as well as creating health impact assessments (HIA) for each. 

Students closely examined the following projects, creating HIAs for each: 

• Winnequah Park redesign
• Investment into and improvement of Monona’s lakeview parks
• Addressing the City of Monona’s housing issues

Refocusing Monona housing plans for the modern age  

Thanks to the completed HIAs, students found that numerous areas of Monona required renovation, from deteriorating neighborhoods and housing to public parks which were inaccessible to the elderly and people with disabilities. Professor Patz’s class produced insightful recommendations which could expand access to affordable housing, housing fitting for physical limitations, public recreational spaces, and safe, non-hazardous housing for all citizens of Monona—no matter their age, physical condition, or disability status. These included: 

• Encourage projects which increase recreational engagement to ensure all people can partake in healthy outdoor activities
• Redevelop neighborhoods to include senior housing, housing that accommodates people with disabilities, and housing that is affordable
• Renovate old housing units to remove potentially hazardous materials, replacing them with building materials beneficial to both environmental and human health

The recommendations provided by Professor Patz’s students have been presented to Monona officials and await further consideration. Students hope that their findings, presented thanks to the connection between UniverCity Year and Monona, can lead to actionable changes which will influence future housing plans, increasing resident health by improving accessibility to necessary housing and recreational opportunities. 

Read the full story of the partnership.

During the 2016 to 2017 academic year, the City of Monona was chosen to partner with the UniverCity Year program due to its proximity to the university and for strong support from Mayor Bob Miller ().

The City of Monona, Wisconsin, is a small community within Dane County with almost 8,000 residents. The city has many amenities to offer its population, from being located seven miles from the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to offering access to “over 330 acres of green space, including parks, woodlands, and wetlands.” () However, after more properties were annexed into the region during the mid-20th century, Monona could no longer expand.

Now the oldest community in Dane County, the City of Monona is “seeking solutions to its aging housing stock, how to grow without the ability to expand, and how to preserve its small-town community feel and natural resources during redevelopment” ().

UW-Madison faculty adapted thirty courses—from disciplines including public affairs, population health, life science communication, civil engineering, geography, and urban & regional planning—for the UniverCity Year partnership with Monona, which integrated various sustainability and livability projects, including efforts to:

• Increase the usability of public parks
• Ensure biking and walking routes are safe and accessible to all
• Improve the city’s digital resources for residents
• Inform redevelopment goals which address resident health and housing opportunities

Thanks to this extensive collaboration, the UniverCity Year program—administrative staff, professors, and undergraduate and graduate students—provided innumerable support to the City of Monona, resulting in considerable “on-the-ground impact and momentum for a community working toward a more sustainable and livable future” ().