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” ().