During the 2018–2019 academic year, Ramsey County partnered with the Resilient Communities Project (RCP) on 14 projects designed to advance and align the county's strategic priorities and goals of well-being, prosperity, opportunity and accountability. Twenty-five County staff participated in the partnership, working with more than 180 graduate, professional, and undergraduate students across 22 University of Minnesota courses representing 16 academic departments at the University.
Located in the heart of the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area, Ramsey County is the second-most-populous county in Minnesota and home to about 10% of the state’s residents. It is also the most racially and ethnically diverse county in the state, and is challenged with some of the highest areas of concentrated poverty in the metro area.
You can view a summary of the partnership and projects, or learn more about individual projects and news items about the partnership below.
Community Health and Safety
Building Community Resilience to Emergencies among Vulnerable Populations
Project Lead: Karma Kumlin-Diers, Emergency Management, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Coordinate efforts to build overall resilience in Ramsey County communities that will enhance resilience in times of natural or human-caused disaster. Identify, gather, aggregate and validate data to develop and map a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) of Ramsey County; identify other Ramsey County agencies that might make use of the SVI.
PA 8081-006: Planning and Public Policy Capstone (Instructor: Dr. Dan Milz) Spring 2019 | Final Report and Presentation
GEOG 5564: Urban Geographic Information Science and Analysis (Instructor: Dr. Ying Song) Spring 2019 | Social Vulnerability Team: Final Report, Presentation, and Poster | Critical Infrastructure Team: Final Report, Presentation, and Poster
Culturally-Appropriate Crisis Interventions
Project Lead: Nikki Miller, Crisis, CMH, and Mothers First Manager, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Create a better understanding of what culturally-responsive family model care looks like that combines research and direct community feedback; identify community groups and organizations that serve under-represented populations, design and conduct listening sessions or facilitated conversations, conduct literature reviews of existing research, and recommend strategies to increase access to county services.
SW 8352: Intervention Methods with Families (Instructor: Katrina Cisneros) Spring 2019 | Final Report and Presentation
FSOS 4294: Research Internship (Instructor: Dr. Sara Axtell) Spring 2019 | Final Report and Project Brief
Integrating Health and Justice: An Evaluation of Health Needs in Ramsey County’s Justice System
Project Lead: Katrina Mosser, Integrated Health and Justice Administrator, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Obtain and analyze data from the Adult Detention Center (ADC) to gain a better understanding of the health needs of individuals at the facility, propose strategies and interventions to reduce the prevalence of unmet health needs, and improve outcomes to realize Ramsey County’s vision of a community where all are valued and thrive.
PA 5162: Public Service Redesign Workshop (Instructor: Dr. Jodi Sandfort) Spring 2019 | Final report unavailable
Transportation and Housing
Removing Transportation Barriers to Employment Opportunities for WFS Program Participants
Project Lead: Max Holdhusen, Policy Analyst, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Conduct a needs and barriers assessment on transportation resources through focus groups with Ramsey County Workforce Solutions (WFS) program participants and better involve businesses in the suburban Ramsey County region who face challenges in recruiting and maintaining job seekers due to a lack of public transportation options.
PA 5041: Qualitative Research Methods (Instructor: Dr. Greta Friedmann-Sanchez) Spring 2019 | Final Report, Presentation, and Poster
OLPD 5696: Internship: Human Resource Development (Instructor: Dr. Rosemarie Park) Spring 2019 | Final Report
GEOG 5564: Urban Geographic Information Science and Analysis (Instructor: Dr. Ying Song) Spring 2019 | Spatial Mismatch Team: Final Report, Presentation, and Poster | Service-Area Accessibility Team: Final Report, Presentation, and Poster
Stability Starts with a Place Called Home
Project Lead: Maria Wetherall, Director, Veterans Services Office, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Develop a literature review on housing stability-related initiatives external to Ramsey County and an evaluation of local housing and homelessness research. Including recommendations to align and leverage county programs with external initiatives and assistance with planning and executing a 2018 community convening on housing stability.
PA 8081-004: Capstone Workshop: Evaluating Homelessness Policy (Instructor: Dr. Maria Hanratty) Spring 2019 | Final Report, Presentation, and Handout
GIS as a Communication Tool: Designing and Developing a Construction Map
Project Lead: Matt Koukol, GIS Manager
Project Goal: Create a single application and map where the county and all cities can add and update their construction plans and progress with a public interface that allows residents to see current and planned projects.
GIS 5574 Web GIS and Services (Instructor: Justin Hansen) Fall 2018 | Final Presentation
Energy and Climate
Exploring the Use of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program for Multifamily Buildings
Project Lead: Mary Lou Egan, Community and Economic Development Specialist, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Identify barriers for residential usage of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program, identify successful national case studies of multifamily projects that utilized PACE, and make recommendations for how PACE could be used specifically for affordable housing developments and naturally-occurring affordable housing (NOAH) in Ramsey County.
PA 5721 Energy Systems & Policy (Instructor: Jennifer Edwards) Fall 2018 | Final Report
PA 5261: Housing Policy (Instructor: Dr. Ed Goetz) Spring 2019 | Final Report
Opportunities for City and County Collaboration on Climate Resiliency
Project Lead: Mary T’Kach, Energy and Sustainability Planner, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Help determine what role Ramsey County can play to help cities within the county optimize resources, leverage the work of the county and others in energy, resiliency and climate vulnerability work and accelerate results across the county. Also help identify cities within the county interested in working collaboratively with other local units of government to further their work on climate resiliency and adaptation.
SUST 4004: Sustainable Communities (Instructor: Amir Nadav) Spring 2019 | Final Report and Poster
PA 8081: Capstone Workshop: Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (Instructor: Fred Rose) Spring 2019 | Final Report, Presentation, Handout, and Poster
Environmental Stewardship
Innovative Storm Water Management Practices for the Rush Line Bus Rapid Transit Project
Project Lead: Frank Alarcon, Transit Planning Specialist, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Analyze and provide recommendations for pursuing key partnerships, developing stormwater management techniques and establishing stormwater management principles, beyond just mitigation, to guide decisions throughout the corridor.
SUST 4004: Sustainable Communities (Instructor: Amir Nadav) Spring 2019 | Final Report
Making Connections: Reducing Food Waste While Improving Food Security
Project Lead: Rae Eden Frank, Environmental Health Supervisor, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Research information concerning wasted food and the challenges that exist in getting it to sources where it can be distributed for human consumption; conduct interviews with local businesses and organizations to get a picture of the local landscape and identify issues specific to this region.
Economic Development Fellows (EDF): (Team Lead: Matt Lupini) Fall 2018 | Final Report, Presentation, Project Brief, and Poster
Evaluating the Impact of the Environmental Response Fund (ERF) in Ramsey County
Project Lead: Mary Lou Egan, Community and Economic Development Specialist, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Assess and evaluate the outcomes of Environmental Response Fund (ERF) funded projects post-2012 and how they compare to the proposal in the application.
Economic Development Fellows (EDF): (Team Lead: Angelo Yuan) Fall 2018 | Final Report and Poster
Inclusive and Meaningful Community Engagement
Empowering Citizens to Vote
Project Lead: Joe Mansky, Elections Manager, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Analyze the reasons for chronically low rates of registration and participation by young voters in Saint Paul Ward 1, Precinct 9, located in the Frogtown neighborhood; develop and implement a marketing plan to encourage more young voters to register and vote in state, city and school district elections.
POL 1914: Generation Now: Young Adult Political Action in America (Instructor: Dr. Scott Abernathy) Fall 2018 | Final Report, Presentation, and Poster
PA 8081: Election Administration Capstone Workshop (Instructor: Doug Chapin) Spring 2019 | Final Report and Presentation
Exploring Attitudes Toward a Modern Street Car Line along West 7th Street
Project Lead: Frank Alarcon, Transit Planning Specialist, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Examine stakeholder concerns regarding the loss of on-street parking that could affect access to businesses and create parking spillover into adjacent neighborhoods to acquire a deeper understanding and assist in the process of preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).
RCP Graduate Research Project (Advisor: Mike Greco) Fall 2018 | Final Report
DES 3331: Street Life Urban Design Seminar (Instructor: Jen Krava) Spring 2019 | Final Report
ARCH 3756/5756: Public Interest Design: Principles and Practices (Instructor: James Wheeler & Dr. Kristine Miller) Spring 2019 | Final Report
Putting Residents First: Accessibility of County Service Facilities
Project Lead: Max Holdhusen, Policy Analyst, Ramsey County
Project Goal: Identify locations for effective and equitable county service facilities and explore private redevelopment of other county-owned properties.
GIS 5578: GIS Programming (Instructor: Dr. David Haynes) Fall 2018 | Final Report, Presentation, and Poster
GEOG 8290: Urban Mobility and Accessibility (Instructor: Dr. Ying Song) Fall 2018 | Final Report
RCP-Ramsey County Partnership in the News
- University of Minnesota students consider stormwater strategies for Rush Line BRT Project, Ramsey County Website, April 2019
- UMN class collaborates on streetcar project, Minnesota Daily, March 6, 2019
- Learning to Listen: Students Work to Uncover Barriers to Voting in St. Paul, RCP Blog Post, December 12, 2018
- Counties Are Part of Partnership with UMN, Access Press: Minnesota's Disability Community News Source, May 10, 2018
- Scott, Ramsey counties to tap U of M expertise to gain resilience, Minnesota Public Radio, May 6, 2018
- UMN community partnership program to work with two counties, Minnesota Daily, May 2, 2018