Research

With metropolitan areas gaining an increasing share of the national and global population and unprecedented challenges from increasing poverty and climate change, urban and rural areas are at a time of rapid change. Government at multiple levels is turning its attention to these challenges and searching for the best approaches for enabling transition to an equitable, resilient future. Many challenges found in the Michiana region, from urban to rural, are also common in other regions – particularly in the Great Lakes and industrial legacy areas of the United States. As such, the CCI research agenda is driven by regional needs and national interests, with broad research domains including: Safe, Affordable, and Efficient Housing; Urban Environmental Sustainability and Resilience; Equitable Community Health & Wellness and Data-Informed Decision Support for Community Development. Although we have identified four core domains, we recognize that they are fundamentally and inextricably linked. Consequently, the CCI prioritizes research aims that touch more than one domain at a time. 

The Center for Civic Innovation focuses on building partnerships in the Michiana region around issues relevant to these challenges and generalizable to many communities throughout the country. Our approach is collaborative. As such, we operate from and contribute to the science of co-creation of knowledge among academic institutions, government, community organizations, and industry, through forming and maintaining a network of these partners for ongoing, iterative, and shifting research needs.