ISU Extension and City of Fairfield Announce Partnership on Sustainability
9/30/2009
FAIRFIELD, Iowa – Appointment of an Iowa State University Extension program specialist to oversee community sustainability efforts has been announced by the City of Fairfield and ISU Extension.
Scott Timm, Community and Economic Development specialist, assumed the duties of the new position on Sept. 8 and is based at the Jefferson County Extension Office in Fairfield. Timm said Extension has long been a partner and resource in the community and is pleased to expand its presence in the areas of sustainable living and energy efficient technology.
Fairfield is a progressive community in southeast Iowa, home to the Maharishi University of Management and a thriving community of artists. It is also known for its efforts to become more sustainable.
The program specialist position is funded primarily from an Iowa Power Fund Grant awarded to Fairfield by the Iowa Office of Energy Independence, with additional support coming from private contributions, the City of Fairfield and ISU Extension. The Iowa Power Fund grant funds a sustainable-city demonstration project, including an education component in the form of a Sustainable Learning and Visitors Center.
Fairfield’s ongoing relationship with ISU made creating a shared ISU Extension program specialist position a logical part of implementing its strategic plan.
“In 2008 we appointed a commission to do a comprehensive strategic plan,” said Ed Malloy, mayor of Fairfield. “We wanted to include everything that comes under the umbrella of sustainability and a green community.”
The commission identified three goals for the plan: to foster and maintain a culture of sustainability; to create jobs, wealth and opportunities for investment with sustainable development; and to achieve sustainable community design and public policy and infrastructure.
The charge handed to Timm is a familiar one. For the last four years he has served as the Director of Cloud Forest School, a Pre K-11th grade, environmentally-focused school in Monteverde, Costa Rica. He has supervised multiple initiatives on sustainability, including community outreach, fundraising, curriculum development and program implementation.
While in Costa Rica, Timm sought grant funding to build alternative energy resources on the Cloud Forest School campus, including solar power for an environmental education building, a biodiesel processor that reuses local restaurant oil for school buses, and a wind turbine to power three high school buildings. Additionally, he forged partnerships with organizations locally and abroad, as well as public and private schools and universities.
Timm is based in Fairfield at the Jefferson County Extension Office, 2606 W. Burlington Avenue, and is responsible for encouraging and facilitating community sustainability programs initiated by businesses, industry and other organizations in Fairfield and southeast Iowa.
In this new role, Timm is hitting the ground running. “What Scott will start with is the Strategic Plan and the Power Fund project,” said Malloy.
For additional information about Fairfield's sustainability initiatives, visit www.renewfairfield.com/
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Contacts :
Scott Timm, Community and Economic Development, (641) 472-4166, stimm@iastate.edu
Lois Hunt, ISU Extension Partnership Collaborator, (641) 777-1078, loish@iastate.edu
Sandra Oberbroeckling, Community and Economic Development, (515) 294-3721, soberbr@iastate.edu
Amber Bisinger, Communications and External Relations, (319) 377-9839, bisinger@iastate.edu