Each year the University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) supports community-driven projects in our four focus areas.
These projects foster innovation, deepen understanding and build relationships that empower Greater Minnesota communities to advance their future sustainability.
We support approximately 125-150 projects around the state in any given year. All of our projects connect community partners and ideas to University of Minnesota resources. In many cases, we link projects to students and faculty who can work with partners to shape and carry out their project vision. We work in partnership with communities, bringing together diverse teams who collaborate through the life of a project.
Community projects are reviewed and approved by our five regional boards. We also conduct food systems and clean energy work on a statewide basis. Learn more about how we work
By the numbers 2026
In fiscal year 2026, RSDP:
- Supported 219 place-based sustainability projects across Minnesota.
- Engaged 433 community partners and 153 university partners.
- Supported projects in 198 cities, towns and Native nations.
- Developed research reports that were downloaded more than 17,000 times.
- Partnered with two Minnesota farms to build two farm-scale deep winter greenhouses.
- Shared deep winter greenhouse blueprints through 4,500 public downloads.
- Engaged 51 university students in working with communities.
- Supported communities with 18,000 volunteer hours contributed by board and work group members across Greater Minnesota. (2025 Federal Reporting)
- Helped Minnesotans save or offset 64.1 billion BTUs of energy through the work of the Clean Energy Resource Teams.
Reviewed in 2026