SPOTLIGHT

ESLARP, in collaboration with the Community Informatics Initiative and Department of Landscape Architeture, will be supporting a Design Workshop and Seminar on Sao Tome starting this December.  This is the outcome of a collaboration has been growing for several years now between faculty and students from the University of Illinois and governmental and non-governmental organizations in São Tomé, an island nation off the coast of West Africa.

Professors Laura Lawson, Rebecca Ginsberg, and Lynne Dearborn will be the team leaders on a unique interdisiplinary design opportunity.  Participants will travel to São Tomé during winter break and work will continue throughout the spring semester.  Find out how to apply for the Design Workshop and Seminar.

 ESLARP in Action Blog

The People of ESLARP

The East St. Louis Action Research Project (ESLARP) is a Community Engagement program within the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Under the direction of the ESLARP Director, a group of diverse faculty from across the University work together in an effort to provide expertise in their specific fields to address the immediate and long-term needs of marginalized communities. The ESLARP Director seeks advice from a Campus Advisory Committee (CAC) which meets regularly during the semester.

ESLARP staff (on and off campus) work with an ever-increasing number of residents and neighborhood organizations engaging in physical, economic or social development projects. ESLARP partners with residents, non-profit groups, faith-based organizations and municipal agencies in formulating strategies for meeting needs in the areas of community capacity building, neighborhood planning, urban design and construction, grant writing, parks and open space and digital information and technology.

ESLARP Graduate Assistants work closely with neighborhood organizations while providing valuable research activities to community partners. In addition to meeting the needs of their partners, students gain valuable knowledge by experiencing real-life situations in their community partners.