Economic development. A quality education. A thriving arts scene. A healthy environment. Ability to rebound from a disaster. These are all things that go into making a community strong—and issues we tackle through community partnerships.
Indianapolis is a diverse community filled with people from different cultures and races.
These initiatives are designed to bring people together, helping us all to understand one another and band together to make our community stronger.
The IU Indianapolis International Festival, hosted by the Office of International Affairs, is an annual event for students, staff, faculty, and the community to celebrate the diversity of cultures on campus and connect to international opportunities and resources.
The festival is free and open to the public.
This organization strives to be a catalyst for civic engagement through creative collaborations among the arts, humanities, and religion.
Although its flagship event is the Spirit and Place Festival, it offers programming throughout the year.
Learn more about Spirit and PlaceThe IU Indianapolis Arts and Humanities Institute (IAHI) supports interdisciplinary research projects and creative activities in the arts and humanities.
It seeks to foster relationships with community partners that bring the university and city together, whether that’s by engaging in arts programming or working together on a research project.
The Community Engaged Research Group (CERG) was developed by the Office of Community Engagement and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
CERG develops, supports and sustains community-engaged research, community-based participatory research and creative activity at IUPUI.
Strong communities are built on thriving neighborhoods.
We work with nonprofit organizations and planning committees to develop frameworks and priorities for strengthening our neighborhoods.
Sometimes, that’s by working within community schools. Sometimes that’s by revitalizing a neighborhood through a community center. And often it's by bringing the right partners into the conversation.
Strong communities are economically sound communities.
To ensure our neighbors have all the opportunities they deserve, we partner with community organizations and research institutes to create economic growth in our area.
Our approach to resiliency is fueled by social equity—the human and natural systems and how they interact. Multiple research initiatives also explore how climate change affects urban life and well-being. Graduates from IU Indianapolis engage in internships and capstone courses that in part affect both the human and natural systems to foster sustainability.
At IU Indianapolis, we’re committed to leading the way when it comes to sustainability efforts by putting them into place on our campus. The Office of Sustainability was created to lead those initiatives, and works with various campus departments to lessen campus’s environmental impact and increase campus sustainability.
Learn more about the Office of SustainabilityThe Polis Center’s expertise in geoinformatics has helped communities across Indiana to develop emergency management plans, hazard risk analysis and multi-hazard mitigation planning.
Learn more about the Polis Center