What is EPIC-N?
EPIC is an award-winning university-community partnership program that works at a large scale to advance the needs of communities while training the next generation workforce and leadership. EPIC is radically simple, working within administrative structures of universities and communities to achieve tremendous outcomes for all involved. The partnership is defined over a fixed amount of time, in a way that advances the needs of both communities and students. An EPIC partnership fosters community innovation and leverages the largely untapped expertise concentrated in a university towards real community issues, all while giving students the applied learning experiences they crave. The EPIC Framework is highly adaptable to different administrative structures and content areas.
The EPIC-Network (EPIC-N) is the collection of institutions that have successfully adopted this new model for community innovation and change. Real change happens in our local communities; by adopting the EPIC Framework, colleges and universities around the world can become a more active part in catalyzing that change.
Current EPIC-N Goals:
- To actively increase the number of universities and communities implementing the EPIC Framework;
- To support and enhance existing EPIC programs through various forms of peer-to-peer learning and support services;
- To provide a conduit for new knowledge on selected social and environmental issues to universities and communities;
- To alter the national discourse about the role, structure and performance of the nation’s higher education institutions in meeting some of society’s most pressing social problems.
The Sustainable Cities Institute is a proud member of the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network (EPIC-N).