Sweet Water Communiversity
SWF’s Communiversity teaches, translates, and transfers the practice of Regenerative Neighborhood Development through hands-on experiences that provide local residents, university students, and faculty alike the opportunity to learn, labor, and build genuine connections so that they can, in turn, apply SWF practices to their home communities.
The Communiversity emerged from more than a decade of daily practice of Regenerative Neighborhood Development (RND) at The Commonwealth. The Communiversity recognizes that taking an experiential, holistic, intergenerational, and trans-disciplinary approach to learning is critical to tackling society’s greatest challenges. It is built on the values of the Essential Economy and uses The Commonwealth as a bio-dynamic campus to provide experiential opportunities that bring learning to life.
Through the Communiversity, learners of all ages explore and engage with the practice of RND via hands-on work, apprenticeships, civic arts, critical dialogues, workshops, residencies, and fellowships available to local families, elders, and residents, and college and university students, organizations, and institutions across Chicago and beyond. Over the last decade, SWF has worked with more than 30 universities, connecting students, faculty, and administrators with its network of Values-Based Partners to engage in community-driven projects and collaborative research. This work shifts the paradigm of traditional academic research by creating meaningful relationships through learning and doing.
The Communiversity’s reach has extended even further through collaborative projects, speaking engagements, publications, exhibitions, and installations that have reached tens of thousands of people worldwide.
Sweet Water Foundation’s fresh approach to education and the Communiversity’s unique portfolio of integrated programs and pathways offers a radical foundation for re-generating communities and cultivating a network of Solutionaries of all ages.
Communiversity Core Programming Includes:
For more information on Communiversity programming, please email us at info@sweetwaterfoundation.com.
Urban Ecology Global Fellowship
Intensive, 10-week summer experience at The Commonwealth through which Fellows cultivate a deep understanding of urban ecology and Regenerative Neighborhood Development through hands-on work, research, and reflection.
Check out these resources to learn more: 2023 Urban Ecology Global Fellows Recap | Summer 2022 Urban Ecology Global Fellows | Summer 2021 Fellowship at the “Communiversity”
The application process for the Summer 2025 Urban Ecology Global Fellowship will open in 2025.
RND Research Internship
Semester or academic year-long virtual positions that ground students in the historical context and present-day realities of urban communities to prepare them for transformative, hands-on, and community-rooted work.
To apply for the Spring 2025 RND [Re]Search Internship, see the application here. To learn more, check out this resource: Spring 2023 RND [Re]Search Internship.
Collaborative Courses and Studios
SWF partners with faculty to co-design and co-deliver courses/studios that engage students in a grounded, transdisciplinary exploration of urban ecology and neighborhood development and leverage The Communiversity campus for onsite immersions.
Check out these resources to learn more: Sweet Water Communiversity and Cornell Architecture, Art, and Planning Inclusive Urban Development Course
Catalyst Programs
Guest lectures, keynotes, workshops, field lessons, and other opportunities that introduce the work of SWF to establish initial connections with faculty and students to catalyze deeper engagement.
Immersions
Students, faculty, and community-based practitioners are immersed at The Commonwealth in hands-on work, experiential learning, and transdisciplinary seminars tailored to align with participants’ areas of study, learning goals, and interests.
Check out these resources to learn more: Aurora University Spring Break Immersion | D-Town Farms Immersion
Humans-in-Residence
Artists, designers, and community practitioners of all ages and talents engage in an immersive and generative experience at The Commonwealth.
EXAMPLE | Leila Tamari Human-in-Residence
Seeding the Future
Seeding the Future works with neighborhood schools to introduce students, their families, and the entire school community to the many facets of The Commonwealth and urban ecology. Through Seeding the Future, students are exposed to a wide range of academic disciplines and essential life skills (e.g., biology, math, gardening, nutrition, etc.) as they learn about the seed-to-table process and explore the urban ecology of their neighborhood.
EXAMPLES | Mapping The Commonwealth with Seeding the Future | Spring 2023 Seeding the Future | Fall 2021 Seeding the Future
Urban Ecology Apprenticeship
Intensive, 6-week urban ecology program for local residents through which Apprentices actively learn each of the competencies of Regenerative Neighborhood Development through doing.