We connect communities to UW-Madison
Most of the earth’s people already live in cities, and cities will continue to grow. Yet most cities struggle to be as safe, rich, healthy, inclusive, equitable, environmentally sustainable, and well-governed as they would like to be. Many factors influence the shortfall between city potential and performance, yet the failure results in part from a lack of knowledge about new solutions and a lack of bandwidth and/or capacity to implement them.
UniverCity Alliance’s mission is to improve the quality and visibility of UW-Madison’s education, research, and service contribution to the high-road development of local communities that reflects the values of equity, democracy, and sustainability. Check out UniverCity Alliance highlights from 2024-25.
UniverCity Alliance announces new digital badge focused on sustainability
UniverCity’s Sustainable Development for Local Government badge course provides knowledge about Wisconsin local governments, a framework on how to actualize sustainable development used by countries around the world, and sustainable development for the municipal scale.
Featured News
UW–Madison students build on local government experiences with Dane County policy research and analysis internships
During the fall 2025 semester, two UW–Madison students researched and analyzed policy topics for Dane County through internships supported by UniverCity Alliance.
Connecting seniors and children at Rocky Knoll Health Care Center
Through community-based research, an Educational Policy Studies course partnered with Rocky Knoll Health Care Center through UniverCity Alliance during the fall 2025 semester to create a lasting curriculum that connects seniors and children.
‘Spark’ students learn civic engagement can start now
A group of first-year University of Wisconsin–Madison students living in the Spark Learning Community received a crash course in local government during a visit to the Madison Municipal Building on Feb. 5.