Students as change agents in a town-wide sustainability transformation: the Oberlin Project at Oberlin College

An increasing number of colleges and universities are playing a crucial role in driving societal transformations and creating the physical and social conditions for accelerating progress towards sustainability. The potential of multi-stakeholder partnerships to enrich sustainability education through experiential learning is well documented. Yet there is less knowledge about the impacts on partnerships that result from student participation and the models that facilitate students to serve as agents of change and research. To address this knowledge gap, we examine the Oberlin Project at Oberlin College, an ambitious community partnership aimed at town-wide climate neutrality and sustainability. Findings show that contributions to stakeholder learning and partnership progress can occur through student participation models such as project-based learning, transacademic research, and internships.