Engaged Research Projects Overview

UROC staff play an important role in UROC's research mission, often by staffing research projects or serving on research-based teams. All of UROC's engaged research projects focus on at least one of UROC's three community-identified research subject areas: economic and community development; education and lifelong learning; and health and wellness. 

Birth Justice Collaborative

UROC has joined with Minneapolis-based Collective Action Lab and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, the Native American Community Clinic, and Liberty Community Church Northside Healing Space to launch an initiative aimed at improving maternal health outcomes and advancing birth justice related issues in Hennepin County.

Critical Conversations

UROC’s Critical Conversations is a public discussion series about urban issues and ideas based on University-community research. The conversations bring together scholars, activists, historians, artists, and thought leaders with the broader community in a welcoming atmosphere. 

Northside Job Creation Team

The Northside Job Creation Team set a goal of attracting 1,000 jobs to North Minneapolis by 2019. The team uses research to identify businesses that match the employee profile of North Minneapolis and develops partnerships to encourage businesses to relocate or expand here.

Rural Urban Connections: Opioids 

Composed of a collaboration of agencies and organizations from across Minnesota, the Rural Urban Connections Opioids project team is currently developing ways that communities in Minnesota can work together to address the opioid epidemic.  Rural, suburban, and urban communities share many of the same assets and challenges, even though the context and geography might be different. The rich conversations developed as a part of this project are continuing through the University of Minnesota Extension's Department of Community Development. 

UROC Research Agenda Award Project  

Launched in September of 2020, the UROC Research Agenda Award Project is a model of engagement for addressing themes supporting UROC's original mission that community members and University of Minnesota researchers and practitioners identified as being critical to a thriving North Minneapolis and Twin Cities urban core. The agenda and its companion RFP aim to stimulate and guide collaborative research in the three following areas: individual and community healing; systems and systemic racism; and individual, family, and community financial well-being.