“We are not an island on the campus — we are in the larger community in the city of Berkeley.  All of the various partnerships that we have … are important in order for us to be good neighbors and citizens of the community,” said Lisa McNeilly (campus director of sustainability) in The Daily Californian.

McNeilly’s belief is shared by many in UC Berkeley and the City of Berkeley.  And to make something concrete and beneficial out of the relationship between the campus and the city, a succession of dialogues between them is currently taking place.

On September 21, the fall panel series entitled “The University and the City: Ideas for Partnership” was launched to address and “explore issues that would benefit from greater collaboration among the academic and civic communities”.

The first discussion, “A Berkeley Student District”, was about the students’ fair representation in the city and if students can effectively serve on the City Council.  The panelists for the night were Bruce Cain (UC Berkeley Professor), Kriss Worthington (Berkeley City Council member) and Joey Freeman (ASUC Vice President for External Affairs).  Lance Knobel (Co-Founder of Bekeleyside.com) served as moderator.

The second discussion, “The Sustainable City” will be held on October 19th at the Berkeley City College.  It will focus on how the city and the university can create future plans for sustainability.  The panelists will be Timothy Burroughs (City of Berkeley Climate Action Coordinator), Lisa McNeilly (UC Berkeley Director of Sustainability), Jason Tragger (Envivonmental Sustainability Director, Graduate Student Assembly) and Claire Evans (Lead Coordinator of the UC Berkeley Compost Alliance).  Jason Mark (Earth Islan Journal editor) will serve as moderator.

The third and final discussion, “Late Night in Berkeley” will be held on November 9th at the Berkeley City College as well.  Ways to improve the city’s arts, food and entertainment district will be examined.  The panelists will be Jim Peters (President of Responsible Hospitality Institute), David Mayeri (Entertainment consultant, former COO of Bill Graham Presents), Kemi Amin (Program Director of Buy Local Berkeley) and Noah Stern (former President of the Associated Students of the University of California).  Polly Armstrong (CEO, Berkeley Chamber of Commerce) will serve as moderator.

The series is sponsored by Berkelyside, Berkeley City College, Berkely Chamber of Commerce, Council members Laurie Capitelli, Darryl Moore and Susan Wengraf, Downtown Berkeley Association, Livable Berkeley, the Office of Mayor Tom Bates, Telegraph Business Imporvement District, and UC Berekely Office of Government and Community Relations.  All events are free and open to the public.

According to Council member Laurie Capitelli, one of the sponsors of the series, “the relationship between the city and the campus has been strained over the last few decades” and that more collaborations will happen if they build more opportunities for communication.  With the fall panel series kicking off, the campus and city gap should slowly but surely close.