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IURD is an organized research unit that brings together faculty and students from across the campus to work on urban and regional development issues. IURD assists the campus community in raising research funds and provides administrative support for this work. IURD also supports graduate education through research training and internships for professional school students. IURD is a primary research home for many UC Berkeley faculty, primarily from the College of Environmental Design, but from other professional teaching programs as well. As a focal point on campus for faculty whose work engages current urban policy and planning issues, IURD brokers relationships with community partners and assists in the dissemination of community based research to wide audiences, in both academic and public venues. IURD has long served as a portal to the university for people in Bay Area communities, including city and county planners, community based organizations and others looking for technical assistance and guidance.

Our current community/university partnerships focus in West Oakland, across the city, and the East Bay. They are grounded in the model developed through the University/Oakland Metropolitan Forum. Over the past 14 years, IURD has convened leadership conferences, conducted analyses and evaluations, and provided other technical assistance on urban policy issues including neighborhood and economic development, environmental protection, community empowerment, and social change. As a whole, the Institute has developed close relationships with city, community, and other nonprofit institutions working in Oakland and West Oakland in particular. IURD has raised more than $4 million in the last five years for collaborative projects with community based organizations and public agencies in the city of Oakland. Faculty and students involved in these projects have been drawn from the College of Environmental Design, the College of Natural Resources, Civil Engineering, the School of Education and the School of Public Health.

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