The Research Council: Driving Regional Impact through Campus-Community Collaboration
- Jan 29
- 6 min read
For communities in southwestern Pennsylvania, visionary and strategic work often competes with day-to-day demands. Research is essential to diagnosing local issues, identifying best practices, and innovating solutions–but it can feel out of reach when capacity is tight. The Research Council was built to break down that barrier.
What is the Research Council?
The Research Council is a collaborative initiative designed to match the needs of local governments with the talent and resources of our regional universities. Our mission is to foster mutually beneficial partnerships that solve municipal challenges while providing students and faculty with high-impact, hands-on opportunities. To us, research is a hands-on, actionable means of co-producing solutions to real-world municipal needs like:
Identifying and Assessing Issues: Collecting and analyzing data to help municipalities understand and advocate for specific community problems and opportunities.
Synthesizing Best Practices: Gathering and summarizing case studies and scholarship to help municipalities make informed decisions based on proven models.
Creating New Solutions: Developing actionable plans, designs, and policy recommendations tailored to the needs of local communities.
Building Capacity: Bolstering strategic municipal activities like communicating with residents, navigating investment opportunities, and exploring strategic partnerships.
How Does It Work?
The Research Council is jointly managed by CONNECT (the Congress of Neighboring Communities) and the SWPA Municipal Project Hub. We connect regional universities and municipalities through a three-step process:
Hear & Identify: We engage directly with municipal leaders to understand their ideas and needs. Together, we scope these into three kinds of university engagements: quick "Tasks" (addressing concrete, short-term needs), semester-long "Projects" (producing reports and plans through study), or longer multi-municipal "Investigations” (inquiry to inform regional decision-making).
Match-Making: We pair these needs with university partners. This might look like a faculty-led semester-long capstone class, a research team that can produce tools like maps or surveys, a connection to a subject-matter expert, or other connections.
Technical Assistance & Support: CONNECT and the SWPA Hub support and follow up on these collaborations. We support and promote projects, may provide funding for travel, and connect municipalities to further resources to help turn recommendations into reality.
Where Are We Now?
From January to April 2026 (the Spring semester for universities), the Research Council is already moving the needle on nine university-community partnerships:
Business District Outreach (Forest Hills)
Background: Located between Pittsburgh’s “AI Alley” and Turtle Creek’s emerging manufacturing center, Forest Hills’ business district is poised for growth but seeks assistance engaging stakeholders in ongoing planning.
Deliverable: Engage Forest Hills’ small businesses and regional stakeholders in conversation about the district’s future.
Community: Patty DeMarco, Forest Hills Borough Council, Borough of Forest Hills
University: Prof. Matt Mehalik, Carnegie Mellon University
Downtown Wayfinding (Oakmont)
Background: The Borough of Oakmont has a vibrant business district and is a popular destination for daytrippers drawn to the local bakery. The Borough would like to leverage these assets towards helping members of the public find and spend time in other businesses and local sites (e.g., parks, public art, etc.) near the downtown core.
Deliverable: 1) Plan for physical wayfinding signage offering self-guided tours that span 1 mile, 2 miles, etc. to help visitors and residents explore assets around the downtown core. 2) A digital version of these routes on an interactive map.
Community: Phyllis Anderson, Oakmont Borough Council, Borough of Oakmont
University: Prof. Matt Mehalik, Carnegie Mellon University
Interactive Community Asset Map (Churchill)
Background: The Borough of Churchill boasts many community amenities, but it is a challenge for members of the public find and use the assets within (and just outside) the community.
Deliverable: An interactive digital asset map that members of the public can use to identify different kinds of assets (e.g., dining, parks, etc.).
Community: Matt Castiglia, Churchill Borough Council, Borough of Churchill
University: Prof. Matt Mehalik, Carnegie Mellon University
Waterfront Ingress/Egress (West Homestead)
Background: To address emergency prepardness needs and facilitate smoother traffic flow, the Waterfront shopping center requires additional ingress/egress.
Deliverable: Needs assessment that quantifies the risks, costs, and benefits of adding an additional flyover to the Waterfront shopping center.
Community: Cindy Bahn, West Homestead Interim Borough Manager, West Homestead Borough
University: Prof. Matt Mehalik, Carnegie Mellon University
Duss Avenue Traffic Corridor (Harmony Township)
Background: Traffic corridor study that will help Duss Avenue become a welcoming entranceway to the community and enhance the business district through assessing opportunities for improving safety, multimodal mobility, and business engagement.
Deliverable: Stakeholder engagement to surface preferences related to improving walkability, traffic safety, and business development along the corridor, including businesses, industry, and local government partners.
Community: Chris Whipple, Harmony Township Planning Commission, Harmony Township
University: Prof. Matt Mehalik, Carnegie Mellon University
Materials Management Best Practices (Quaker Valley COG)
Background: QVCOG seeks the help of a team of graduate students to develop materials to engage in more sustainable programs, particularly waste, waste diversion, recycling, and possibly composting. The focus of this project is to review existing contracts and best practices, and to propose a template for waste management contracts for municipalities.
Deliverable: Goals include assessing current waste and recycling contracts; reviewing national best practices; exploring development of current infrastructure including the use of toters, developing a contract template, assessing costs, and developing options for waste diversion and recycling.
Community: Quaker Valley COG Executive Director
University: Prof. Robert Sroufe, Chatham University
Materials Management Data Visualization (CONNECT)
Background: CONNECT is leading conversations around creating a better, more cohesive system for trash and recycling. CONNECT is looking to pull together existing data and survey municipalities to inform this planning activity.
Deliverable: Goals include collecting existing data and visualizing it for municipalities
Community: Rebecca Kiernan and Alicia Carberry, CONNECT on behalf of several municipalities
University: Prof Sera Linardi, Pitt GSPIA
Emergency Response Feasibility Analysis (CONNECT)
Background: Along Rt. 376 from Squirrel Hill to Monroeville, municipalities face a common challenge: an unfunded state mandate to provide EMS services for highway emergencies. This takes a high toll on municipal budgets, equipment, and already-thin EMS volunteer pools. There is interest in developing a multi-municipal solution for sourcing funds and volunteers.
Deliverable: A feasibility analysis detailing the number of emergency events communities in this corridor have responded to, the collective costs, and possible multi-municipal fundraising/volunteer solutions.
Community: Kelly Kelley, CONNECT, on behalf of several member municipalities
University: Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University
Energy Authority Feasibility Assessment (Forest Hills)
Background: CONNECT’s member municipalities are interested in the feasibility of creating an energy authority. As a supportive first step, it will be helpful to understand how other authorities function and are structured and be advised on best practices and potential roadblocks in the Pittsburgh context.
Deliverable: A feasibility analysis detailing how other energy authorities are structured and function along with a list of recommendations for next steps. There is interest in staying focused on PA and researching the Philadelphia Energy Authority as a case study.
Community: Patty DeMarco, Forest Hills
University: The Research Council reached out to Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh to take stock of what university projects already existed, which include a Chatham University study on the case for an energy authority in Pittsburgh, a case study on Philadelphia’s existing Energy Authority and a couple of memos developed by the City and a Law Intern currently at the County. Research Council set up a larger meeting among stakeholders on this topic and will develop any further research needs as a collaborative.
Thank you to community leaders in the Boroughs of Churchill, Forest Hills, Oakmont, and West Homestead; the Quaker Valley COG, Harmony Township, and many more for bringing their ideas and energy to the Research Council! Thank you to faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, and the University of Pittsburgh for applying your skills and expertise to regional priorities!
How to Get Involved
For Southwestern Pennsylvania municipalities, local governments and community development nonprofits: While we are always listening, June 2026 is when we will officially begin seeking municipal projects to match for the next round of university partnerships to begin January 2027.
For University faculty and staff: Are you a faculty member teaching a hands-on capstone or project-based class? Does your research center or program have resources or skills that could directly serve local communities? Please reach out to us to start a conversation! We would love to learn about your teaching, research, or service and identify ways to connect you with municipal projects and partners that fit your interests. Please email us at sarah@swpahub.org and rebecca@connectgovs.org. You can also fill in this interest form and we will follow up with you.