The following projects have received funding from the Vision 2030 Global Strategy Implementation Grant.
Beyond Borders: Global Collaborations for Mental Health Research and Services
The Beyond Borders: Global Collaborations for Mental Health Research and Services project will plan and host an international conference, held in alignment with World Mental Health Day, dedicated to advancing discourse about mental health both on-campus and world-wide. Faculty, staff, students, and scholars will participate in and observe key activities such as workshops focused on diverse mental health topics, poster sessions showcasing research, and guest speakers from Illinois and institutions in the Global South. The conference aims to provide an interdisciplinary space for researchers, practitioners, and people with lived experience to share innovative ideas to support global mental health. Dr. Flora Cohen serves as lead representative for the project.
Celestial Cartography Project: Mapping Shared Skies
The Celestial Cartography project will partner students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Seoul National University to develop celestial maps. The final works will be displayed at the Chicago Design Museum, providing students with hands-on experience in exhibition planning and curation. This project aims to foster the exchange of cultural and global pedagogies significant to interdisciplinary learning and inclusive museum practices by integrating art, science, and technology to create transformative learning experiences. Dr. Somi Lee serves as lead representative for the project.
Creating Equitable Disaster Resilience
The Creating Equitable Disaster Resilience (CEDeR) initiative seeks to increase collaborative networks of communities among educators, investigators, aid organizations, and first responders with the goal of improving the ability to interpret relationships between climate change, natural disasters, and how communities seek to address their vulnerabilities. Building upon longstanding relationships with community groups in Puerto Rico, the Navajo Nation, and other regions, the group aims to transform understanding of how current and future supply chains and related infrastructures exacerbate or resolve bottlenecks affecting vulnerability and risk in disaster-prone regions. It will offer a safe space for diverse perspectives through in-person and online events, aiming to develop scalable, community-driven solutions that foster resilience. Dr. Luis F. Rodríguez serves as lead representative for the project.
Design Action Hub
The Design Action Hub will develop a collaboration between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa to design and implement a cutting-edge platform that combines the humanities and design thinking to unpack what it means to be oppressed. The Design Action Hub will begin with a pilot 8-week, hybrid course titled “The Designer’s Guide to Oppression and Resistance” that will be offered through Illinois’ Siebel Center for Design and Johannesburg’s Department of History in Fall 2024. When this joint course is proven to be successful, the intention is to develop a series of these joint courses that will be woven throughout Johannesburg’s History program and could become a certificate program through the Siebel Center for Design. There is also potential to expand this program to universities in other countries, instigating a global movement that challenges systemic oppression through empathy, academic analysis, and innovative problem-solving.
Enhancing Rice Production Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will enhance its existing collaboration with the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR) and the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to increase food security and sustainability and improve the livelihood of farmers in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Expected outcomes include producing additional research publications and implementing new methodologies for increased rice production, nutrition value, and sustainability. These will be achieved through bi-directional scientific exchanges, including a study-abroad course as well as visits from scientific staff and faculty. Dr. Juan David Arbelaez Velez serves as lead representative for the project in collaboration with Dr. Elvira de Mejia, Dr. Jessica Elaine Rutkoski, Dr. Shadi Atalla, Dr. Carmen Ug, Dr. Jorge A. Guzman, Dr. Eliana Monteverde Dominguez, Dr. Maria L. Chu, and Dr. Nicolas Federico Martin.
From Shame to Celebration: Sierra Leonian Women Reframe the Culture of Menstruation
Through a new pilot class and faculty-led study abroad program in the Department of Journalism, Illinois students will partner with multimedia and broadcast journalism students from Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone to shoot primary footage for the film, “From Shame to Celebration: Sierra Leonian Women Reframe the Culture of Menstruation.” The film will focus on how a local woman-led grassroots organization, “Uman Tok,” is making tangible progress to alleviate period poverty and menstrual exclusion while also educating a generation of girls in sexual and reproductive health. The program is designed to train advanced media students to apply and develop their skills as documentary filmmakers and multimedia backpack journalists reporting on issues of pressing international concern. The program will be led by Charles “Stretch” Ledford and Alison Davis.
Global Leaders Program Social Innovation Lab
Based within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the Global Leaders Program is a four-year cohort-based initiative, born out of the need to address the widening gap between domestic and international students. This program provides domestic and international students from various disciplines with the opportunity to unite in a 50:50 ratio through meaningful project-based and experiential learning elements designed to enhance leaderships development and social justice education. Past projects have spanned from Latin America to Africa. With the support of the Implementation Grant, a study abroad program to Mexico during Winter Break 2025 will encourage students to expand on local design challenges related to Indigenous rights, disability rights, and gender equity, engaging with community organizations. Nikia Brown will lead the program.
Global Mental Health Improvement
By integrating mental health services with existing HIV care programs in rural South Africa, the Global Mental Health Improvement Program: Strengthening Health and Resilience in Pregnancy (SHARP) aims to address the dual challenges of HIV and mental health. The initiative involves collaboration with local healthcare workers and community leaders to ensure culturally sensitive and effective intervention. Using the Exploration Preparation Implementation Sustainment (EPIS) framework, the program will identify cultural and systemic barriers to Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) delivery and develop a comprehensive adaptation plan through focus groups and interviews with healthcare workers and community members. The program not only aims to improve health outcomes but also seeks to foster global citizenship among university students by involving them in international research and on-ground activities. Expected outcomes include improved mental health and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among participants, reduced HIV transmission rates, and enhanced capacity of local health workers to address mental health issues. Dr. Violeta J. Rodriguez serves as lead representative for the project.
Plant Disease Identification and Outreach
The Plant Disease Identification and Outreach will foster a robust connection between the University of Illinois’ Plant Clinic and Extension with the National University of Colombia (UNAL) focused on increased understanding of the needs of Colombian producers, expanding the capacity of the UNAL Plant Health Laboratory (PHL), and sharing outreach experiences to educate growers about plant health management. Through the collaboration, Colombian students and faculty will be able to travel to Urbana to present a seminar, train at the Plant Clinic, and meet students and professors focused on agriculture and food security. During both visits, priority will be placed on engaging faculty, plant diagnosticians, students, and growers. The overall goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the needs of Colombian growers and the PHL, train staff in laboratory identification techniques of agricultural plant pathogens and share outreach techniques focused on grower education and integrated pest management. Dr. Diane Plewa serves as lead representative for the project.
Wits University Collaboration
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has formed a partnership with Wits University in South Africa to forge links around key national strategic priorities in radio astronomy. The goals of this collaboration are to develop human capacity through graduate mentorship and to strengthen links with major astronomical facilities in South Africa and internationally. Dr. Athol Kemball (Astronomy) is serving as a Carnegie Wits Diaspora Fellow and faculty member at Wits under this collaboration and serves as lead representative for the project.
Women Environmental Defenders and Climate Change in the Amazon
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) will organize a lecture and workshop series to bring women social leaders from the Amazonian region of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru together with researchers, students, and practitioners at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through a series of collaborative discussions, which will culminate in an in-person workshop at Illinois in May 2025, the project will share inspiring stores, discuss pressing challenges, and collaboratively devise strategies to support the work of environmental defenders. Through dialogue, participants will derive insights from the actions, activities, programs, and alliances devised by their counterparts, empowering them to innovate within their own communities and develop a broad scholar-practitioner network for future research initiatives and implementation projects, thereby fortifying community-led processes and advancing solutions crucial to safeguarding the Amazon. Dr. McKenzie Johnson serves as lead representative for the project.