Sustainability Village

Funded by The Duke Endowment and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina as part of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, the Sustainability Village was developed in 2013 by JCSU to serve as a teaching tool and to address food access issues in the Northwest Corridor of Charlotte. The village’s centerpiece is a model home built to accommodate four students, and it serves as an affordable prototype that could be replicated in communities impacted by natural disasters and conflicts. The Sustainability Village includes a greenhouse, an aquaponics facility that raises fish, and a hydroponics garden that grows a variety of organic vegetables without soil. JCSU students maintain the facilities, market harvests at local farmers markets, and conduct outreach to local communities to promote nutrition education and community garden development. Harvests include fresh produce, vegetables, and tilapia sold at two local farmers’ markets in the Corridor. The Village was expanded in 2018 to include additional two hydroponics facilities, and it plays an important role in balancing a lack of grocery stores, food markets, and healthy eating options in the West Charlotte community.