Community

Our Collaborators

Slow Food Prescott

The Slow Food movement is a global grassroots organization founded to counteract the rise of fast food and promote a more conscious, sustainable approach to food production and consumption. It advocates preserving traditional food practices, protecting biodiversity, and supporting local farmers and producers. Slow Food emphasizes the values of “good, clean, and fair” food, prioritizing quality, environmentally friendly production methods, and fair compensation for those involved in the food chain. The movement aims to reconnect people with the food they eat, celebrate diverse culinary traditions, and advocate for an ethical, environmentally sustainable, and culturally rich food system.

Collaborating with the Slow Food Prescott Chapter, we have regularly hosted two annual events:  Seed Mania! (Spring) and the Fall Harvest Festival. Bringing hundreds of community members to the Prescott College campus, these events serve as a bookend to the growing season in Prescott. Seed Mania educates and empowers participants to prepare gardens and grow their own food through various experiential workshops, seed sharing, and community resource tables. The Fall Harvest Festival is a communal celebration of the harvest season and embodies gratitude for the soil, monsoons, and each other.

Quad Cities Climate Collaborative

The Quad Cities Climate Collaborative (QCCC) is a grassroots climate movement in the “Prescott Quad Cities” region. Their work to mitigate and adapt to devastating climate impacts faced by local communities—drought, wildfire, flooding, and extreme heat—is based on the slogan, “We are all in this together!” Pulling together academics, government officials, non-profits, and concerned citizens is a key strength of QCCC in moving forward with climate solutions. QCCC catalyzed an in-depth study by The University of Arizona CLIMAS research group to assess current and future climate impacts in the Prescott Active Management Area watershed. Building on this study, QCCC released a Climate Action Options report and established a working group to address key areas of concern and action. Most recently, three ‘white paper’ reports on energy, sustainable economic development, and green infrastructure were drafted and sent to the Prescott Planning Commission, offering strategies to address climate change in the upcoming Prescott 2025 General Plan. Prescott College students, staff, and faculty have been actively involved in many of these activities led by QCCC to create a better, more sustainable future in our local communities.

Prescott Community Compost Project

The Prescott Community Compost Project (PCCP) is a program of the Prescott Farmers Market that collects food scraps from community members every Saturday during a weekly market and processes them on Sundays with a dedicated crew of volunteers. Many Prescott College classes take tours of PCCP with students, and others help during Sunday work sessions. These sessions demonstrate the capacity of our community to capture organic ‘waste’ otherwise from being sent to the landfill and, instead, produce a valuable soil amendment for local food growers and producers.

Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance

The Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance (NAZCCA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on addressing climate change issues in the northern region of Arizona, including Flagstaff, Sedona, and the Prescott Quad Cities communities. They aim to raise awareness about climate change, promote sustainable practices, and engage the local community through education, outreach, and collaborative initiatives. NAZCCA collaborates with various stakeholders, including local governments, businesses, and educational institutions like Prescott College, to create a more resilient and sustainable future in the face of climate challenges. Prescott College is co-sponsoring the NAZCCA speaker series “Climate Talks for Everyone.” This series of speakers occurs every other Saturday and enlists experts in northern Arizona to talk about climate change and solutions.

Local School Groups

In fulfillment of our mission to educate the next generations about climate change and sustainability, we regularly work with various school groups of all ages to provide hands-on, practical sustainability engagement opportunities. We’ve hosted field trips on campus where elementary, middle, and high schoolers could learn about gardening, composting, chicken care, zero waste management, water conservation, apple pressing, and more! We also have students and staff from our sustainability center visit schools and discuss similar topics through interactive games, trivia, and class demonstrations.urses.