Gregory Trencher and Masaru Yarime, writing in OurWorld2.0, a publication of United Nations University, provide a call for more town and gown collaboration and partnerships for area sustainable development. They also provide a nice list of some current projects that fit into their category of "Universities Co-Creating Urban Sustainability." That list, with links, is below—after the quote, which is the first two paragraphs of their essay:

The sustainability crisis has provoked an unexpected and dramatic response from academia. Until now, higher education institutions have tended to focus on sustainability within their own borders. This has predominantly been via sustainability education, research and designing green or carbon neutral campuses. Yet borders between society and academia are dissolving. Many high-profile universities across the world are reaching out past campus boundaries to form ambitious partnerships with industry, government and civil society organisations. In this role of ‘co-creation’, a university attempts to materialise sustainable development by working with society, to create society. That is, it collaborates with diverse social actors to trigger and then drive the sustainable transformation of a specific region, city or community.

Table 1. Various cross-sector collaborations for sustainability transitions

This brief article lists five ways in which architects can help cultivate donors and solicit gifts to the campus:

For many campus building projects, the period following schematic design is critical to the project’s future. With the proposed design illustrating the building’s significant forms, program, functional relationships and scale, the project enters the fundraising phase. Design work on higher education cultural projects—such as museums, studio-arts buildings, performance halls and affiliated classrooms, as well as sports facilities, alumni centers, and science buildings—often pauses following schematic design so that university leaders can raise funds for construction.

The juncture between schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction, during which intensive fundraising occurs, can be a few months to a year or two. Yet designers are hardly idle during this time. Architects are increasingly participating in client universities’ fundraising.

Many institutions have found it useful to publish a "Community Impact Statement," by one name or another. The statements attempt to make clear the value of the campus to its surrounding community and region. SCUP has begun a collection of links to such statements. You can view the current collection here and you can add additional links to more community impact statements at this easy to use online form.

We have links to community impact reports from North Carolina A&T State University, Missouri Western State University, Nicholls State University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, University of Texas at San Antonio, State University of New York at Oswego, Smith College, and Southeastern Louisiana University.

Please share yours.

 This piece in Land Line, a publication of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, is from 2001 but is worth the read as an exposition of the myriad of issues campuses face in development at or near the campus edge. Very thoughtful.

Even when universities succeed in securing new development sites, they have to balance many competing demands. For example, donors favor signature buildings; the city requires regulatory compliance; neighborhood activists call for input into the school's expansion plans, as well as benefits from that expansion; parents want a safe environment for their children; and students desire retail and entertainment options, as well as housing and security. Meeting all of these demands is difficult and none of the possible responses speaks directly to furthering the core educational mission of a university. ...

Because most universities will remain in their current locations indefinitely, their futures will continue to be intertwined with their surrounding neighborhoods. However, the inevitability of future change and persistent development pressure highlights the differences between universities and the private real estate sector. Profit and speed motivate private developers-two qualities not usually associated with universities, particularly public institutions. Furthermore, given the broader mission of a university, short-term, market-oriented thinking is not always suitable. It is clear that future prospects for university expansion remain a complex challenge, especially in urban areas where land available for development is limited and expensive. 

Click on its title to access the original resource, Universities as Developers.