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As local communities face increasing pressure to address environmental concerns, town–gown partnerships are one avenue for improving environmental conditions and sustainability planning for the future. Partnerships between community leaders and university students, faculty, and staff can provide an avenue for exchanging knowledge, expertise, and resources that may benefit both parties. Based on survey results from highly sustainable U.S. cities, this paper outlines key lessons for practitioners and scholars interested in developing environmentally focused town–gown partnerships.

Policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic are important to understanding how some governments have been able to effectively combat the crises. Early efforts by many government leaders included policy actions to effectively shutdown society through stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders. Drawing from several key decision-making theories, this article examines the process of issuing stay-at-home orders in two U.S. States, California and Colorado, with a specific focus on three vice industries: liquor, cannabis, and firearms. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the liquor, marijuana, and gun industry have experienced a dramatic increase in sales. Using policy documents, news articles, and available resources, several decision-making theories help explain the context for how essential businesses were defined in California and Colorado's stay-at-home orders. As the evidence suggests, a combination of health, economic, and political factors influenced when and how each industry was determined as essential industries. Scientific reasoning alone was not the determining factor for if these vice industries were permitted to continue operations during a global pandemic. As the globe continues to combat Covid-19 this paper sheds some light on balancing of political and economic concerns despite the need to protect public health.

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