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Dear MSU faculty, staff, and graduate students: University Outreach and Engagement is delighted to announce the launch of a new faculty learning community (FLC), *Managing Complex Social and Environmental Problems through Collaborative and Systemic Approaches to Inquiry and Action.* The focus of this learning community will be on effective approaches to working with communities to resolve complex social and environmental problems. Our experience suggests that effective approaches combine two key orientations: (1) collaborative approaches to inquiry and action (e.g., participatory action research, community-based participatory research, and participatory evaluation) and (2) systemic approaches to conceptualizing and representing complex problems (e.g., system dynamics modeling and soft systems methodology). A key concern of this learning community will be how universities can form partnerships with communities to pursue collaborative and systemic approaches to tackling complex community-identified problems. The format for this meeting will be primarily reading and discussion. Each month we will read and discuss materials proposed by learning community members or facilitators within the areas described above. Meetings will occur once a month from 12:00 to 1:30 pm on the third Thursday of the month in room 6 of the Kellogg Center. The first meeting will be on *September 18, 2014*. Parking passes will be available. Since we are meeting over the lunch hour, participants are invited to bring their lunches. For more information about this learning community or to enroll, please contact: Miles McNall, Ph.D. Director, Community Evaluation and Research Collaborative University Outreach and Engagement Michigan State University Kellogg Center 219 S. Harrison Road Rm. 93 East Lansing, MI 48824 (517) 353-8977 [log in to unmask] http://outreach.msu.edu/cerc/