July 30, 2026
When we first shared the story of the Wisconsin Labs for Environment and Democracy, or WiLEAD, the labs were still unfolding. Students were mapping environmental challenges, building relationships with community partners, and designing small experiments to test what might move people from concern to action.
Now, after a full year of work across three labs, WiLEAD is beginning to show what becomes possible when environmental problem-solving is intentionally designed as a bridge for civic learning, collaboration, and democratic practice.
Across three labs, 12 lean experimentation teams focused on issues such as food waste, invasive species, road salt pollution, drinking water quality, healthy food systems, native plants, pollinators, and Indigenous representation. While the program focused on environmental issues, many participants were not environmental studies majors. They came from sociology, criminal justice, business, psychology, computer science, nursing, education, political science, anthropology, communications, and other fields.
That diversity became one of WiLEAD’s strengths. The labs gave students who might not otherwise see themselves as environmental leaders a way to connect their skills, interests, and lived experiences to local action. Teams included students with diverse political viewpoints, yet most reported that it was easy to work with their group members. At a time when environmental issues are often treated as partisan, WiLEAD showed that place-based environmental action can create common ground.
Small project funds helped make that action possible, giving students the resources to test ideas, engage community members, and implement practical solutions. One student reflected that the funding “gave us the opportunity to take our ideas beyond just paper or speeches.” Another shared, “While actually doing our project it didn’t feel like ‘saving the world,’ but reflecting on it all, we took action where action would not have happened otherwise.”
Those actions produced concrete results, including:
- Unlocking a $15,000 grant and moving university conversations forward to build an Indigenous medicinal garden on campus
- Distributing and processing free well water testing kits to rural residents, with the lab partner also contributing funds that doubled this team’s budget
- A salt-recovery solution and necessary equipment to repurpose salt from dormitory water softeners for use on campus sidewalks in winter
- Reaching more than 3,000 people through events, outreach, and engagement activities focused on water pollution, food systems, Indigenous environmental knowledge, and invasive species
- Planting native plants along lakes and streams to support natural water filtration and preserve water quality
- University dining dollars now accepted at a local food co-op less than half a mile from campus
- A student-led faculty training on Indigenous resources, environmental practices, land use, and state policy for including Indigenous examples in curriculum
A culminating moment came at the CommUnity conference at UWO in April, where WiLEAD students presented their environmental projects to an audience that included civic actors and state and local government officials. The event helped bridge two fields that are often treated separately: environmental action and democracy strengthening. For democracy partners, the projects made civic participation tangible. For students, the event helped broaden the significance of their work, showing how projects that began as local environmental experiments could also contribute to trust-building, civic participation, and community action at scale.
Misinformation and polarization can make environmental problems harder to discuss, navigate, and address. But WiLEAD showed that community-based projects can create opportunities for shared understanding and collective action.
As one student put it, “Through all the polarization, we can still have community.”
