Public Innovation Teaching Fellows

Are you a university instructor passionate about real-world impact? Do you want your teaching to extend beyond the classroom and into the heart of local communities? The Public Innovation Teaching Fellows program invites educators to lead the next wave of transformative change—by partnering with nearby cities and municipalities to co-create public innovations that matter.

What is the Public Innovation Teaching Fellows Program?

The Public Innovation Teaching Fellows (PITF) is a fellowship for university instructors who want to integrate public sector collaboration into their teaching. It is designed to catalyze university-local government partnerships that develop meaningful solutions to real-world challenges—through student engagement, applied research, and community-based innovation.

Fellows work alongside public officials, local stakeholders, and fellow educators to tackle issues such as:

• Climate resilience and sustainability

• Digital governance and public service delivery

• Local economic development

• Public health and social equity

• Education and youth empowerment
  
  

What Fellows Do

As a Teaching Fellow, you will:

• Co-design and teach innovation-infused courses that connect students with municipal partners

• Lead applied projects that align with local priorities and policy agendas

• Bridge academic knowledge with public practice, helping students develop civic agency and systems-thinking

• Co-convene a Public Innovation Lab—a structured collaboration among students, faculty, and local government units to prototype, test, and scale solutions to civic challenges

• Join a learning community of changemakers across disciplines and geographies

• Access mentorship, toolkits, and seed funding to support your course design and public innovation work
  
  

Why This Matters

Public challenges are complex—and they demand collaboration across boundaries. Universities are uniquely positioned to be anchor institutions that support cities and municipalities with fresh thinking, critical analysis, and talent. This fellowship helps instructors:

• Make their courses more experiential and impact-oriented
  
  

• Equip students with real-world problem-solving skills

• Build mutually beneficial partnerships with local governments

• Contribute to a more responsive, inclusive, and innovative public sector

Who Should Apply?

We welcome instructors from all disciplines—public policy, engineering, urban planning, social sciences, business, design, and beyond—who are:

• Passionate about teaching for public good

• Eager to collaborate with local governments

• Interested in community-engaged research and pedagogy

• Committed to equity, inclusion, and systems change
  
  

Fellowship Benefits

• Curriculum development support for your public innovation course

• Connection to local government partners and facilitation of co-design processes

• Workshops and coaching on public innovation methods, design thinking, and community engagement

• Micro-grants or project funding for student-led initiatives or capstones

• Guidance and structure for running your Public Innovation Lab

• Visibility and publication opportunities through the Public Innovation Network

How to Apply

Applications open [insert date]. To apply, you’ll need to submit:

1. A short course or project concept

2. Your CV and teaching profile

3. A letter of interest describing your goals and potential local partners

Let's Build the Future, Together

The Public Innovation Teaching Fellows program is more than a fellowship—it's a movement. Join us in transforming higher education into a civic innovation engine, one classroom-community collaboration at a time.