Bergen CC Partners With U.K. Institution on Hackensack Sustainability

Bergen Community College welcomed students and teachers from Southport College in England during November as part of the U.S.-U.K. Community College and Technical Education Exchange program. The Association of Community College Trustees and U.K. Association of Colleges selected this school as one of just two community colleges for the pilot program that kicked off last year.

The Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation gave money to support the learning exchange program. Officials chose Bergen because of its strong record in STEM education.

"I am truly honored that Bergen became one of only two community colleges selected for this prestigious pilot program," President Eric M. Friedman said, per Bergen.edu. "The opportunity to participate in a cross-cultural learning experience has offered our faculty, staff and students access to a unique global initiative that has enriched our campus environment."

The November visit brought participants to several locations. They toured the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 164. They saw PepsiCo. They visited The Hillier College of Architecture and Design at NJIT, and PSE&G. Participants met with experts who know about keeping our planet healthy, did work outside, and took part in hands-on learning at the STEM Student Research Center.

The team built its project around creating a street design plan for downtown Hackensack that would cut down on harm to the environment and reduce energy use. The plan describes building an electrical microgrid with photovoltaic panels, kinetic paving, and SMART efficiencies.

Teacher Tara Snyder worked with STEM Student Research Center Director Chris Tully to run the exchange program. Snyder came up with the main idea after looking at New Jersey's efforts to protect the environment and problems with the electrical grid.

"Our STEM project mentors imagined a hypothetical design based on the most recent technology and electrical engineering designs from across the world," she said, "to see, first, the cost, and, second, if this would be feasible on a small scale for a controlled area containing apartments, businesses, brownfields or abandoned areas and regular homes."

The project took ideas from work happening in Liverpool, England. Southport helps the Liverpool City Region try to reach net zero environmental impact by 2030. To get to net zero, the amount of greenhouse gases put into the air must equal the amount taken out of the air.

Southport student John "JJ" Nicholson studied under teachers Mark Balzarette, Yolanda Sheppard, and Joseph Sivo during the November visit. "This has helped me understand how requirements differ across countries and how we can adapt our approaches to meet those challenges," he said.

Students from the Paramus school will visit Southport College in England in spring 2026 to keep working on the capstone project. More than 13,000 students attend classes at locations in Paramus, Hackensack, and Lyndhurst.