A collaborative effort to address maintenance of green infrastructure through a university–community partnership

University–community partnerships can play an important role in this green infrastructure (GI) maintenance issue and provide a valuable mechanism to support socio-ecological practice to address complex urban water issues and build urban resilience. In this Perspective Essay, we draw from our experience in a university–community partnership to create a Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Maintenance Protocol for the City of Tucson in Arizona, USA, through a collaborative, participatory dialogue process. We build upon our earlier work in the planning, design, implementation, and monitoring of green infrastructure efforts to tease out key lessons to inform university–community partnerships to support socio-ecological practice. In doing so, we explore our earlier three lessons for university–community partnerships including understanding and valuing the socio-ecological context; investing, and reinvesting, in the collaborative process; and embracing a diverse set of roles for universities. In reflecting on these lessons, we offer two additional lessons that speak to the importance of investing and engaging in equity, even when a university–community partnership seemingly appears not to be focused on justice issues, and the value in strengthening networks to maintain and further collaboration. These lessons can inform other university–community partnerships around the world to better support socio-ecological practice, expand access to GI in disadvantaged communities, and heighten urban resilience.