British Columbia Institute of Technology
IN-7: Community Garden

The BCIT Community Garden was established in 2010 and is located on the southeast side of the Burnaby campus. It shares a half acre with the sweat lodge hosted by Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships and a research area run by the School of Construction and Environment. It is a space for all members of the BCIT community to enjoy, grow food, share knowledge and learn together. It is an engaging interactive garden space that highlights sustainable activities, education and urban agriculture opportunities.

In the summer of 2019, BCIT partnered with a local beekeeping company to bring two honey bee hives to campus, adding to the ongoing efforts to support healthy pollinator populations within the Burnaby campus. The introduction of bees was the first step towards transforming the garden into a more interactive space and as a site for community workshops that teach about pollinators and the role they play in a thriving and healthy ecosystem. The bees are part of a broader vision to create more edible gardens including fruit trees on campus that promote sustainable gardening practices, provide food for the community, and offer places of respite from the stresses of school and work.

In line with the Campus Master Plan, Strategic Plan, Sustainability Vision and an engaging consultation process with all stakeholder groups involved with the spaces, transformation of the area commenced in January 2020. The new Interactive Garden will introduce some new features including:
• Wheelchair accessibility features where 6% of the garden beds will be wheelchair accessible and will include horseshoe shaped raised planters for easy access
• Pathways will be widened to five feet and will be stabilized using recycled aggregate materials
• Wheelchair accessible picnic tables will be installed
• A pollinator garden with water feature will be included
• A semi-covered outdoor interaction area with seating for learning and socializing
• Additional interpretive signage including information about the pollinator garden, sustainable food systems and the Seed Library utilized by the gardeners
• Options are being looked at to provide secondary access to the space connecting the garden with adjacent trails next to Guichon Creek.

Adam Dickinson, Manager of Transportation and Grounds, hopes the evolving natural spaces will not only improve wellbeing, nature connection and awareness for the humans who live, study, work and play on campus, but will also help to sustain the small, winged inhabitants whose health is so deeply connected to our own.

Work on the transformation was temporarily halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The garden currently does not have a website, but when it does it can be found through the website link below.