Carleton University
EN-9: Community Partnerships

With a demonstrated interest in serving the greater Ottawa community, it is natural that Carleton strives to develop meaningful partnerships within our community. Each year, over 100 Carleton students spread out across the city on a variety of service-learning projects with our community partners. This annual event, called Carleton Serves, is a great way to get students directly involved within the local community, gain new skills and further insights into community and social responsibility, make valuable community contacts and learn more about Ottawa services. The following list is composed of all the community partners for the 2015 Carleton Serves event. Abbeyfield Houses ALSO- Alternative Learning Styles and Outlooks Bruce House Cornerstone Housing for Women Fletcher Wildlife Garden Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard Heart and Stroke Foundation Matthew House The Ottawa Mission Ottawa Neighbourhood Services Also, Carleton University organizes Days of Service, which are one day events around the academic year which encourage students to participate in hands-on learning by emphasizing action, reflection, and real-world engagement in the community. Carleton partners with community organizations that focus on a variety of themes, from senior care to wildlife conservation. Examples of past/ongoing partnerships include the Ottawa Mission, A.P.P.L.E., In From the Cold, Fletcher Wildlife Garden, and many more.

1125@Carleton 1125@Carleton facilitates collaborations between Carleton researchers (faculty and students) and the broader community within a virtual and physical space designed for collaborative problem solving. Many partners of 1125@Carleton are local foundations and organizations with sustainable foci, such as OREC Energy, a local company that works to empower Ottawa residents to support the growth of the local renewable energy sector through responsible long-term investments. Just Food, another partner of Carleton1125, is a grassroots non-profit from Ottawa that combines the power of community partners, funders, staff and volunteers in order to create community-based food-centric projects and a just and sustainable food system in the area.

The Urbandale Centre for Home Energy Research Carleton University has expanded its research in modern sustainable residential design. The Urbandale Centre for Home Energy Research (a.k.a. the C-RISE house) will make use of solar thermal energy, seasonal thermal storage, and provide a test bed for various innovative concepts with the aim of reducing the overall energy demands. The C-RISE project is largely funded by grants from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. Urbandale construction has been a valuable industry partner. Urbandale Construction is a local Ottawa home builder who donated the house itself. The C-RISE house is a full-scale, single-family detached house built on campus by Urbandale Construction to meet the 2012 R2000 standard. Planning and construction began in 2011 and the house officially opened May 25th, 2016. Urbandale views this facility as a research project to explore innovative concepts before introducing them to market, and have stated in a letter of support that topics explored in C-RISE “may influence the way we construct our buildings in the future”. A number of graduate and undergraduate students have also benefited from conducting research experiments in the house, which harvests thermal energy through solar collectors on the roof and floors. That energy is then stored in basement water tanks and an underground sand store system in front of the house, and used to heat the building throughout the year. Windows in the house are also focused at the south side, with none on the north side, in order to maximize heat from the southern exposure. The project will train a lot of students and others on a very important area of research, which is Solar Energy.

Carleton University Partnerships with India under the Canada-India Centre for Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy. Located in Ottawa the Canada-India Centre was initiated in 2010 by Carleton University and leaders from the Indo-Canadian community in collaboration with the High Commission of India. The Canada India Centre is located in the River Building. Building on Carleton University’s strong tradition of community engagement and 40 years of experience in working with India, the Centre brings together scholars and practitioners in different fields to contribute to policy initiatives that benefit both countries. The School of Public Policy and Administration, the Sprott School of Business, the School of Engineering and Design, Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism and the Faculty of Science work collaboratively to assure an interdisciplinary approach to research to address the most pressing issues facing India and Canada. The Centre is a hub of events, research and partnerships which expand our perspectives, build stronger partnerships and leverage great ideas into economic engines.