Dawson College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

2022-24: Landscape projects, including two national demonstration projects (raised wetland and organic Vermicomposters) are being studied by many classes and by individual students. Small eco-zones on campus are used in outdoor labs by hundreds of students and several classes implement every lab on campus grounds, rooftops or within the building.

Fieldwork students within the CRLT program (391-128-DW and 391-651-DW) give public tours and presentations on many aspects of the sustainability projects. They are evaluated on their preparation, professionalism, set-up, risk-management and debriefing. These students are an important part of the institutional image. Fieldwork students are also involved in promoting a partnership with Nature Canada and the non-profit Earthvalues Institute called NatureHood, where we promote the use of migratory bird santuaries near the island of Montreal to the public, especially youth. Students in the Winter Outdoor Education class (391- 402-DW) are taken on trips to the park areas to learn about the sites and interpret the environment. This knowledge is transferred to the gounds of Dawson when the students are in the next semester. A preparatory class linked to fieldwork is discribed below:

Creativity (391-201-DW) uses the campus as a location for various animation and leadership activities. Indoor and outdoor spaces are used to show how physical surroundings can increase the creativity (problem-solving, innovation and expression) of the participants by talking about things like: natural vs artificial light, air flow, area of a room, sound quality etc. We also use the Peace Garden as an outdoor classroom to show how to lead in an outdoor (urban) environment. The students then incorporate these learning through assignments as well as leading at their fieldwork locations for many Montreal area organizations.

The Social Change & Solidarity Program course Solidarity in Action: A Global Perspective (300-OB3-DW) and its Cuban partners Centro Memorial Martin Luther King exchange needs and perspectives of social justice and environmental issues and the students return with a new cultural filter that they share with peers and the institution through prsentations, events and video production.

In the Social Change & Solidarity program’s Thematic Issues course (300-TH1-DW), students also work with the following  partner organizations:

1.         Immigrant Workers Centre / Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants
2.          Femmes du Monde à Côte-des-Neiges
3.          Welcome Collective / Le Collectif Bienvenue
4.           Project Genesis / Projet GeneseSolidarity 
5.           Across Borders / Solidarité sans frontières
6.           Jia Foundation
7.           CKUT: 90.3-FM
8.           Le Réseau d’aide aux travailleuses et travailleurs migrants agricoles du Québec (RATTMAQ)
9.           Brique par Brique
10.           Comité des Citoyen(ne)s Milton Parc

The Sustainability Office is involved in webinars, conferences, working groups and research; Living Campus tours given by staff and students to external regional, national and international groups (e.g. rotary, women's clubs, business clubs, politicians, primary schools, high schools, colleges & universities).

The Office also offers workshops about the importance of climate action, biodiversity in urban settings (camps, daycare, church groups, elementary schools, visitors).

1000's of students and guests are taught using the campus grounds and naturalized rooftops

Civil Technology students taking a Surveying class (221-153), survey the grounds and volume of snow piles. Dawson now stores all removed snow from parking areas and driveways on site and the student work is shared with the sustainability office and facilities dept. The goal is to retain the water as part of our climate action and help cool the city block through evaporation. The tons of snow, once melted, helps keep the soil moist for longer periods. This helps in guaging snow melt and contamination from parking lot oils and windshield washer fluids for the biology class working on experiments on the grounds and helps the facilities team plan future locations for snow storage for contract conditions.

Students have been studying the impact of the heat island effect using campus parking lots, the building envelop and the naturalized grounds and presenting Dawson's situation to the Office of Sustainability and to College's and Institutes canada.

Tree canopy as cooling machines, water evaporation, and increasing native ground cover are also mentioned during Living Campus tours, as is the building energy reduction in such things as retention of heat from expelled air and other energy-saving methods to ease CO2 emissions.

Living Campus Tours - Topics: 

Colour of air intake pipes; tree cover, CO2 update of trees on property, air venting centres, influence of concrete and pavement, outdoor composting, landscape equipment use, bioretention project (C02 intake), campus carbon neutral plan and associated actions demonstrated on site to seniors groups, visiting high schools, and visiting elementary schools.

During Living Campus tours, students and staff often see the computerized air quality and flow system for each location within the building and how it monitors air quality and distribution. Water and electrical centers within the college are also visited. Interior Design and Industrial Design students visit the interior of the building and design sustainable solutions to products or spaces. Mechanical engineering students help with design and production of needed components for the sustainability projects.
project samples:
- Monarch nursery shelter design
- Quiet classroom and natural lighting, computerized HVAC system and water intake tours
- Sustainable material use in product manufacturing, 
- Influence of heritage building regulations on sustainability (Office of Sustainability presentation)

Industrial Design student develop sustainable design in products at an end-of-year event open to all Dawson staff & students.

Drainage system from limstone walls, de-icing salt use in parking areas and stairs is reviewed during specific tours to mechanical engineering and/or civil engineering students.

Two faculty from the Electronics Engineering Program Teaching the course Explore the Profession (243-1E1) in the Fall 2024 semester, have an explicit competency performance criterion to ensure that students recognize the role of sustainable development in the profession. Activities include presentation from invited speakers, followed by group and individual work from the students. They submit work and it is reviewed with feedback - all part of a formative assessment.

 Students identified equipment or material used in the building as part of their program and had to research the current supply chain and suggest a more sustainable supply chain for the college. Students were given a presentation on the sustainability program of the college, including its scope 1,2 and 3 calculations (scope three includes 22,000 items purchased by the college and evaluated for GHG emissions). Supply chain management, researching the sustainability of data center power generation, consumption and waste heat recuperation and/or product life cycles was all considered as part of the course content. Students became aware of the energy steps, and consequently the carbon emissions, associated with the supply chain culminated with purchased items in the building.

Part of Living Campus tours showcase the very low energy use of the entire building and energy saving projects. Students have made a sustainability awareness video that highlights some energy savings achievements. 

Dawson has also given many workshops and webinars about the college energy reduction campaigns and how they were reached through retrofitting, behavioural changes and policy changes. The World College and Polytechnic Youth Conference held at Dawson in 2023 reviewed all of the college sustainability endeavours, including energy use and reduction measures in the building and through operational and behavioural changes. The practical experience was then reflected on and debriefed during the week-long conference.

Dawson is part of a team of researchers that developed a food map of the entire city of Montreal showing, markets, stores, school gardens, community gardens and biological products in every neighborhood. Over 10 local partner organizations are involved. Presentations are given to Dawson staff, at conferences and other organizations.
Classes also participate in the maintenance of the rooftop vegetable gardens and have workshops on sustainable food production; sustainable pest control; on-site composting; vermi-composting
Workshops are given several times a year on the breeding of mealworms for food and cricket flour for baking. These workshops are part of Earth Week programming, daycare Nature awareness programs and to groups specifically requesting workshops through the Sustainability Office.
Honey extraction workshops are given every year using our rooftop hives. Workshops on the hydroponic growing of our indoor herbs is also used as an educational opportunity.

Multiple studies and projects involving hundreds of students are implemented each semester on the campus grounds. They involve largely the nine biodiversity zones that have been developed on the urban landscape or rooftops. They include:
Standing and forest floor nurse logs that creates a decomposition zone
Four small freshwater ponds on the gym roof and grounds
Outdoor raised compost tumblers (Spring and Summer)
Small meadow areas on the rooftop and monarch breeding areas on the grounds
Fruit growing area on gym roof
A regeneration area where grass is not cut for periods of eight years to demonstrate succession
Three sisters garden to demonstrate First People's growing methods
Honey bee hives on the green roof
A forest floor and meadow demonstration site within a parking lot
20,000 sq ft Ecological Peace Garden with thousands off native plants
Student studies and projects:
Mason bee habitat construction - students from many programs
Felled trees on campus chipped and used as mulch by volunteers in sustainability office
English teachers working with indigenous students; maple sap tapping in geography and Journeys students
Social science classes helping with garden maintenance
Mechanical engineering students designing a Monarch butterfly nursery
Social science students, First Peoples' class, nursing students, civil technology students, and Recreation/Leadership students all working together on a habitat restoration project (importance of outdoor classes, measuring weight load issues on roof, review of native plants and appropriate planting methods, 2nd language acquisition through Living Campus work). This activity was coordinated by the Sustainability Office and the Peace Centre
Biology - Insect biodiversity study; plant succession; microhabitats
Biology - Bird feeder activity in Peace Garden
Fine arts students working on "capturing" biodiversity on campus through illustrations
Civil Technology students surveying location and height of snow removed from parking lot
Physical Education eco-landscaping courses (introduced in 2022)
Approximately 50 classes use the grounds in the fall and Spring each year.

Examples:

Industrial design students researched sustainable material that would be light, durable and non-toxic for projects.

Garbage audits are implemented by students to better understand what products are coming into the college. 

Business class students review purchased items and then develop alternative packaging examples. 

Social science students choose a college cafeteria item and produce a map of its ecological footprint to build awareness of associated GHGs.

Increased awareness of food service within the college led to a plastic packaging ban and resulted in the use of wooden utensils, compostable food containers and no sale of plastic water bottles.

1. Existing bike infrastructure and challenges are shown during Living Campus Tours for Mechanical Engineering Technology's Emerging Technologies class students. Teachers challenge them to  solve various issues they note and this knowledge is transferred to a Design Manufacting class within the same program.  Examples: Design and implementation plan for a winter bike rack (2024) - Mechanical Engineering's Design Modifications class (241-506-DW).
2. Students in physical education classes studing human impact in outdoor spaces and creating walking paths in gardens to encourage outdoor visits and discovery of Nature - discussions about alternative transportation and its influence on wellness, especially in garden spaces - Eco-Landscaping Class (109-101-MQ).
3. The Physical Education program calculates all transportation to external locations and students can view the impact of each course. Courses that are now using the campus grounds, trails, gardens and rooftops are not using transportation to visit similar sites off campus. This is a relatively new experience for many teachers and students and a consequence of providing educational opportunities on site. Both hours in Nature and GHGs produced by transport  are shared.
4. Students are creating a heat map of the parking lots and realizing how car parking areas are major issue in sustainable cities, contributing to heating, rapid runoff of rainwater and deplete the landscape of recreational space.

Students in the Community Recreation & Leadership Training program course Program Design (391-401-DW) implemented a waste audit in the cafeteria as part of their programming objectives and presented the results to the Office of Sustainability. This research was added to other audit information that contributed to metrics that helped plan for contamination and recycling estimates.

3rd year Interior Design Program students in the Professional Practice II (1-20251) class  plan and execute a carbon neutral /zero-waste exhibition as part of their grade. They are learning about college waste/recycling/composting procedures and infrastructure within the building and using this knowledge to develop a zero-waste event for several hundred people.

External on-site composting and vermi-composting is part of every Living Campus Tour for students. These activities are also carried out by student volunteers. How returning organic waste to the landscape through nature-based processes is emphasized.

Waste audits have been implemented every 2-3 years for 15 years  by students and staff within the following: Community Recreation & Leadership Training Program, Green Earth Club, Office of Sustainability volunteers,  (2023) and environmental studies (2022). Data is presented to the community and shared with the  Office of Sustainability. These audits involve recycling, compost and waste containers. This information is used as data within the college waste management guidelines. Dawson diverted 53% of its waste from landfill in 2021-22 and has a 5 year goal to be a Zero-waste college. These accomplishments are the result of weekly student activities.

A bioretention area was constructed by phys. ed. students (Eco-Landscaping Class -109-101-MQ) with nine 8 foot cells that capture the rooftop runoff of the library and sends the water through a living machine of over 800 plants. 50% of copper oxides are removed by this living machine (chemistry student analiysis) and clean water returned to the atmosphere. This project is viewed by many classes (e.g. geography, physical education, biology). 

Snow is piled on campus and melts on site, returning water to the area in the spring. The snow piles are used by Civil Engineering Technology (Surveying class -221-153) students to practice measurements and volume.

Internal water distribution centers and monitoring techniques in pipes are demonstrated during Living Campus tours to staff and students. These tours are implemented throughout the year.

A Recreation Program class Organization & Management of Recreational Programs (391-184-DW) used the grounds and building envelope to implement a pilot outdoor education intensive class to test feasibility of whether or not objectives could be met and whether educational methods usually implemented in a natural camp setting could be duplicated on our urban site. This not only prepared students for the actual program, as they were assed on their program planning, but also demonstrated to the institution what is needed for more outdoor-oriented classes to take place on campus, rather than renting transportation and lodging facilities.

The Workplace Management (391-320-DW) class uses the indoor signage and outdoor spaces as ways to show how risk management techniques such as emergency procedures can increase the safety of clientele, guests and employees. These concepts are tested throughout the course and assessed through various assignments such as exams, needs analysis, and lesson plans. As a class, they attend on-campus events and activities to use as case studies for risk management so they can eventually complete safety plans for their future events and activities (on and off campus).

The same program's Health and Safety class (391-110-DW) uses the outdoor space and observes activities. The safety skills and techniques included in each of these activities are tested on their final written and/or practical exam. When appropriate, activity organizers are given feedback on. Examples of observations: 

• Attend fall outdoor evenst sponsored to better understand how to set up a safe event in an outdoor environment, looking at traffic patterns, shade use, bugs etc.. 
• We do a block walk-about including on and off campus areas in which draws attention to the safe use of hard-court surfaces (basketball court near Atwater), the purpose of fencing and hedges and the difference in the daycare activity area and the playground across the street on Wood Ave.(heat/shade). 
• The class also uses the greenspace on campus for some first aid scenarios where students practice approaching an injured person and practicing their skills in a outdoor / different environment to help them better understand the impact of real-world noise and other distractions, etc. A Group Leadership Theory and Practice 2 (391-311-DW) class uses the campus (and in particular the different types of classroom and common spaces) to discuss the pros and cons of the different types of facilities and how they can increase or decrease interaction during a group meeting and/or help make a hosted event more or less successful. The students run group meetings and a student-led promotional event in this course, and they must show understanding of how physical surroundings can affect group communication, interaction, comfort levels and trust. The students show these learnings through reflective logs and summative written reports. Feedback is given to the Office of Sustainabiity.

The sustainability office has regular meetings with colleges from the provincial network specifically on the governance and structure of the present Office of Sustainability. We have recently worked extensively with John Abbott College (2023-2024) in Quebec and Canadore College 2022-2024 in Ontario.

The office also meets weekly with student representatives of the Dawson Student Uniuon and has daily meetings will volunteer students. How policies, union regulations, developmental cababilities of participants, budgets, protocols/guidelines, risk management and professionalism intertwine is reviewed constantly with student volunteers and student interns, as it is essential for effective sustainability programming..

Planning for a new 5 year strategic plan (2024-29) has seen a central role of sustainability in the plan and a dramatic increase in sustainability presence within the vision and goals of the college. Dawson now has 5 full time positions dedicated to sustainability with dedicated positions for student volunteers, student interns and a pedagogical counseler to help teachers and students with sustainability integration.

Living Campus Tours -Dawson is a network leader in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and has courses and pathways to facilitate integration into the College. Many workshops are given both internally and externally as part of the mandate of the Accessibility Centre and research is published in journals. Students are trained and hired to help in cassrooms for students with special needs.

2024 example: Rooftop access was reviewed by Industrial Design students and access to a designed structure (ramp and railing specifications) was reviewed on site.

2020-24: Students grow vegetables on campus grounds throughout the growing season and donate produce to local shelters near the campus. Food security is constantly a topic of conversation and action towards food security issues is emphasized.

UDL awareness building is on-going at Dawson as we explore culturally responsive teaching. Link: https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/culturally-responsive-teaching-and-udl/

A cross section of College staff on our sustainability advisory committee reviewed socially responsible investing and contributed to positive and negative investing criteria. This formed the basis of the screening process and Dawson will now invest 60-100% of its foundation funds in socially responsible investments. The Foundation's responsible investment committee has student representation to ensure student input at the decision-making (voting level.)

A student investment club was started in 2022 and reviews sustainability factors in investments.

Students taking the Sustainable Happiness Certificate are shown examples of how Dawson's building and landscape have examples of projects that collectively act as stress-reducing (psychologically restorative) mechanisms. They are then challenged to identify an issue and address it in a positive way. They give back to their community. The Dawson Student Union trained all of its executive in this program to help them better make decisions based on sustainabiity and well-being and what was available within the college they represent to better express well-being within locations for activities.

We continue to partner with Dr. Catherine O'Brien, founder of the concept, to create a Sustainable Happiness Certificates for staff and students. 

Staff and student engagement in sustainability projects are continually linked to micro-restorative activities that are important contributors to student/staff satisfaction, student success and well-being in general.

Three books have been published in three years that outline Dawson's work in the sustainability field or that has been supported by Dawson (Well-being for All, Living Campus, Sustainable Campuses). Dawson was mentioned numerous times in recently published books:
1. Arar, Sembrar y Cosechar: planteles educativos sustentables, by Dr. Gisela Frias & Luisa Montes: https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/sustainable/events/publications/arar-sembrar-y-cosechar-planteles-educativos-sustentables/
2. Sustainable Happiness & Well-Being, by Dr. Catherine O'Brien: https://books.google.ca/books/about/Education_for_Sustainable_Happiness_and.html?id=_1X7CwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
3. Living Schools: Transforming Education, Chapter 14 on Dawson's Living Campus:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343999095_LIVING_SCHOOLS_TRANSFORMING_EDUCATION