Fleming College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Our Kawartha Trade and Technology Centre (KTTC) is a state of the art facility, built to LEED standards, and houses all of our skilled trades programs. Recently, our Construction Engineering Program designed a building to be a sustainable house onsite which has now been constructed within the footprint of the KTTC, using a variety of trades and apprenticeship programs. It will showcase alternative construction and energy technologies for the residential sector.

Frost Campus has renewable energy sources including wind, passive solar and geothermal that are highlighted for students, staff, and visitors through signage and tours of the "Discovery Wing" of the Frost campus. The Kawartha Trades and Technology Centre has a portable "renewable energy center" that is used to describe renewable energy applications. More recently, Geothermal and hydronic equipment have been installed to support Fleming's new Geothermal Systems program and an increased focus on alternative energy across our Trades programs.

Our Culinary Management and Chef Training Red Seal program focuses on cooking and eating locally and sustainably and sources local food (including from our Sustainable Agriculture and Aquaculture programs) and serves it through the on-campus dining room (Fulford's Restaurant) raising the awareness of students and the College community alike about the benefits of local food sourcing, food security and sustainably grown food. This includes using rainbow trout from our onsite hatchery and exposing culinary students to ethical means of ending life and consuming the fish (in accordance with our Animal Use Protocols). Recently, our culinary programs have developed on-site gardens at our Kawartha Trade and Technology Centre to supply fresh in-season vegetables.

The Aboriculture Program and Trees and Shrubs course are two of many programs and courses that utilize the campus grounds to study tree identification. Tree ID Tests are taken right on the grounds with the wide variety of tree species located on-site. The Urban Forestry Technician program has included on-site student projects such as an analysis of tree canopy cover at the campus. Using i-tree software, carbon sink calculations are projected for current and future tree canopy cover. In 2018, Fleming launched an Arboretum of representative species and species at risk, while providing a "living seed" library representative tree species for Ontario. This provides a study site for our Ecosystem Management, Forestry, and Urban Forestry students. Fleming has also launched an onsite apiary and is collecting data from the hives (temperature, moisture, etc.) for assessing the impact of climate change on bee populations.

Under the direction of the Alternative Transportation Committee, which includes staff, faculty, and students, Fleming's Institutional Research Office and the Office of Sustainability, conducted a modal split survey of students and staff at all of our campuses in 2017. This followed the fall, 2016 launch of a student transit pass at Sutherland campus which greatly expanded alternative transportation through enhanced public transit, a commercial bike loan program - Zagster and a commercial ride share program. The discounted bus pass has also been extended to all staff on campus. The shuttle bus service between our Frost and Sutherland campuses was also a student-led initiative. option.http://flemingsac.ca/transportation/. The Frost students recommitted to the Frost shuttle with a referendum in January 2019 with expanded weekday/weekend service. In 2019, the Office of Sustainability increased the Frost Campus Bike Loan program with 4 new mountain bikes, a newly installed outdoor bike tune-up station, as well offered monthly Bike Tune-Up clinics in the winter, where students could bring their bikes in to learn how to do their own bike maintenance at no or low cost with an experienced bike mechanic.

In 2018 Fleming launched two new programs. 1) Our "Waste Buddies" program is a student volunteer peer to peer education program which trains volunteers in proper waste diversion on campus using our designated streams in "Sort it Out!", (waste diversion program launched in 2017 with branded new signage, education videos and a dedicated web page with information). This program has been successful in introducing students, particularly our international students, to waste diversion on campus and the importance of reducing waste. 2) Fleming launched Cupanion - Fill it Forward to reduce the use of single-use coffee cup and plastics on campus. The Fill it Forward program raises awareness about the sustainability issues associated with single-use plastics while supporting water development projects in developing nations. By using a reusable water bottle, the user gains points, and a cup of water is donated by Cupanion to the Water development project. Business Marking students promoted the Fill it Forward Campaign conjunction with the Office of Sustainability, to raise awareness about the Fill it Forward programs, including the benefits of participating. The awareness campaign extended to broader issues of sustainability. In 2018, The Office of Sustainability worked with 17 Sustainable Waste Co-op students on developing a vermicomposting system using selected campus food waste and coffee ground from the staff room. Students monitored the vermicomposters, created signage and showcased the vermicomposting system in the main foyer of our Frost campus. The Students for Sustainability group at Frost campus offered free monthly lunch hour workshops "How to build a vermicomposter", to reduce landfill waste. Students brought in their own recycled plastic containers and learned how to make their own composter using campus recycled paper and lunch organic scraps. Red Wiggler worms were provided complimentary through the Office of Sustainability.

The Center for Advancement of Water and Wastewater Technologies (CAWT) has an on-site constructed wetland that filtrates water from part of the Frost Campus building. The constructed wetland is a centerpiece of the Frost campus and can be viewed as students walk through the hallways. Students, Staff, and Visitors also have the opportunity to tour the Centre to learn more about the latest applications in water quality technology. Models developed at the Centre are being applied in remote northern communities and internationally and increasingly the CAWT offers applied learning opportunities for faculty and students (through placements).

Skilled Trades students taking the Managing Technical Projects course, including most Electrical and Computer Engineering students, designed projects specifically to help to meet the goals and targets in Fleming College's Five Year Sustainability Plan. These projects looked at the implementation of roof gardens, more interior LED lighting, renewable energy applications and more for our main campus. Faculty noted that the focus on sustainability projects right on campus helped students to be highly engaged in their project designs. In 2017, Fleming launched the "Pitch It" program as a partnership between FASTart (our student entrepreneurship program) and the Office of Sustainability. At an annual conference, students are given the opportunity to pitch an idea that enhances campus sustainability. The projects are judged based on their project planning and alignment with the sustainability goals in Fleming Sustainability Plan. Several teams from a variety of programs have completed in this competition in the past three years.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative of the College includes a multi-faith prayer and meditation room, a Positive Space Education program and student-led awareness events throughout the year including during Black History Month, Gay Pride and Day of Pink, accessibility awareness, women's campus safety, cultural showcase days and more. In addition, our Indigenous Student Services offers a lounge where students can smudge, an on-site tipi at two campuses, regular drumming socials and other cultural events. Fleming also hosts International cultural days featuring students participating in dancing, from the diversity of cultures on campus.

Students in the Ecosystem Management Program put on an annual regional EcoHealth Conference in March focused on sustainable cities and communities. In 2019, the theme was "Sustainability from the Ground Up" and featured a workshop on building a "Forest in a Day" on our Campus Green Roof. This annual event provides hands-on opportunities for campus and community participants to learn how to practice sustainability in their daily lives. The Forest in a Day workshop offered this year at the conference, was a hands-on opportunity to work with faculty and staff to learn to build and assemble urban tree boxes. Participants measured, cut and assembled 4 tree boxes for the Frost Campus green roof and learned about the ecological and health benefits of rooftop green infrastructure while developing new skills. The Office of Sustainability supports this annual conference and the Student Pitch Competition, for campus sustainability and sustainability entrepreneurship projects, now an integral part of the Ecosystem management conference.

Under the auspices of the Fleming's Mental Health Initiatives Committee, well-being is promoted in a variety of ways for staff and students, including Mental Health Awareness Week, Bell Let's Talk and the "Keep Calm, Study On" campaign during exam time. Many of these events and initiatives are led by students in the Schools of Health and Wellness and Library Services. Other initiatives include a newly formed Frost Campus Mental Health Initiative Team. The group is composed of representatives from Student Services, Counselling, Faculty, Frost Student Association, and First-Generation Student Success. The initiative was developed to assist students to navigate the challenges of college and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. Fleming has also launched the Fleming version of the "Friendship Bench", a program that provides an actionable program that encourages a student to student conversation about mental health, facilitates peer to peer support networks and funds on-campus mental health programs. Our Counselling and Accessible Education Services offers personal support for coping with college life, in addition to dealing with challenging personal circumstances. This includes a Campus Health Workshop Certification for Students focusing on a series of four workshops: Priorities & Party Life, Managing Stress; Sleep Smart and Supporting Peers. Similar programs are provided to staff, such as healthy sleep workshops, meditation, and healthy living awards. Finally, Fleming also offers Indigenous health care as part of its Circle of Care program, as well as a medicine room.

In the Ecosystem Restoration Program, the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) course utilized several dozen of the Frost campus indoor tropical plants as a campus living lab project to research and experiment chemical-free pest control options for mealybugs and aphids. Students placed and monitored lacewing larvae and temperature controls to track the efficacy of non-chemical treatments biological alternatives. Signage around the campus plants engaged the campus community of the project and increased awareness of the alternatives to chemical controls within indoor spaces.