Kwantlen Polytechnic University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

SDG Week Sustainability Campus Engagement: During KPU's inaugural Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) week, the Campus and Community Planning (CCP) Department joined the SDG team to conduct campus engagement to educate students and staff about the sustainability framework and the SDGs at KPU. The teams were located at heavily frequented areas, typically courtyards, in 3 of the 5 campuses so that they could engage with as much of the campus community as possible. CCP created poster boards containing maps from the Official Campus Plan which highlight future proposed changes in the infrastructure and operations at KPU over the next 30 years. In addition, CCP created poster boards that contained a suite of objectives from the sustainability framework, showing direct connections with the SDGs, and asked the campus community what priority areas mattered the most to them. Each member of the campus community that came by was given three stickers where they could place under a maximum of three different objectives from the sustainability framework that spoke to them. By doing this exercise, CCP could strike up conversations about what sustainability means, build awareness of the sustainability features that already exist on campus, and understand what mattered most to the campus community when it came to the sustainability of the operations, infrastructure, initiatives, and offerings at KPU. Two student assistants were hired as a part of creating the SDG Mapping Report to report on KPU's progress towards the SDG Accord. During the SDG Week, these students also organized the event and engaged with campus members as a part of the weeklong activities.

A cross-functional team of Indigenous knowledge holders of the Xwchíyò:m Nation, local artists, faculty (Fine Arts, Philosophy, Geography, Biology), and students, created a collaborative research-creation project called ‘Upstream/Downriver Walking the stɑl̓əw̓ Watershed’. The aim of the project was to communicate the impacts of climate change on the lower Fraser River watershed. Walking along the Fraser River, recordings of the walks provided a soundscape which accompanied an art installation made by local artists. Fine Arts Students specifically contributed to this community project by making a creative installation depicting Stó꞉lō (Fraser) River on the floor of the gallery with tree branches intertwined with garbage as a reminder of the human impact on the environment. This installation was hosted at the Langley Centennial Museum and the White Rock Museum and Archives for public viewing.

The course Policy Studies 2140 CityLab: (Re)Designing the City for Climate Justice, utilized the university's infrastructure and operations and its surrounding region as a Living Lab for applied student learning related to Air & Climate. This course featured students studying Surrey City Central, which included KPU's Civic Plaza campus, intensively applying their knowledge of energy, climate change, socio-economic justice and planning justice to issues about food systems, housing and mobility in Surrey Central. Besides the walking tour of Surrey Central (with a City of Surrey Infrastructure/Energy Engineer), student teams devised integrated climate justice visions for the future of Surrey central and individual storymaps for the area; and they mapped urban food deserts in Metro Vancouver. There were also several guest lectures from university faculty and staff to discuss the UN SDG's and Climate Justice at KPU, Biodiversity in Surrey, and KPU's role and its campuses as the climate changes.

The green roof at Langley Campus that is used for teaching and learning purposes in the Urban Ecosystems program consists of food crops and research plots. This green roof holds storm-water for a short period of time to delay its entry into the storm sewer system which helps reduce flooding and reduces pressure on the water cycle. In addition to this, the crops and vegetation growing on the roof help to sequester carbon. The features and processes of the green roof are taught during Urban Ecosystem program lessons where students can witness storm-water capture and carbon sequestration first hand.

The course ENVI 2415, Air Quality Monitoring, in the Environmental Protection Technology program utilizes the campus as a living laboratory through air quality monitoring. The ambient air quality monitoring report project (AAQMR) is a semester long project undertaken by the students of the Environmental Protection Technology program in ENVI 2415. The project seeks to replicate what Metro Vancouver does in its air monitoring network in order to understand the sources, levels and impacts of air pollution in the region. To facilitate this study, air monitoring devices have been installed in one of the buildings in Langley campus as well as external structures were renovated to allow for measurement of particulate matter and weather. This project helps students understand the relationship between a number of environmental factors such as emissions, weather and secondary pollutants. Through their assessment of these conditions and the impacts students gain an understanding on the toll air pollution pays on human health and the health of the environment. This project on the Langley campus fits directly with UN Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 11.6 of reducing the adverse impact of cities, including air quality. Students are required as part of the project to collect data daily, assess long term trends, relationships between factors in development of pollutant, potential harms and if air quality meets federal, provincial and regional objectives.

The Urban Ecosystems program within the Department of Science has a 550 m² dedicated Roof Ecosystem Research Lab located on the rooftop of one of the Langley campus buildings, where students test plants, grow food, and manage a permanent grassland habitat. The crops and vegetation growing on the roof help to sequester carbon. The features and processes of the green roof are taught during program lessons, where students can witness stormwater capture and carbon sequestration firsthand. 

The course Policy Studies 2140 CityLab:(Re)Designing the City for Climate Justice, utilized the university's infrastructure and operations and its surrounding region as a Living Lab for applied student learning related to Energy. This course featured students studying Surrey City Central, which included KPU's Civic Plaza campus, intensively applying their knowledge of energy, climate change, socio-economic justice and planning justice to issues about food systems, housing and mobility in Surrey Central. Besides the walking tour of Surrey Central (with a City of Surrey Infrastructure/Energy Engineer), student teams devised integrated climate justice visions for the future of Surrey central and individual storymaps for the area; and they mapped urban food deserts in Metro Vancouver. There were also several guest lectures from university faculty and staff to discuss the UN SDG's and Climate Justice at KPU, Biodiversity in Surrey, and KPU's role and its campuses as the climate changes.

KPU Farm at the Garden City Lands (GCL) in Richmond, BC - Food Production: Organic produce grown by students at KPU's GCL farm within the Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture is sold at the Kwantlen Street Farmers Market, through KPU's campus cafeterias, and often donated to the Richmond Food Bank. Students learn not only about the production of food, but the business side of sustainable agriculture especially as it relates to food purchasing and sales.

Campus Terrace Gardens: The Richmond campus terrace gardens offer an accessible, high-visibility, growing space. Students working toward their Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture use the garden to grow high-value crops suited to small-scale production, including lettuce, spinach, and other salad greens. The garden's well-drained soils and warm micro-climate allow production of cool-season crops through much of the fall and spring semesters. This outdoor learning space enables students to build skills in their career that will contribute to a more sustainable food system. Other students, employees, visitors, and passerby's can enjoy these Terrace Gardens at the entranceway of the Richmond campus. The Urban Ecosystem program within the Department of Science has a 550 m2 dedicated Roof Ecosystem Research Lab where they test plants, grow food, and manage a permanent grassland habitat. They are actively repairing, re-indigenizing and managing 1.5 hectares of floodplain habitat alongside Logan Creek (Langley Campus), which flows through the campus. On the Langley Campus, they have multiple living lab "blue-green" projects including the Logan Creek Integrity Project, a Rain Garden, a Vertical Rain Garden and a Green Roof. Students learn about flooding, water preservation, food production, restoration and invasive plant removal in all of these four living labs.

The course Policy Studies 2140 CityLab:(Re)Designing the City for Climate Justice, utilized the university's infrastructure and operations and its surrounding region as a Living Lab for applied student learning related to Transportation. This course featured students studying Surrey City Central, which included KPU's Civic Plaza campus, intensively applying their knowledge of energy, climate change, socio-economic justice and planning justice to issues about food systems, housing and mobility in Surrey Central. Besides the walking tour of Surrey Central (with a City of Surrey Infrastructure/Energy Engineer), student teams devised integrated climate justice visions for the future of Surrey central and individual storymaps for the area; and they mapped urban food deserts in Metro Vancouver. There were also several guest lectures from university faculty and staff to discuss the UN SDG's and Climate Justice at KPU, Biodiversity in Surrey, and KPU's role and its campuses as the climate changes.

ENVI 2310, Solid Waste Management: Environmental Protection Technology students conduct a solid waste audit of the Langley campus. The client (the instructor, on behalf of KPU) tells the students that a waste audit of the Langley Campus is to be performed on a set day. The client wants to know basic numbers, and ways to identify a better performance (opportunities for recycling or composting, for better disposal information or facilities, etc). The group is tasked with calculating what the one-day snapshot implies when extrapolated to a full year, and to all campuses. Recently, requested by the Facilities Department, they have been asked to focus on whether there is contamination (waste other than paper towels) in the washroom garbage. They are then expected to produce a report including results of the audit, recommendations (for future audits, but also for facilities), and a summary of practices at other educational institutions in BC. They also need to identify what is not audited (such as garbage from registrar's office, greenhouse, etc).

Wild Spaces: KPU Wild Spaces is an interdisciplinary teaching and learning hub that focuses on ecological place-based education. The team of faculty, staff and students explore intentional outdoor learning at and near the campuses of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. This includes Cougar Creek, Watershed Park, Delta Nature Reserve, Logan Creek in Langley, and the KPU Richmond Farm. Indigenous ways of knowing and accessibility are priorities for Wild Spaces. The local forests and streams, as well as the university campus grounds, are active agents in the learning process. The majority of these nature-based educational gatherings occur in outdoor water-dominant spaces and typically involve a guided walk and discussion. Focused topics include biodiversity loss, climate change, trees, art/nature connection, and salmon spawning, as they relate to these water-dominant spaces. Attendees leave with a better understanding of how these natural areas function in the broader ecosystem in and around KPU and the need to protect them for future generations. The Urban Ecosystems program within the Department of Science and Horticulture maintains a 65 metre rain garden and a vertical living wall rain garden. This living laboratory enables students to understand the interconnections between rainwater management, water conservation and reduction, and the sustainable management of gardens. They are also actively repairing, re-indigenizing and managing 1.5 hectares of floodplain habitat alongside Logan Creek (Langley Campus), which flows through the campus. On the Langley Campus, they have multiple living lab "blue-green" projects including the Logan Creek Integrity Project, a Rain Garden, a Vertical Rain Garden and a Green Roof. Students learn about flooding, water preservation, food production, restoration and invasive plant removal in all of these four living labs. Students in the Environmental Protection Technology program frequently use outdoor areas on the Langley campus. Students in ENVI 2315, Water and Soil Sampling, practice sampling techniques in Logan Creek. They take samples on the north campus including soil samples and sediment samples from the greenhouse retention pond. As part of ENVI 2315 students also conduct a larger class project in which they take water samples for analysis in various locations around Logan Creek, including sites on campus. The objective of the project is to answer the question, “Does Langley campus KPU negatively impact the water quality of Logan Creek?” In ENVI 2420, Contaminated Sites, students practice groundwater sampling techniques in the installed groundwater wells on campus. Students in the EPT program complete a capstone project for ENVI 2902. A number of students over the last few years have completed projects on Logan Creek or the greenhouse retention ponds. Students looking at the retention ponds have been working to determine if the retention ponds effectively reduce contaminates from the greenhouses entering into Logan Creek. All of these activities on campus fit within UNSDG 6.6 to protect and restore water related ecosystems.

The course GEOG3220 Urban Planning and Politics, utilized the university's campuses and its surrounding regions as a Living Lab for applied student learning related to Coordination and Planning. In teams, students undertook intensive housing scenario planning leading to visions/counterfactuals for the future possible housing plans (including greener modes of housing) for three of the KPU campuses (Surrey, Richmond, Langley). These student teams devised proposals, grounded studies, mapping, policy/document analysis, and scenarios studies -- and their work was linked to individual assignments where they attended public meetings in Metro Vancouver and also did a critical review of a major plan/planning project or infrastructure. The overall team results were presented to a panel of internal and external experts to KPU (including administrators from the Campus and Community Planning Department at KPU) on urban planning/geography and their final reports will be assembled and made public, particularly to assist in advising the university on their housing plans.

"KDOCsFF" Social Justice Lab: Housed in Cedar Building of the Surrey Campus, the Lab aims to hold space for social justice themed projects. It was developed for small cohorts of KPU students, faculty, and staff who are ready to materialize their calls to action. Whether the project is high-tech, low-tech, or crafty, they have a range of equipment and resources that can be customized for one's use. Their holdings include a 3D printer; a button maker machine; a color printer; two Mac computer stations; Final Cut Pro editing software; a portable projector; a collection of social justice documentaries; and knitting and beading supplies. Lab creations are primed to complement social justice advocacy on campus and out in the community. A recent project at the Lab is called "Bead the Rainbow", which is an intersectional beading workshop that amplifies Pride activism through Indigenous artistry and is open to students, staff, and faculty.

*Note: KDocsFF or KDocsFilmFestival is the broader name of KPU's Social Justice Film Festival which has expanded beyond just a festival, for example, into this Social Justice Lab, a Youtube channel, etc. 

Two courses in Geography utilized KPU's campuses and its surrounding areas as Living Labs, with a specific focus on noise pollution and its effect on natural and human environments: GEOG3320 Environment and Resources (Summer 2023), where students studied noise pollution in urban parks (through individual assignments situated around Metro Vancouver) and where the classes also studied urban biodiversity issues, watershed issues and invasive issues as well as urban protected areas planning. This class included guest lecturers from Surrey Streamkeepers (non-profit/citizen scientists) and the City of Surrey staff. GEOG1101 Intro to Human Geography (Spring 2023), where students also studied noise in urban parks (downloading a dosimeter app and then undertaking transect, circumambulatory and hypothesized 'quiet place' soundwalks) around Metro Vancouver. Students also undertook a quick soundwalk around the KPU Richmond campus and a short walk to the KPU Farm School to meet with KPU Instructors in the Sustainable Agriculture Program.

The roof ecosystem research lab used by the Urban Ecosystems program is also utilizing their Roof Farm to study climate adaptation and resilience by specifically experimenting with local food production in winter.