Massachusetts Institute of Technology
IN-24: Innovation A

In support of the Terrascope Freshman Learning Community and the Solving Complex Problems course, the MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) collaborated with academic and operational partners to create a unique field study program that focused, for the first time, on the topic of Campus Climate resiliency. The students were challenged to assess, compare and solve for climate resiliency on the MIT Campus and the City of Bangladesh, India. The experiential learning program engaged 40 incoming freshman with real world risks and opportunities found on the MIT campus and in Bangladesh and featured dynamic discussions, live campus tours, and student reflection activities. Using the MIT campus as a test bed, students were given access to emerging research, targeted flood mapping data and several dozen operational experts, sustainability practitioners, campus planners, landscape architects and external partners from the City of Cambridge as part of the learning experience. Students applied their real-world observations and reflections to create resiliency plans for the MIT Campus and the City of Bangladesh as part of the academic requirements for the course. In addition to these measurable outcomes, the program engaged 54 people from 9 different entities on campus (campus planning, Terrascope faculty, emergency management, nano technology, office of sustainability, facilities, utilities department, the department of Urban Planning (DUSP) and the City of Cambridge. This field study program was designed to be transferrable, so it may be easily adapted for other courses for credit, for informal learning, and for student/faculty/staff orientation activities in an effort to convey the importance of climate preparedness on the MIT campus, and within the adjacent neighborhoods, towns, cities and region.

https://ovc.mit.edu/2017/11/09/terrascope-students-use-mit-campus-as-living-lab-for-sustainability-planning/