University of Cincinnati
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

CODE 3010
Students in this course developed "Conserve UC"--a campus campaign to raise awareness and concern for the environment among University of Cincinnati students. The campaign was created based on insights gathered from primary and secondary research about UC’s campus sustainability initiatives and current students’ sustainability efforts. The Conserve UC campaign was shared through educational social media posts and environmentally friendly stickers to encourage the Bearcat family to make sustainable decisions every day.

The EVST Capstone includes a service component that utilizes campus infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for sustainability through having students work on campus-specific issues, including on ways to raise awareness of issues like resource depletion and climate change shift behavior by UC students, staff and faculty when it comes to energy use, waste generation, and purchasing decisions.
https://daap.uc.edu/content/dam/refresh/daap-62/documents/news-events/DAAPcares2022-Presentation.pdf see page 15

The Intro to Environmental Writing course allows students to engage in active and service-based learning projects pertaining to preservation and engagement in campus and local environmental issues.

CODE 3010
Students in the School of Design developed a GuideEd site, described as follows: "There is a stigma in Cincinnati that only private schools can provide quality education to students. Through secondary research, we discovered this stigma to be untrue. There are many public schools within Cincinnati that rival the quality of education at private institutions within the city. Utilizing primary research methodologies, GuidEd is a social media campaign and website that provides first-hard testimonials and information about public education in Cincinnati for parents."
https://daap.uc.edu/content/dam/refresh/daap-62/documents/news-events/DAAPcares2022-Presentation.pdf see page 14.

PLAN 6021 – Elements of Urban Design, is an advanced course for those interested in better understanding the theory and practice of urban design. In this course, students over the past several years were recruited by GoMetro to help design a new transit center. Students implemented elements of sustainability and green infrastructure in their designs, and they then undertook public engagement to community stakeholders about their designs.

The event series “Present Progressive: Talking About Climate Change” incorporates workshops, field trips, screenings, presentations, and discussions that bring together students, faculty, staff, members of the local community, scholars, writers, and stakeholders from Germany; UC students work with faculty to facilitate these events and discussion.

Visiting faculty member Andrew Bernier is working to redesign the education to incorporate sustainability content that breaks down complex problems like climate change, renewable energy transitions, and land practices into more tangible terms for other faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students to use in their curriculum and course studies. His Sustainability Highlights Interview Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKtsym_2CIk

The Center for Entrepreneurship now has a sustainability department that works in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability to bring community leaders in sustainability to campus for interactive discussion panels, which include small business owners, marketing directors for large corporations, teachers, utility directors, etc.

The School of Planning in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati is has hosted a workshop-focused class for the past three years entitled "DAAP Sustainability" that focuses on hands on workshops aimed at having students come up with creative solutions to creating a more sustainable environment in DAAP itself. This class acts as a living laboratory by providing students with co-curricular learning that enhances the effectiveness of their education. The course examines issues in Waste, GHGs, Water, Landscape, and Quality of Life, culminating in exhibitions and implementation of student work during Earth Week.

Student Mitchell Singstock, a medical student in UC’s College of Medicine and president of the Medical Student Sustainability Club, was awarded a 2022 UC Sustainability Award for his leadership and innovative ways of solving problems to enhance UC’s culture of sustainability. Singstock hosted speakers on the implications of climate change on patient’s health and for designing creative ways UC College of Medicine can be more sustainable.

School of Architecture and Interior Design student Planning student Anna Hargen completed a Master's thesis entitled "Brutal Intentions: Transforming Brutalism & theCase for Crosley Tower" described as follows: "Brutalist architecture and associated buildings are endangered, with many of these structures facing demolition worldwide. Given society’s push to achieve a more sustainable future, we can no longer rely on demolition to get rid of our problems. By understanding the concepts of value, permanence, obsolescence, and preservation, innovative design solutions can challenge the widespread endangerment of buildings. In the case for Crosley Tower, a concrete high rise associated with Brutalism, on the University of Cincinnati’s campus in Cincinnati, Ohio, demolition is soon approaching. Innovative methods of transformation, preservation, and demolition will alter the structure's identity and provide hybridized solutions that challenge its unique existence." See https://daap.uc.edu/content/dam/refresh/daap-62/documents/news-events/DAAPcares2022-Presentation.pdf page 6.

Student Gabriel Rhoads worked with Professors Leah Hollstein and Greg Dale in the School of Planning on a project mapping the extensive urban heat island effect within the Cincinnati 2030 district, which includes the UC campus.
https://daap.uc.edu/content/dam/refresh/daap-62/documents/news-events/DAAPcares2022-Presentation.pdf see page 22

In addition, the university installed a green roof on top of the new Linder College of Business. Students worked to help design and create outreach related to this installation. This roof works to reduce the urban heat island effect, provide enhanced insulation to the building, reduce storm water runoff, and cleanse the air of pollutants.

https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2021/04/prestigious-green-and-gold-accolades-highlight-uc-earth-day-2021.html

The Environmental Studies program offers the course ‘Sustainable Energy,’ which consistently uses UC’s energy and utility systems for case studies. The course introduces students to the topic of sustainable energy production and usage in our society.

Also, UC engineering students participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar District Cup. See https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2020/05/n20914779.html

Students taking UC's Urban Agriculture certificate utilize the Soiled Hands Learning Garden, new pollinator garden, campus community garden, and other elements of the UC campus in their coursework and research.

The UC Forward class series titled Inquiry to Innovation: Zero Hunger / Zero Waste "PD2030-001" contributes to understanding sustainability in relation to food and dining as it promotes students to develop real world solutions to intractable problems related to food, waste, and the environment. In this course, students partner with the Kroger "Zero Hunger/Zero Waste" initiative to develop approaches to the vexing problem of food waste and food insecurity on campus and in local neighborhoods. Project applications range from broad food systems strategy and smart systems to tactical community-based solutions like food hubs and urban agriculture, in and around UC.

The Permaculture Design Course, parts 1 and 2, offered through the College if Design, Art, Architecture and Planning has students do final projects, some of which deal with improving air quality and climate through landscape design projects on campus. This course lays the foundations of the Permaculture Design philosophy. It will teach students how and why ecological thinking and philosophies like Permaculture are fundamental to the future on various levels, be it in farming, building, energy, or ecological systems. The students learn the Principles and Ethics of Permaculture and how to use and implement Permaculture Design methods and practices on a small, residential scale. It also explores how these principles can be used to crate resilient and regenerative human systems and how they are applied in various situations.

The Environmental Studies Capstone Class (EVST 5011) is an experiential, service-learning course where students work in interdisciplinary teams to address a specific local issue or project. This requires the application and integration of principles from the various fields that contribute to modern environmental problem-solving. In addition to the service component of this class, students will follow up on the professional development aspects of their training that were initiated in the earlier course, Environmental Research and Careers. This capstone course utilizes campus infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for sustainability through having students work on campus specific issues, some of which deal with procurement and sourcing of material and how the University can expand on its sustainable purchasing options.

The Sustainable Fashion Initiative (SFI) is a student-centered effort to cultivate a zero-waste (circular) culture within the fashion program at the Myron E. Ullman Jr. School of Design. Much of the effort from SFI revolves around the importance of sustainable sourcing of material and advocating for more ethical and environmentally just material procurement on an institutional level. SFI Website: https://www.sficincinnati.com/

CVE2004 – Transportation Infrastructure Engineering is a course designed for undergraduate students who are interested in an overview of the current practices, technologies and scientific principles applied to surface transportation systems. Traffic engineering concerns the planning, design, operation, control, and management of roadways and their networks to provide for the safe, rapid, comfortable, convenient, economical, and environmentally compatible movement of people and goods. This course will introduce the fundamentals of traffic engineering, control and design, highway safety, as well as basics of intelligent transportation systems and environmental impact of transportation activities and operations. Fundamental skills in applying typical traffic analysis software and data collection are grasped through minor lab exercises and field data collection activities on and around the UC campus.

PLAN5158 – Transportation Planning is a course that introduces urban transportation planning and provide an overview of transportation system evaluation. Topics covered include current federal legislation, multi-modal transportation, history of public transportation funding, legislative process, transportation improvement program, and long-range and short-range transit planning and programming. Some of the course work includes case studies related to UC's campus transportation systems.

The School of Planning in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati is has hosted a workshop-focused class for the past three years entitled "DAAP Sustainability" that focuses on hands on workshops aimed at having students come up with creative solutions to creating a more sustainable environment in DAAP itself. This class acts as a living laboratory by providing students with co-curricular learning that enhances the effectiveness of their education. The course examines issues in Waste, GHGs, Water, Landscape, and Quality of Life, culminating in exhibitions and implementation of student work during Earth Week.

Student group SFI (Sustainable Fashion Initiative) consistently hosts events and programming centered around reducing waste in the fashion industry. They partner with staff and faculty members to hosts workshops.

UC Sustainability hosts annual waste diversion efforts during student move-in, move-out, and athletic events. This encourages students to get engaged with the university’s efforts to divert waste from the landfill.

UC Sustainability was awarded a grant from the US EPA to purchase 150 ErgoCan recycling and landfill stations. The process of building and placing these was done over the entire school year, with the help of student volunteers to navigate the buildings and remove the unlabeled/ineffective waste bins.

The Society of Environmental Engineers, a student organization, participates in the EPA’s rainworks challenge, in the pursuit of using the campus as a living lab focused on sustainable stormwater management and green infrastructure development. Various areas on campus were used in a design titled “The Green Gateway,” which also focused on other important practices in sustainability, such as engaging the surrounding community and education.

https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/2020-campus-rainworks-challenge-results#Honorable-Cincinnati

The Permaculture Design Course, parts 1 and 2, offered through the College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning has students do final projects, some of which deal with improving air quality and climate through landscape design projects on campus. This course lays the foundations of the Permaculture Design philosophy. It will teach students how and why ecological thinking and philosophies like Permaculture are fundamental to the future on various levels, be it in farming, building, energy, or ecological systems. The student will learn the Principles and Ethics of Permaculture and how to use and implement Permaculture Design methods and practices on a small, residential scale. We will also explore how these principles can be used to create resilient and regenerative human systems and how they are applied in various situations.

Through interdisciplinary, experiential courses such as the School of Planning studio classes, as well classes such as the UC Forward Class series and the Environmental Studies Capstone projects, students are given real world examples of problems that exist on campus with the intention of educating students on how to be pragmatic in working with a diversity of stakeholders to develop plans and initiatives that advance sustainability outcomes.

For example, Planning student Sam Rees completed a project in PLAN 5099 entitled "Improving Land Use in Uptown 2030 District" which "[focused] on analyzing the existing issues in the Uptown 2030 District" based on land use data and stakeholder input, and offered a plan for improving sustainability outcomes in the District (which includes the UC campus). https://daap.uc.edu/content/dam/refresh/daap-62/documents/news-events/DAAPcares2022-Presentation.pdf see page 23.

UC has established a Net Impact chapter. Net Impact is a global grassroots movement of students and emerging leaders that foster conversations surrounding responsible production and consumption, and impact investing.
https://netimpact.org/about

The Center for Entrepreneurship has launched a Sustainable Invention Immersion Week where participants use the principles of green chemistry and life-cycle thinking to design a sustainable product and construct a viable business model.
https://www.sustainableinventionbootcamp.com/

The Center for Entrepreneurship in the Lindner College of Business has led a discussion panel series that centers topics in sustainable business and investment. The panelists are frequently business owners from the community, and this has led to multiple partnerships with them within the university.
https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2022/05/center-for-entrepreneurship-links-sustainability-with-business-problem-solving.htmlhttps://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2022/05/center-for-entrepreneurship-links-sustainability-with-business-problem-solving.html

Located in the 1819 Innovation Hub on the UC campus, the Live Well Collaborative works with industry leaders and University of Cincinnati students and faculty to form multidisciplinary design project teams. Over the course of a semester the project team uses our design thinking process, which incorporates three main steps: in-depth user focused research, ideation of products and services, and concept refinement. Live Well Collaborative’s design-led approach, delivers innovative solutions across the lifespan, for example for in UC's medical centers. https://livewellcollaborative.org/