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

An undergraduate honor's thesis detailed the use and campus engagement around the Grove Garden, a student community garden. The thesis recommended ways to preserve and promote the garden as a resource for students in areas of food security and engagement.

Students use campus as a living laboratory in a number of ways through ES 199 and the Native American and Indigenous Studies ARC. Students using the Kalapuya Talking Stones to build connections to Indigenous language, history, and ongoing presence/relationality to place. Students use the Grove Garden to plant camas, practice Kalapuya ecologies, harvest and bundle sage and other indigenous medicines and first foods.

Through the Fuller Land Lab, part of the Fuller Initiative for Productive Landscapes, MA and MS students use campus grounds by the riverfront to practice innovative land management techniques like "drift mowing" and planting of wildflowers and other native species to keep invasive blackberries out. The Land Lab was designed in part to welcome international and community visitors during the World Athletics Championships. Through an additional collaboration with the Center for Applied Second Language Studies, the team created a "mixed reality experience toolkit" that connects visitors to the seven different regions of Oregon.

Students working on the Food Security Task Force and through the Food Studies minor have worked with outside organizations to arrange listening circles that will inform legislative and policy agendas. Students have learned how to organize information and discuss that information with policy makers at the local and state level. This has resulted in significant changes in SNAP eligibility in Oregon and improved relationships between students and local DHS workers.

ENVS 202 uses the University of Oregon's sustainability dashboard to evaluate the University's operations and impact as it relates to top sustainability mitigation and adaptation strategies defined by Project Drawdown. Students evaluate areas such as campus emissions, building design, energy use, stormwater management, water usage, transportation, purchasing, and food and dining.

Students in the College of Architecture and Design use campus buildings such as the Erb Memorial Union to test the principles and efficiencies of passive solar design. Students develop models, implement strategies and assess existing designs to provide feedback and suggest design improvements for future buildings.

Students in the College of Architecture and Design use campus buildings such as the Erb Memorial Union to test the principles and efficiencies of passive solar design. Students develop models, implement strategies and assess existing designs to provide feedback and suggest design improvements for future buildings.

In UGST 112, students living in the Academic Residential Community drafted sustainability criteria now in use for Housing furnishings RFPs (in collaboration with Housing); students also held a design challenge to cut down waste in the dining halls (in collaboration with dining).

Urban Farm, a class through the School of Architecture and Environment, collects leaves from around campus to compost in a closed-loop system. The compost is used to grow food that is given to students via the campus food pantry and elsewhere.

Students in ES 199 use the student community garden to plant first foods and medicines in support of their Native American and Indigenous Studies Academic Residential Community.

Students enrolled in LA196 Trees Across Oregon use the campus arboretum for their lab sections. A positive outcome is that students are able to identify common trees native to Oregon’s eight different forest zones.

Urban Farm, a class through the School of Architecture and Environment, collects leaves from around campus to compost in a closed-loop system. The compost is used to grow food that is given to students via the campus food pantry and elsewhere.

Through the Fuller Land Lab, part of the Fuller Initiative for Productive Landscapes, MA and MS students use campus grounds by the riverfront to practice innovative land management techniques like "drift mowing" and planting of wildflowers and other native species to keep invasive blackberries out. The Land Lab was designed in part to welcome international and community visitors during the World Athletics Championships. Through an additional collaboration with the Center for Applied Second Language Studies, the team created a "mixed reality experience toolkit" that connects visitors to the seven different regions of Oregon.

In the Planning, Public Policy, and Management department, faculty teach classes in sustainable transportation planning and innovations that use campus and Eugene as examples or test cases.
MGMT 250, the gateway course to the undergrad minor in Sustainable Business, has a section on urban transportation that uses the UO bikeshare system. Students learn about pricing models for different urban mobility businesses generally and then do an assignment using campus PeaceHealth Rides.

In UGST 112, students living in the Academic Residential Community drafted sustainability criteria now in use for Housing furnishings RFPs (in collaboration with Housing); students also held a design challenge to cut down waste in the dining halls (in collaboration with dining).

ENVS 202 uses the University of Oregon's sustainability dashboard to evaluate the University's operations and impact as it relates to top sustainability mitigation and adaptation strategies defined by Project Drawdown. Students evaluate areas such as campus emissions, building design, energy use, stormwater management, water usage, transportation, purchasing, and food and dining.

Undergraduate students have coordinated with Campus Planning and Facilities Management staff and the UO Research Greenhouse to evaluate campus plans for including pollinator habitat. This happens in both landscape architecture and biology courses.

Students use campus as a living laboratory in a number of ways through ES 199 and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Academic Residential Community. Students using the Kalapuya Talking Stones to build connections to Indigenous language, history, and ongoing presence/relationality to place. Students use the Grove Garden to plant camas, practice Kalapuya ecologies, harvest and bundle sage and other indigenous medicines and first foods.

The PNW Just Futures Institute for Racial and Climate Justice offers students Environmental Justice fellowships to work with impacted communities and leverage the resources of campus and the university. Students, community members and faculty advisors receive funds to develop an EJ project that serves the community in tangible ways. Projects include using campus space to grow culturally-relevant varieties of indigenous corn, training youth climate leaders, organizing events to support organizations working with Eugene's unhoused population, and broadening new markets for Quechua women as part of a PhD student's dissertation.

In MGMT 250, the gateway course to the undergrad minor in Sustainable Business, Students learn about pricing models for different urban mobility businesses generally and then do an assignment using campus PeaceHealth Rides, which the university subsidizes.

Students use data from the Student Wellbeing and Success Initiative to identify trends and concerns related to sustainability and climate change. The survey is available to all incoming first-year students and identifies levels of engagement and anxiety around climate change and sustainability concerns.