Campus Vision 2050: Community Engagement

Prominent engagement themes included:

UBC’s mission

• UBC is a university and place of learning above all else

The affordability crisis 

• Life on campus is increasingly unaffordable for many, and more housing needs to be built for the UBC community

The climate emergency and campus resilience

• UBC should lead climate action by example and build more climate-adaptive and green infrastructure

Musqueam and Indigenous campus presence

• Honour and celebrate Musqueam and Indigenous ways of knowing, strengthen Musqueam presence, cultural values and traditions on campus, and respect other Indigenous traditions

Accessibility and safety 

• Campus can be inaccessible to some, difficult to get around and unsafe at times

Growth and the preservation of green space and biodiversity

• Protect campus green space and consider the capacity of the campus to grow

The needs of our diverse communities

• More amenities and services (e.g., grocery stores, daycares and schools) are needed to enable thriving communities

How UBC uses land to finance campus needs

• Concern that market housing is outpacing housing for students, faculty and staff, and that it is coming at the expense of livability, campus character and green space

Concerns about growth

• Significant worries about the current paradigm for resource use and housing development, and how UBC’s choices could contribute to these challenges

The Needs and Aspirations period consisted of two rounds of public engagement that took place between January and April 2022.

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• January and February 2022: we sought to better understand the UBC community’s experience of the campus, as well as hopes and dreams for the future. We also asked for feedback on the eight themes that emerged from the pre-planning process. Community input enabled staff to identify challenges and opportunities to address through Campus Vision 2050 and informed the development of a set of draft guiding principles and strategies.

• March and April 2022: after incorporating university and community input, draft guiding principles and strategies were presented to the public for further feedback and refinement. The final guiding principles and strategies reflect this feedback and seek to address the challenges and opportunities identified through the entire Needs and Aspirations engagement period.

  The Needs and Aspirations period also included meetings with Musqueam to understand interests and receive comments on the Terms of Reference, and the eight themes and the draft guiding principles and strategies. Musqueam and UBC are co-developing a process for deeper land use engagement on Campus Vision 2050 and other initiatives that will share information and seek to integrate Musqueam values, interests and comments.

Over 3,300 people participated during the Needs and Aspirations engagement period from January to April 2022.

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Overview of What We Heard

Feedback on Challenges & Opportunities

Eight preliminary themes identified during the pre-planning process were presented to the public during the January to February engagement period. Public input on these themes revealed the following set of core challenges and opportunities to address through Campus Vision 2050.

• Addressing the affordability crisis — we heard that life on campus is unaffordable for many, and getting worse, and that more housing needs to be built for the UBC community
• Accessibility and safety of campus — we heard that campus can be inaccessible to some, difficult to get around and unsafe at times.
• Meeting the needs of our diverse communities — we heard a strong call for more amenities and services (e.g., grocery stores, daycares and schools) to enable thriving communities.
• How UBC uses land to finance campus needs — we heard concern that market housing is outpacing housing for students, faculty, and staff, and that it is coming at the expense of livability, campus character and green space.
• Musqueam and Indigenous campus presence — we heard strong interest from the community in honouring and celebrating Musqueam and Indigenous ways of knowing.
• UBC’s mission — we heard a strong desire to emphasize UBC as a university and place of learning above all else.
• Climate emergency and campus resilience — we heard calls for UBC to lead climate action by example and to build more climate-adaptive and green infrastructure.
• Managing growth and the preservation of green space and biodiversity — we heard strong calls to protect campus green space and to consider the capacity of the campus to grow

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Feedback on the Draft Guiding Principles & Strategies

Insights generated from the first engagement period helped inform the development of draft guiding principles and strategies, which were presented to the public in March and April for feedback and refinement. A summary of key insights can be found below.

• Overall support for the draft principles and strategies — we heard from a majority of participants that the draft principles and strategies were on the right track. We also heard a call for the principles and strategies to be bolder and more aspirational.

Feedback by principle:

• Supporting excellence in teaching, research and learning — we heard participants emphasize that people are at the heart of academic mission, and that meeting the breadth of community needs is essential to the success of this principle.
• Musqueam and the Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) — we heard a strong call to co-develop the principles and strategies with Musqueam and to provide transparency on how Musqueam and campus Indigenous communities have been involved throughout the planning process.
• Supporting affordability and everyday needs — we heard that affordable housing is a top community concern, as well as the need for more affordable and diverse food options on campus.
• Inclusion, belonging and community building — we heard support for more gathering spaces and improvements to safety on campus, and received suggestions to use more specific, inclusive and plain language in the strategies.
• Campus ecology, livability and funding UBC’s priorities — we heard strong feedback that funding and housing development does not fit within considerations of ecological stewardship, and that green spaces and forested areas should be preserved on campus.
• Responding to the climate emergency — we heard a call for stronger language and targets to demonstrate institutional commitment to this principle, as well as support for climate adaptable and resilient buildings. We also heard a call for biodiversity loss to be considered under this principle.
• Strengthen campus and regional connectivity — we heard support for the arrival of SkyTrain to UBC and concern around potential impacts that result from new transportation infrastructure investment. We also heard support for more cycling infrastructure on campus, and a call for ecological connectivity and biodiversity to be considered under this principle.

Engagement for the 30-Year Vision began in fall 2022 and completes with the Land Use Plan (LUP) public hearing in fall 2023. Engagement to date has included discussions with Musqueam, targeted engagement meetings and two rounds of broad public engagement that saw over 8,900 touchpoints with community members.

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• September - October 2022: Reflecting the UBC Board of Governors’ Terms of Reference for Campus Vision 2050, we sought feedback on an initial set of five Big Ideas that would go on to form the major cross-cutting components of the Draft 30-Year Vision, as well as two development scenarios with different approaches to building heights, open space and mixing of academic and neighbourhood lands, and initial direction on updates to the Housing Action Plan (HAP).
• January - February 2023: We sought feedback on the Draft 30-Year Vision, anchored around six Big Ideas, as well as key proposed updates to HAP and key recommendations for updating the LUP.

How We Reached People (September 2022 - February 2023)

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Public engagement resulted in over 8,900 touchpoints across all campus communities (students, faculty, residents, staff, emeriti, alumni) and members of the broader community. We also piloted a “Community Connectors” program, which aims to increase community involvement with equity-seeking groups in the Campus Vision 2050 process.

Overview of What We Heard

• Supporting community needs: Aspects of the Vision that are almost uniformly supported include a SkyTrain connection, improved intra-campus mobility strategies, as well as flexible teaching, learning, research and community spaces that can meet a variety of needs.
• Campus growth: Many in the community have been clear that the need for more affordable housing is paramount—the one challenge that that the Vision must address above all else. The community continues to press for more affordability measures, including more student housing, more rental housing and a greater expansion of faculty and staff assistance programs.
• Livability, climate action and ecology: There continues to be concerns that growth may come at the expense of livability, climate action and ecology, and some disagreement with the university’s approach to funding critical needs through residential development. Regardless of concern or support for campus growth, the community highly values the preservation of campus green spaces, advancing climate action and ensuring the adequate delivery of amenities and services.
• Form of development: Overall, the community supports the mixed approach of mid-rise and taller buildings for future development, but many still prefer one approach or the other—keeping towers below the current 22-storey maximum or prioritizing more tall buildings.
• Musqueam engagement: Engagement with the Musqueam community and leadership, which is ongoing, has affirmed the importance of strengthening the Musqueam/UBC relationship through collaborations and a strong Musqueam presence on campus.
• Process: Members of the UBC community expressed gratitude and excitement for the way they have been engaged in planning for the future and that they felt their voices were heard. There continues to be a desire for more information and more detail to better understand what the Vision will mean for day-to-day life on campus and how it will be implemented.

Throughout Campus Vision 2050, we engaged the community through a variety of engagement activities including:

• Surveys,
• Interactive online tools,
• Open houses,
• Speaker & Panel events,
• Workshops,
• Community conversations,
• Roadshows,
• Pop-ups,
• Walking Tours, and
• Targeted Engagement Meetings

More information on each engagement activity can be found in our Engagement Summary Reports.

Throughout the engagement process, Campus + Community Planning has focused on engaging with equity-seeking communities who have been historically underrepresented in planning processes, including hosting sessions with Indigenous people, black people, people of colour, LGBTQIA2S+ people, people with disabilities, newcomers, student families, and frontline staff.

Here are some of the ways we intentionally sought to lower barriers to participation:

• providing honoraria to support participation of students in workshops and equity-seeking groups in community conversations,
• offering both in-person and online options to participate,
• offering childcare at evening and weekend events, and
• translating promotional and informational materials and having translators during events to reach broader ethnocultural communities in the neighbourhoods.

For more details on how we embedded equity in the Campus Vision 2050 engagement process, download our Engagement Summary Reports which can be downloaded in the Documents & Resources library.

Through the Campus Vision 2050 process, UBC engaged with the UBC community on proposed amendments to the Land Use Plan. Draft policies and regulations in the amended Land Use Plan were shared through broad public engagement and targeted discussions with internal and external stakeholders. A public hearing was the final phase of the 18-month Land Use Plan public engagement process.

Visit our Land Use Plan page to learn more.

For materials related to the development of the Land Use Plan, including the Public Hearing Final Record, visit our Documents & Resources Library.

The Housing Action Plan was updated as part of a regular five-year comprehensive review required by the Board of Governors, the second review since the Plan was adopted in 2012. The review, integrated with the Campus Vision 2050 process, included extensive public engagement with faculty, staff, students and other groups, as well as technical work to understand current housing opportunities and challenges.

For more information, visit the Housing Action Plan page.

For materials related to the development of the Housing Action Plan, visit our Documents & Resources Library.