Pop-Up Consultation Series

Description

In late January and early February 2013, the Campus and Community Planning Public Engagement Team hit the pavement and set up camp in five locations around campus to ask the campus community what a sustainable and livable community means to them.

Where we went

To maximize our reach, we ‘popped up’ in busy locations around both the academic and residential parts of campus. We hit the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and SUB locations between 11:30 and 1:30 on January 28th and 31st respectively.

We also covered busy places in campus neighbourhoods, including the Save-On-Foods in Wesbrook Village, Acadia Park Commons Block before movie night, and the Old Barn Community Centre between 3:30-5:30 on January 31st, February 1st and 8th, respectively.

How we collected feedback

Keeping things fun and interactive, we invited participants to hang out at small café installations with small bistro tables, plaid table cloths and a large poster board for them to post ideas on. Hot chocolate and cookies were served while participants discussed ideas about sustainable community development at UBC, and contributed to building a collaborative mind map.

For the consultation events at Save-On-Foods and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, we set up a small booth and spontaneously engaged passerby in conversation, asking them to complete an online questionnaire using iPads.

Summary of what we heard

The UBC community is a friendly bunch!
When asked what a sustainable and livable community at UBC means to them, a significant number of participants (10%) shared ideas about neighbourliness.

Sort it out!
More than half of participants (55%) expressed general support for sustainable community development practices (55%) at UBC, including good waste management practices (31%), particularly when it comes to recycling (9%) and composting (5%) on campus.

A green campus
A number of participants (16%) also expressed support for green spaces and a nature-friendly campus, sustainable transportation (12%) and green building initiatives (10%).

The information collected through the pop-up events was used to inform planning work at UBC.

Attachments