Fourth-year course builds partnerships between students and communities

When the village of Eden Mills wanted to go carbon neutral, the community members approached environmental scientists at the nearby University of Guelph for help.

Initiated by resident and architect Charles Simon, the residents of Eden Mills believed that due to their population size (about 350 people) and location (surrounded by wooded areas), this seemingly ambitious goal could be achieved.

They worked with groups of fourth-year environmental sciences students enrolled in the Project in Environmental Sciences course, and their instructors. Each year, a new group of students would help solve a different piece of the Eden Mills carbon neutral puzzle.

“We’re lucky,” Simon told the University of Guelph back in 2013. “Some of the best research is right here in Guelph….With the help of researchers and students, we have gotten some very valuable information on trees, soils, and microclimate. It added precision to what we are doing.”

Almost five years later, the village has since received carbon neutral certification, and has picked up some media coverage along the way. Yet, Eden Mills continues to work with the students and researchers at the University of Guelph to further improve the village’s carbon neutrality, looking at ways to optimize infrastructure including public transit and bike lanes.

Real-world experience and interdisciplinary learning

Every year, more than 70 fourth-year University of Guelph students descend upon the university’s surrounding communities, working with community members to help solve an environment-related problem they’re experiencing, or to help them achieve a particular goal, as was the case with Eden Mills.

Divided into groups of five or six per project, the class provides students with real-world, experiential learning opportunities to get out in the community and put their knowledge to use.

“They get real research experience and learn several skills,” says Naresh Thevathasan, one of the professors who run the course. “They’re communicating with clients, interacting with a variety of different people. We also guide them to other faculties that can help, depending on the project they’re working on. It’s very important to make sure they understand the interdisciplinary nature of these projects. It involves the natural sciences, physical, social sciences.”

Students from four different majors enroll in the course—Environmental Sciences, Economic and Environmental Policy, Natural Resource Management, and Ecology—meaning every year the class has a wide suite of skills to offer.

“It’s interesting to see an Economics student working with someone interested in Natural Resource Management and someone purely interested in Ecology,” says Neil Rooney, another professor leading the program. “These groups of five or six students have so many different skills to offer the client.”

One project had students working with the Saugeen Ojibway Nations on the Bruce Peninsula to incorporate culture into environmental assessments and create culturally sensitive processes.

Other clients include the City of Guelph, conservation authorities, and other non-governmental organizations.

A project particularly important to the province helped Ontario Greenhouse Producers better dispose of greenhouse rainwater—a typically difficult undertaking due to its high level of nutrients. The group worked with engineering faculty and a greenhouse engineer to design a mechanism that captured more phosphorous from this rainwater before being released.

“Ontario has 67% of the national greenhouse industry in Canada,” says Thevathasan. “So treating greenhouse rainwater is a big issue for us. The students had the opportunity to lay their hands on a real life issue.”

Besides honing communication and problem-solving skills, students are exposed to guest lecturers from the university and the community. They also write a report and present their findings to colleagues, clients, family, and friends at an end-of-the-year dinner.

“Anecdotally, I’ve had students come back saying this course was something they could talk about in job interviews,” says Rooney. “It provided them with concrete, tangible examples. Every student who has taken this course has a story they can bring to the table. It’s real-world problem-solving.”

Building confidence, creating positive outcomes

An unexpected outcome of the Environmental Sciences class has been the confidence it has instilled within the students. Each professor bears first-hand witness to the students’ growth throughout the year.

“At the end of your degree, you’ve surrounded yourself with like-minded people,” says Rooney. “You might not realize you’ve gained expertise because everyone you know knows what you know. It’s nice to watch the students gain some confidence and realize they have something to offer, have gained a skillset that clients in the real world need. They get assurance that they have insights that are valuable to society.”

Every summer before class, the instructors reach out to their network of clients, faculty members, and colleagues to find interested community partners. They’re also approached by repeat clients such as Eden Mills and the City of Guelph.

By the time school is in session, they have about 12 or 13 projects to pitch to the class. Projects are selected based on a number of factors, including their feasibility to be completed within the eight months of the course and their budget. Once divided into groups and assigned to projects, the students are ready to work with their various partners.

“The fact that the same clients keep coming back year after year after year to engage with students—that, to me, says the clients are very happy with this type of project-based course,” says Rooney. “It’s a very positive experience for students. They leave with problems solved, relationships built, and a very tangible final product they can point to when interviewing for jobs and grad schools.”

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