Like other Canadian cities, Victoria has its share of woes, grappling with everything from finding shelter for a growing homeless population to curbing its dumping of raw sewage into the nearby Strait of Georgia.
While some Victorians despair over such seemingly intractable issues, a co-developer of a newly revised program at Royal Roads University talks about those issues with earnest zeal. That's because such problems are great learning opportunities for students taking the certificate, says Dr. Hilary Leighton, director of individualized studies at the university's College of Interdisciplinary Studies.
"Every city faces messy, wicked challenges, and there is rarely enough time or people to research and do these projects," she says. "This is just a wonderful response to contributing to this city while students are learning."
Within the six-month graduate certificate in Sustainable Community Development is a nine-week component that is a blend of residency and online study called Applied Community Development – Case Studies. It is being held off-campus at CityStudio, an innovation space or learning laboratory created by the city with Royal Roads, University of Victoria and Camosun College. There, city staff, community members and students will come together to learn about civic problems and in the case of this certificate, will discover real solutions "that contribute in a socially relevant way," she says.
The first course begins next March and will include a number of city managers and professionals from the private and public sector who are enrolling in the certificate as part of their ongoing professional development.
The program idea arose after a former certificate with similar content experienced waning enrolment, prompting Dr. Leighton to interview former students to find out why. "They said the learning was valuable, [but] they really needed something that was more cohesively designed and practical," she said.
Needless to say, the concept has support from the city. "It's an opportunity for students to get university credit while working as a team on real city projects," said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps.
Derek Masselink, an associate faculty member with Royal Roads' School of Environment and Sustainability, is teaching part of the Masters in Environment and Management program at CityStudio using the learning lab approach.
"It is not going to be me standing up in front of the class and lecturing," he says.
"We are going to find a problem that we can work on, and in the process of working on that problem, we will learn.
"A lot of it has to do with conflict resolution, working in teams, understanding the power dynamics and how to come at a problem from a positive point of view. That includes studying how humans get together to get things done."
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Canadians use more energy than all of the 760 million inhabitants Canada make of less than 1/2 of 1% of the world's population, but is the world's 8th largest producer if greenhouse gasses (702 million tonnes in 2011 ). $75-billion annually - 5% of our GDP - on energy to heat homes and offices, and to operate cars, factories and appliances. This is equivalent to $2,000 per person. Source: David Suzuki Foundation |
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