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The University of British Columbia
- a place of mind
- The University of British Columbia
- Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
The farm provides a unique site to engage learners of all ages in exploring the creation of healthy communities
Building upon the success of the innovative Landed Learning Project based on site, the UBC Farm is committed to engaging learners of all ages through its programs and partnerships. This will include expanding the scope and support for K-12 and intergenerational educational programs as well as broad-based community engagement, with specific programs involving Aboriginal communities, university residents including seniors, and international visitors.
Activities support the UBC Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy’s research objectives and enable other faculties’ expanded community service-learning and community-based action research opportunities.
The Landed Learning Project facilitates ecological education and discovery for elementary school children
The Intergenerational Landed Learning on the Farm Project is a unique initiative of the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy in UBC’s Faculty of Education. Based in the Children’s Learning Garden at the UBC Farm, the Landed Learning Project focuses on agriculture and food as the link between a healthy environment and human well-being. By uniting generations in a community learning initiative this program illustrates the values of lifelong learning, community mindedness, ecological and social citizenship, and civic responsibility. These are values that are difficult to communicate in schools and classrooms and are best learned through personal and community experience.
The Think & Eat Green @ School Project is a community-university alliance that aims to promote change in what students eat, learn, and do at school in relation to food, health, the environment and sustainability. Building on concepts of food system sustainability and food security, this interdisciplinary project works closely with school authorities, teachers, parents, and youth to reconnect students with their food.
The UBC Farm’s involvement with the project includes co-investigation on visionary ways in which the school system can promote food and climate citizenship among students, and has offered particular expertise in carbon footprint analysis as well as science pedagogy and curriculum assessment. In addition, the UBC Farm serves supportive and advisory capacities for two Think & Eat Green-associated projects, The Orchard Garden Outdoor Classroom and Sustainable Opportunities Youth for Leadership (SOYL).
Through hands-on learning in school gardens and with partner organizations in the local food system, The Sustainable Opportunities for Youth Leadership (SOYL) Internship provides opportunities for Vancouver youth to empower themselves as leaders in their schools and communities. Working alongside mentors from UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems and community partner organizations, youth interns from Vancouver public schools formulate plans to maintain and develop their school gardens. While honing practical skills in garden-planning, construction, maintenance, and sales, the youth interns gain knowledge about how food choices impact healthy bodies, ecosystems, and communities.
SOYL’s mission is:
Objectives of the SOYL Internship:
Intergenerational learning at a healthy food workshop in the Wesbrook Village Tapestry community
Through its mandate to connect academic programming with innovative models of community-university partnerships and global citizenship, the UBC Farm is committed to building ongoing relationships with the broader UBC community.
In particular, this includes the Tapestry senior’s community in Wesbrook Village, University Neighbourhoods Association (UNA), and public schools planned for South Campus. Tapestry has generously provided the use of its facilities for meetings and the farm’s Growing Season Workshop Series, and the UNA supports public engagement initiatives at the farm such as the annual FarmAde event.
