Community Research and Design

Jordan Fisher from Jordan Fisher & Associates Green Development Consulting came to the university to talk to us about his role in Colwood’s sustainable future. Jordan has been working with the city on a new Energy and Emissions Plan. He has found that 2/3 of the city's emissions are from transportation and 1/3 is coming from buildings and waste. His vision for the community includes retrofitting buildings to become more energy efficient, using alternative fuels to reduce emissions and dependence on fossil fuels, and lastly (his passion) - land use planning. He would like to encourage people to live closer to transit and services. Currently Colwood is very unwalkable (takes 45 minutes for my wife and I to go someplace for coffee!)There are however future plans to develop mixed use at the existing Colwood gravel pit. This area would include schools, grocery stores, and gas stations so that people like myself who live out that direction wouldn't have to drive/walk such a long distance to get places. This is exciting and smart and will allow people to bike and walk around Colwood more rather than drive.

Our next speaker of the morning came all the way from the Office of Community research at UVic... whatever that means! haha, sorry. But this was exactly how Maeve Lydon started her presentation-by asking us what community research meant to us. We came up with a few words: local knowledge, involvement, holistic, action-oriented, positive change, gathering information, partnerships, networks, resource sharing. The definition she provided us is: “The OCBR-UVic exists to facilitate collaborative community-university research and partnerships that enhance the quality of life and the economic, environmental and social well-being of communities”. It’s a community–university partnership which supports community engagement and research to create vibrant, sustainable and inclusive communities.

Maeve referred to universities as "silos" or "places for solutions". More importantly, universities should never be left out of communities but rather be a part of them. I am very lucky to be a student at RRU for this very reason. We have the opportunity to work with the community of Colwood and make it a better place for those living here temporarily and more importantly for the families that live here permanently. Universities have the opportunity to breathe new life into stale communities. Maeve is ensuring community development across the island by helping out with the Vancouver Island Community Research Alliance which includes community groups, health authorities, First Nations, high schools, colleges/universities, and the economic alliance. She also is involved in community mapping projects which are sprouting up in many local communities and around the globe. The Colwood community mapping session was just held at our university on February 12th and I had an opportunity to contribute. I told them that the city was lacking a “downtown”, and that the major stores are not centralized/accessible to the residents without driving to them.