LivingCampus Sustainability Priorities
By raising awareness of sustainability in a very practical, and experiential manner the LivingCampus will not only have a positive environmental impact but it will also stimulate social change - through building community and through raising awareness. As a "world class" project and the first of its type in Australasia, it will be high profile and generate significant media coverage.
1. Encouraging sustainable households. This is a community based gardening facility. It will build community capability in gardening and understanding of sustainability issues. This will be integrated across a wide range of disciplines and make use of formal and information engagement opportunities.
2. Sustainable land and water management. This project will improve the management of an urban institutional site through community ownership and action.
3. Supporting sustainable business practices. This project is focused on building the awareness of sustainability issues and building capability to take action on this as part of sustainable business practice. It models sustainable land use being multi-purpose, minimal footprint and reducing emissions.
4. Meeting the challenge of climate change This project increases the capacity of communities to adapt to and mitigate climate change through increased self reliance and more appropriate land use, as well as physically improving the soil's ability to hold carbon.
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The LivingCampus provides a far-reaching model of sustainable practice.
- This will be a first in Australasia, a major step in bringing sustainable living right into the community. This is a "world class" project which will gain much media coverage.
- Otago Polytechnic has made Education for Sustainability a core principle. The LivingCampus provides a means to achieve this goal:
"The skills and values of Otago Polytechnic graduates contribute to every sector of society. Our curriculum, teaching and learning therefore is pervasive and influential with global impact. The Otago Polytechnic sustainability vision is that our graduates, our practitioners and our academics understand the concepts of social, environmental and economic sustainability in order for them to evaluate, question and discuss their role in the world and to enable them to make changes where and when appropriate. Our goal is that every graduate may think and act as a sustainable practitioner”.
- The LivingCampus will change attitudes to land use. It moves "sustainability" from something that is done separately and "behind the scenes" to being part of common practice and "pride of place".
- The LivingCampus complements existing smaller community gardens in that it makes available significant educational and interpretative resources, and acts as a hub for connectivity.
The LivingCampus provides an opportunity to celebrate a whole range of aspects of sustainability from permaculture and heritage gardening to whole food production systems.
- The LivingCampus has all the benefits of a community garden - it reconnects people and their environments. The LivingCampus has the benefits of an interactive science centre dedicated to the environment - it provides a means for engagement and understanding. The LivingCampus has the benefits of a sustainable campus - it provides a model for integrating green into an urban campus.