The City is the Classroom

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The City Studio aims to assist the development of the inter-institutional relationship between the region's post secondary education institutions and municipal governments to study, research and solve our pressing city and regional challenges.

http://blogs.eciad.ca/elverum/2010/10/04/the-city-is-the-classroom-when-it-comes-to-21c-learning/

What do we think education is for?

It is a great honour for Janet Moore and I to present this idea to the Mayor and panel. Take a moment to think about a time when you had your most engaged and mind-blowing learning experience....

How many of you had this experience in a lecture class? Probably none of you. You probably weren’t sitting in a chair, at a desk, or at a computer. It happened outside of a classroom; it probably involved a mixed group; and involved your mind, your hands and maybe your whole body?

What if university learning was like this?

We love Vancouver's ambitious targets and we think everyone needs to be involved. We support the action plan mandate for campus/city collaborations and we think that the city can be the classroom.

Students and teachers at our universities represent an enormous pool of energy that is ready and waiting to be mobilized in the city to work on the hardest problems we have.

There are some excellent programs underway; SCARP, Green Scholars and SFU Dialogue, but there needs to be more, and they need to be integrated.

When the city is the classroom, students, teachers, professionals and government will work collaboratively on long-term and real-world projects; not just for 3 or 6 credits; but for their entire inter-institutional degree doing research and learning how we can reach our goals together.

For everyone involved, a City Studio opens up a space for transformative learning; this is learning with a strong purpose; with community groups and citizens; with limits and budgets, and direct insights into local business and social venture.

We ask that you continue to consider our opening question: when did learning really matter to you, and how can we use this learning to achieve our greenest city targets?