In the fall of 2024, CAFES Ottawa will be partnering with a 2nd year sociology/anthropology class from Carleton University, Fletcher Wildlife Garden and several local community associations to carry out the 4th annual CAFES & Carleton University Community Engagement Project.
This year, the theme of our project will be on pollinator gardens! So far, students will be partnering with the following community associations (CA): Centretown, Fisher Heights, Glebe, Hintonburg, Overbrook, Westboro and the Bel Air's Maitland Area Pollinator Projects (MAPP).
The idea behind this community engagement project is for student groups to partner with CAs and create products targeted toward audiences in the CA's neighbourhood. This could include Instagram posts, infographics, videos, posters, news articles, presentations and more - all relating to this year's theme. Students will analyze and discuss insights and experiences gained as they bring their conceptual learning in the course together with their experience of working towards achieving the objectives of a real-world project.
For this year's pollinator garden theme, students will be able to tour the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, visit CA community gardens, learn all about planting with pollinators and biodiversity in mind, explore current topics like planting in the City Right of Way, and much more.
For the CAs, this is an opportunity to learn and engage with important issues relating to pollinators, biodiversity and gardening in their community, connect with the students in their group, and have their neighbourhoods benefit from the deliverables the students are able to create for them.
Please don't hesitate to sign up as a community partner if you are interesting in joining this enriching project!
Want to see what we got up to last year? Check out the 2023 CAFES Carleton project here where we partnered with Safe Wings Ottawa to promote bird-window safety.
