Throughout the fall of 2025, CAFES and Carleton University partnered with six Community Associations (CA) from the CAFES network and Fletcher Wildlife Garden to conduct our fifth annual CAFES-Carleton Community Engagement Project!
The intent for this annual project is for students in a 2nd-year sociology/anthropology course to partner with CA representatives and create products and deliverables that will ultimately benefit the CA’s neighbourhood and address particular environmental concerns – with each year having a new topic. This year, the theme of the project was on invasive plant species, and the class was taught by Dr. Sarah Gelbard, whose expertise was invaluable in guiding the students through such a memorable and engaging experience.
This year, the following Community Associations participated in the project:
- Bel Air Community Association
- Hintonburg Community Association
- Hunt Club–Riverside Park Community Association
- Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association
- Old Ottawa South Community Association
- Overbrook Community Association
For the CA leaders, this year’s project was an excellent opportunity for them to learn and engage with youth in Ottawa, gaining fresh perspectives not only on invasive species management but on effectively engaging diverse communities on important issues such as this one. As a bonus, the CA neighbourhoods were able to benefit from the deliverables the students are able to create for them, such as informative brochures, activities for kids, posters, artwork, school curricula, and presentations – all about invasive species.
One highlight from this year’s project was an in-class workshop in collaboration with Fletcher Wildlife Garden where students got to learn how to identify various invasive plants from actual specimens, and learn about community mobilization around invasives management in Ottawa, including the work Fletcher is doing at the garden. A huge thank you to Sandy Garland, Ted Farnworth and Deborah Doherty for sharing your knowledge with the class!
Another highlight of the project was the neighbourhood walking tour in September, where the leads of each CA toured their students around their neighbourhood, pointing out important spots, landmarks, community centres, community gardens, and importantly – any areas where invasive species are growing or have been replaced with native plants. This was an excellent hands-on opportunity for the students to learn about the unique issues and experiences faced by the particular neighbourhood they were matched with.
Throughout the term the students did an exceptional job not only learning more about how invasive plants are addressed in various Ottawa neighbourhoods, but analyzing and discussing insights gained as they brought their conceptual learning from the course together with their real-world experiences. The students created a wide variety of deliverables – including social media posts, informational brochures, guidebooks, posters, original artwork, elementary school curriculum activities, high school presentations, tabling at community events, and more.
Some of the students even attended the CAFES Annual Member Event in December to present their work to the CAFES network.
Read on to see some of the deliverables created by the students for each participating Community Association!
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1. Hintonburg Community Association
Students from the Hintonburg group had a campaign goal of spreading awareness about invasive plants and engaging the community, especially youth, on removal techniques and policy advocacy. They designed a comic strip, a fantastic lesson plan for high school students complete with activities and a presentation, an informative brochure and other helpful resource documents, an educational deck of cards featuring different invasive plants, and a beautiful poster promoting iNaturalist as a reporting platform. Thank you to community leaders Barbara Long and Deborah Ironside for representing Hintonburg!
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2. Hunt Club – Riverside Park Community Associations
Adjacent neighbourhoods, Hunt Club and Riverside Park Community Associations worked together this year to partner with their group of students. Students in this group highlighted the many green and natural areas located in these communities. Their goal was to raise awareness of local invasive species at various community levels by providing accessible information and educational tools as well as
community-focused activities. Students created an elementary school curriculum, posters on key species of concern, promotional material and submission form for a potential contest to win native seeds by identifying invasive species, and a slideshow presentation that can be adapted by the CA as needed going forward.
Thank you to Christine Johnson, Dave Coyle, Marianne Ariganello, and Noella Bussiers-Butler for representing Hunt Club and Riverside Park!
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3. Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association
The students working with the Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association had a campaign goal of increasing awareness of invasive species and highlighting their presence in the neighbourhood, while engaging the community through accessible content creation and strengthening local involvement. They created information guides on Buckthorn and Dog Strangling Vine, two pervasive species in the neighbourhood, created a Q and A video, campaigned door to door, produced a social media campaign, and more.
Thank you to Pamela, Neil, Rob and Dianne for representing Kanata Beaverbrook CA!
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4. Overbrook Community Association
The Overbrookâs goal for their project was to raise awareness of invasive plant species and their impact on local green spaces, highlight the benefits of gardening and native plants in the neighbourhood, and incorporate Anishinaabe traditions. The group executed this goal through environmental action, creating multilingual resources, creative expression through original artwork and content creation, and community engagement.
Thank you to David Ferguson, Deborah Doherty and Selma Wannes for representing Overbrook! Check out some of their work below!
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5. Old Ottawa South Community Association
The goal of Old Ottawa South’s student group was to translate existing information about invasive plants in a comprehensible and accessible way to community members with a focus on why they pose threats. They aimed to engage youth and to pass on key information to younger generations who may not be familiar with this issue. They created a comprehensive strategy/toolkit for engaging with youth, beautifully designed informative pamphlets, a “Green Invaders” field guide, and much more!
Thank you to Sandy and Ingrid for representing Old Ottawa South CA!
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6. Bel Air Community Association
The Bel Air CA was represented by the Maitland Area Pollinator Project (MAPP). The group intended to teach community members how to safely tackle certain invasive plants, spread information and make it more accessible, and to educate community members on how invasive species affect human rights like food security, clean water, health, cultural practices, and property. The students created awesome posters, research government programs and analyzed existing municipal website information, created a detailed neighbourhood profile, and even attending a local event with the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library.
Thank you to Harry, Andrea, and Pam for your participation in this project!
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CAFES would like to extend a huge thank you to all involved, including Professor Sarah Gelbard, the students, the six Community Associations and their representatives, and Fletcher Wildlife Garden. Meaningful engagement, relationship building and learning was experienced by all involved, and the student projects undoubtedly made a big difference in supporting the creation of a greener, healthier and more sustainable city of Ottawa.
To read more on the previous CAFES – Carleton University community engagement projects, visit the links below:
- 2021 project on on 15 minute neighbourhoods
- 2022 project on canopy regeneration
- 2023 project on bird-window collisions
- 2024 project on pollinator gardening
If you or your Community Association are interested in joining a future community engagement project with CAFES and Carleton University, please contact us at info@cafesottawa.ca!
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