California State University, San Marcos
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Students in our Arts Data Visualization class (AMD 411) created a project that took sustainability data (energy, water, waste, transportation, etc.) and created visual art pieces to engage the campus in a unique and different way. This project, now called the Data Stacks, has an on-going art exhibit in our library and student art pieces about sustainability data will change each time the class is taught.

Democracy in Action is a community engagement practice through which CSUSM faculty and students partner with a local city government to conduct research, gathering qualitative and quantitative data to benefit city projects that are back-logged or need additional attention.

Faculty and students work closely with city officials to hone their expertise on specific scopes of work, and the students provide a polished, final report to the city. In the process, students learn about city government, attend city council meetings, become more civically engaged, and ideally consider the prospects of working in local government.

Democracy in Action is modeled after the Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) in the Sustainable Cities Initiative at University of Oregon. Whereas the Sustainable City Year Program focuses primarily on sustainability, Democracy in Action emphasizes civic learning and democratic engagement.

In the last year, students have created projects related to composting (organics recycling) and parks and recreation usage.

Courses that participated are: PSYC 338: Environmental Psychology and GEOG 450: Parks and Protected Areas

https://www.csusm.edu/slce/civicengagement/democracyinaction/index.html#:~:text=Democracy%20in%20Action%20is%20a,logged%20or%20need%20additional%20attention.

Students have created a variety of projects related to air and climate. Most recently, students have created a climate change podcast- called Read the Climate which is focused on climate change and our campus community. The Read the Climate is available on Spotify. This counts as part of our ENVS 495 internship course. As an internship for credit, this course requires documentation to meet the completion for a grade.

A recent buildings project focused on building utilization and how best we can use the space we have on campus more effectively. For example, the students looked at when classes were being held and where and if it was possible to move evening classes to one main building instead of keeping all buildings operational until late into the night. This was part of our Environmental Studies Capstone Class.

We have had a variety of student projects focused on Energy. Students in an Art and Science class and Data Visualization class have utilized energy data for their art projects.
Also, we have student who is doing a more comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the campus, looking at our energy data to complete this project (ENVS capstone class).

A variety of student projects have focused on food and dining on campus. The majority of them have focused on how to bring more healthy, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free foods to campus. Projects have been a part of our Sustainability Office's Internship program. All internships are for credit and require learning outcomes to be met with documentation and approval from the internship site manager that the student is learning and meeting the necessary requirements. The Chair of the department has to sign off on the required coursework including reflection of the internship.

We have student- run pollinator garden on campus. We also have just become a Level 1 Arboretum, and we have a student on our campus tree committee- this project is morphing into having our campus become a Tree Campus USA. In doing this, the students who are assisting are part of working with our grounds team to ensure we are using more native and drought tolerant plants. All internships are for credit and require learning outcomes to be met with documentation and approval from the internship site manager that the student is learning and meeting the necessary requirements. The Chair of the department has to sign off on the required coursework including reflection of the internship.

Student projects have looked at a variety of ways to improve our alternative transportation efforts. Most recently (2022), we have had students conducting small surveys to identify how best we can improve alternative transportation on our campus. This was part of an internship with the Sustainability Office- for which ENVS 495 course credit was applied.

A variety of students have explored how to help the campus get to Zero Waste by 2025. We have a group of about 10 students working ok a "Trash Talkers" program- where they are actively engaging students on proper waste disposal. This is part of ENVS 301 course. We also have students who have done waste related projects within our Arts program- through data visualization projects.

We have had number of students look at water projects as applied learning. Specifically we had students in spring 2023, conduct projects focused on perceptions around drinking water from the tap vs. bottled water vs. using the hydration stations. All internships are for credit and require learning outcomes to be met with documentation and approval from the internship site manager that the student is learning and meeting the necessary requirements. The Chair of the department has to sign off on the required coursework including reflection of the internship.

Students who are a part of the Planet Mentorship program are connecting sustainability and climate to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. They are conducting research locally on campus and are using the campus as a living laboratory. Projects such as access and affordability are part of the research. This is neither a course or an internship, rather a program that has rigorous learning outcomes and is for a full academic year.