Lively discussion helped to define priorities and generate ideas for the Trent Lands and Nature Areas Plan as students and student groups, faculty and staff, alumni and community members gathered at pop-up input stations in the Student Centre, and an evening workshop in the Great Hall at Champlain College on February 4, 2020.

When asked to think about what campus and community priorities should be considered in the new campus master plan, a number of themes emerged from the discussions, including increased food production on campus, enriching the core campus with pollinator gardens, meeting urgent needs for students and community housing, and more multi-use public spaces. The value of the University’s Nature Areas and the focus on the campus as a teaching learning space were other popular themes. Further pop-up stations will be held on campus on February 12, 2020.

Phase 2 Online Survey
For those unable to attend these in-person opportunities, an online survey is available to collect perspectives on the vision and guiding principles of the plan, and how the University should balance the preservation and enhancement of its valued natural areas, with the services and facilities students, campus and the community require.

About the Trent Lands and Nature Areas Plan
Based on a vision of a sustainable and inspiring campus community that provides a place to learn, innovate, be active and live, Phase 2 of Trent Lands and Nature Areas Plan update focuses on creating opportunities to: enrich campus life; enhance public spaces; foster campus-community connections; and meet campus and community needs. Phase 2 will also include a review of the guiding vision and values and the principles that will guide decisions around land use.  

With that feedback, and the results from Phase 1, a third round of public engagement in late March will explore different ways for Trent to balance its role as a caretaker of a valuable ecosystem, while delivering critical campus and community needs.

Phase 1 of the current process was titled “Understanding the Land”, with an ambitious effort to understand the land from many perspectives including the history of the lands, what landforms and species are on the campus, and, for the first time, Indigenous traditional knowledge. 

Through feedback in Phase 1, the deep appreciation and importance of Trent’s Nature Areas was shared.  Specific ideas to enhance these areas and promote teaching and learning on the land included creating an Indigenous traditional medicine garden, planting pollinator species, and bringing urban agriculture throughout the core campus.

Learn more about the Trent Lands Plan and how to get involved.