by John Marris, Community Co-lead, Community Environmental Sustainability (Peterborough/Haliburton) Hub
On April 7th the Trent Community Research Centre, one of CFICE’s Community Environmental Sustainability (CES) hub partners in Peterborough/Haliburton, in cooperation with Trent University and Fleming College, hosted the annual Community Innovation Forum. At this event students, both undergraduate and graduate, who have been working on community-based research projects all year presented in poster form the results or progress of their work. This event was attended by students, faculty members, and community organisations.
A student explains her project to listeners at TCRC’s Community Engagement Forum April 7, 2016. ©Peterborough Examiner
The event was featured in publications by the Trent Arthur and the Peterborough Examiner. Raymond Yip Choy, a member of the forum’s 2016 Steering Committee, was interviewed by the Peterborough Examiner regarding the benefits of these types of community-campus engagement (CCE) experiences for students. According to Choy, they are important to increasing students’ employability after graduation. “The ones who have gone through an applied project have a significantly higher percentage of those who get employment in their field than those who have not,” he said.
According to the Trent Arthur, CCE experiences teach students the important skill of translating theory into practice. Since the projects that students tackle are all proposed by community organizations, participating in the projects also allows students an opportunity to give back to the community.
For more information about the event and the interesting projects tackled by the students, check out the articles featured in the Trent Arthur and the Peterborough Examiner.