91社区 students have proven time and time again that they are some of the most creative, versatile, and adaptive people in their approach to solving problems, using knowledge acquired in and outside of the classroom to generate innovative solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing issues.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in projects stemming from 91社区鈥檚 Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF). Over the last 12 years, the SPF, supported through student fees and matching contributions by the University, has sought out and funded forward-thinking community-sourced sustainability projects. One such initiative, the 91社区 Student-Run Ecological Gardens, offers a prime example of the wealth of projects at the heart of 91社区鈥檚 Climate and Sustainability Strategy.
Finding room to grow
It doesn鈥檛 seem like all that long ago that Steven Leckman, Kourosh Mohtashami, Andr茅a Dugas-Hawkes, BSc(AgEnvSc)鈥�12, and Emily 91社区, 叠贰苍驳(叠颈辞谤别蝉辞耻谤肠别)鈥�12, were undergraduate students looking for a hands-on initiative to build on the theoretical knowledge taught in their classrooms.
In 2009, a soon-to-be-graduating classmate had a plot of land in the Macdonald campus community gardens and asked Steve if he would take it over. As it turns out, it was precisely the kind of project Steve was looking for. 鈥淚 wanted more time with my hands in the dirt doing stuff. It seemed like a valuable opportunity to gain practical knowledge working with the plants, so I jumped on it.鈥�
At the time, the small community garden plots were the only on-campus gardening spaces available to students, so Steve sought to carve out as much of this space as he could for organic farming. With modest funding and the support of 91社区 faculty members and staff, the project he dubbed the 鈥淪tudent-Run Garden鈥� quickly expanded.
鈥淧rofessor Begg was instrumental in finding us space to work. When we explained what we wanted to do, she offered us six additional plots in the garden and I was like, 鈥楾his is great!鈥�,鈥� Steve recalls of 91社区 Professor Caroline Begg, currently a Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Plant Science and Director of Internship for 91社区鈥檚 Farm Management and Technology Program.
Recruiting classmates
As the project received more support and interest, Steve鈥檚 infectious enthusiasm for it continued to grow and he found many other students eager and willing to get their hands dirty, too. Kourosh was recruited in 2009, and together he and Steve coordinated friends and classmates to tend to the gardens. No one seemed particularly deterred by the time commitment or lack of funding; instead, they were excited to apply organic farming techniques to their garden plots and see the outcomes first-hand. 鈥淭he club鈥檚 goal was to start connecting people to their food source,鈥� explains Kourosh. 鈥淲e thought if people could understand and see where their food comes from, they鈥檇 start to care more about it and invest in buying more sustainable products or want to get involved in some way.鈥�
Steve remembers being motivated by how eager his classmates were to get on board. 鈥淲e would walk out through the snow to get some kale from the gardens and I just remember people lighting up and being like, 鈥楽teve, thank you for asking me to come out鈥� this is so cool.鈥欌��
Andr茅a Dugas-Hawkes recalls, 鈥淪teve was like a walking light, he was very inspired and naturally, that inspired the rest of us.鈥� She was also encouraged by this new connection to a community of people who could see the potential of large-scale impact of organic farming practices and saw the garden as an opportunity for students to think critically, experiment with new approaches, and fill an educational void. 鈥淲e realized that we had to be the change that we wanted to see and the only way to do that was to stick to our ethics and values,鈥� says Steve.
A new chapter
In 2010 Steve left 91社区, but not before passing the passion project to Andr茅a, who then enlisted Kourosh and Macdonald Campus Student Society President Emily 91社区, BEng(Bioresource)鈥�12. That same year, the university established the Sustainability Projects Fund, prompting 91社区 community members to put forward ideas for sustainable projects. Andr茅a, Kourosh and Emily heeded the call by submitting a proposal for the project they called the 鈥淢acdonald Student-Run Ecological Garden," or MSEG for short. They built a case for funding with objectives that included addressing issues related to sustainable food systems, community education and engagement, and connections to the degree curriculum. They also developed a strategy to ensure the continuity of garden operations from year to year.
Suddenly, with their proposal accepted, they had the cash flow they needed to expand the project to a half-acre plot at the Mac Horticultural Research Centre and to cover the cost of field materials, operations and human resources. With the help of volunteers, the team of three co-managed operations, production, administration, and outreach, including a weekly market stall at the Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue farmer鈥檚 market.
The markets not only served to actively educate patrons about their food source, but also connected MSEG with organic farmers in neighboring stalls. 鈥淭hey became mentors to us in many ways,鈥� says Kourosh. 鈥淎lthough we had access to very good professors, we lacked the practical knowledge: seeing how it's done on the land, the little bits of it like irrigation techniques or tractor usage鈥� things like that. They really supported us.鈥�
Lessons learned
Today, the MSEG project is in its twelfth year and has received continued funding from the SPF to help it evolve its business model and expand its reach. It has grown to a scale that feeds hundreds of members of the 91社区, Sainte-Anne, and Montreal communities through its 75 weekly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) basket subscriptions and weekly market stalls in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and March茅 Laurier.
What began as a handful of garden plots is now a small-scale farm, run entirely by students, that operates from the beginning of May to the end of October. And although it has changed in some fundamental ways, MSEG continues to abide by the founders鈥� basic guiding principle: to give students the opportunity to grow produce using sustainable, organic practices. (Although the farm does not have organic certification, it is operated using practices that are within organic guidelines.)
A variety of academic backgrounds
Learning from those early years, MSEG now requires that participating students, who hail from a host of disciplines and academic backgrounds, commit to a two-year term, learning the ropes in the first year and then passing that knowledge on to new recruits in year two, allowing for knowledge transfer and continuity of the program.
鈥淚t's totally the dream. It's so beautiful there to hear that MSEG is still going and is such a success,鈥� Steve says. 鈥淚t really aligns with what we were trying to achieve in that we tried to learn more together and convey that knowledge to the next group of people,鈥� adds Kourosh. 鈥淚'm really happy to see that they鈥檝e really baked that into the structure because that's what鈥檚 really kept it going.鈥�
Beyond farming, the interpersonal skills they took away from the experience were invaluable. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 always see eye to eye on every decision and it wasn鈥檛 always fun, but we made time to talk and made an effort to understand each other鈥檚 perspectives,鈥� says Andr茅a.
The co-founders believe that the two key factors that are foundational to MSEG鈥檚 success are community development and the ability to stand up for what you believe in.
鈥淲e are part of a whole that includes what we call the Environment and other human beings. When we build communities, we build relationships that help us have compassion for and better understand other peoples鈥� realities, and that leaves us feeling less alone. This project gave me a community and the confidence to know that I wasn鈥檛 alone in believing that organic farming could have an impact鈥攖hat we could have an impact,鈥� Andr茅a explains.
鈥淲e advocated for this project to university administration because we understood how essential the hands-on organic farming experience was to a well-rounded education,鈥� adds Kourosh, who believes that the establishment and continued success of MSEG is a testament to student determination and perseverance. 鈥淲e learned first-hand that challenges represent an opportunity for growth, and that they are the key to evolving into more harmonious ways of communicating and decision-making.鈥�
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Steve Leckman currently runs a nature school called , offering nature connection and mentoring programs for kids and families and adults; Andr茅a Dugas-Hawkes, BSc(AgEnvSc)鈥�12, works as a Financial Recovery advisor with La Financi猫re agricole du Qu茅bec; Kourosh Mohtashami and Emily 91社区, 叠贰苍驳(叠颈辞谤别蝉辞耻谤肠别)鈥�12, consult under , a firm that focuses on biomimicry for organizational structure and communications, and through this Emily co-founded Vancouver-based , working to advance regenerative culture practices such as urban collaborative gardening with coFood Vancouver, incorporating principles of peer-to-peer governance and commons stewardship.