By Iya Mendoza
A group of Carleton University students are dedicating the next two months to bringing the Westboro community together by spreading awareness about the value of pollinator gardens.
Gabrielle Chisholm, Adam Maguire, Mel Shaw, Alexa Taylor, Cole Szabo, Nishtha Hurrydass, Genet Abraham, Isaac Cayer and Iya Mendoza hope to not only educate community members, but also encourage them to start their own gardens.
They will be doing this alongside Deb Chapman, a Westboro Community Association representative. The group formed in Carleton’s Foundations in Community Engagement program, taught this year by professor Phillip Primeau.
It is the introductory course in the university’s Minor in Community Engagement program, which is open to all undergraduate students.
“If we look at this course in particular, it’s really making an effort to combine experiential learning with opportunities in the community,” said Primeau.
The course takes an unconventional approach to teaching, as it is centred around hands-on learning outside of the classroom.
“Our focus this term on pollinator gardens is part of that little piece of climate activism,” Primeau said. “This is related to urbanization, it’s related to gentrification, it’s related to all sorts of things that touch every community.”
Students visited Fletcher Wildlife Garden at the beginning of the course to see the impact of pollinator gardens in-person. They used the lessons from this trip to understand the benefits that would come with having pollinator gardens in their assigned neighbourhoods.
The Westboro group has various activities that they want to execute for their project. Their main effort will be a community planting day that will take place outside of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) at 366 Richmond Rd.
This event will aim to educate people about some of the basics of planting wildflowers. Additionally, the group hopes that it will encourage members of the community to consider volunteering for any future planting opportunities in Westboro.
The planting day is set to take place on Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. In case of inclement weather, a rain date has been set as Nov. 3. It will be open to anybody interested in participating.
The students’ additional efforts to spread environmental education will include presenting at the Churchill Seniors Centre, putting up flyers, speaking to high school science classes and possibly creating a collaborative art piece with local students. Ultimately, the group of students wish to bring both environmental stewardship and a greater sense of togetherness to the Westboro community.
For inquiries regarding any of the events, please email westboropollinatorproject@gmail.com.