Okanagan College is a post-secondary institution serving more than 5,000 students at four major campuses in British Columbia’s Okanagan and Shuswap valleys.
Situated in one of the most beautiful regions of the nation, OC’s campuses reflect the sense of pride in and respect for the environment that permeates the communities it serves. Gardens and grounds at the campuses are well-landscaped and maintained, and the college has been recognized by several organizations for its dedication to the environment and energy conservation.
A recent example involves an internationally unique project at the Kelowna campus that relies on the clear-water discharge from a nearby municipal sewage treatment plant to help heat the buildings, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in natural gas consumption and helping Canada toward the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The project has won an award from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers and has received the Mayor’s Environmental Award in Kelowna. Over the past two decades OC has laid the groundwork for an exceptional smoking policy and has been a leader in British Columbia in providing a healthier environment for students and employees.
The initiatives that help produce a welcoming campus aren’t limited to college-led projects. At two of OC’s campuses, community groups have worked together with campus volunteers and administration to create gardens that are signature attractions for their region. In Salmon Arm, it’s a garden that focuses on a reflecting pond, while in Penticton, a xeriscape garden that reflects the natural plants of the desert-like region of the South Okanagan has been built and is maintained by community volunteers.
In Kelowna, OC annually hosts the Wildlife Festival for Youth, a project that involves thousands of elementary school children from across Canada and which has been championed by Robert Bateman. The project involves students focusing on their “wild neighbors” and has led to tree-planting by students on campus. Similarly, OC has engaged its own students to help produce the campuses that continually improve their esthetic impact on the region. Civil engineering students, for example, helped develop a new entrance feature to the Kelowna campus, while students taking a heavy equipment operator course helped construct an emergency service access plus an erosion stabilization project needed at the Vernon campus.
As part of its educational mandate, OC has a number of programs that are focused on the environment, on horticulture, and landscaping. These range from short-term Continuing Education Certificates in landscaping, to apprenticeship programs in horticulture and diplomas in Water Quality Technology. For several years, the institution has been engaged in several recycling programs to maximise environmental stewardship.
In short, the 40-year old college is an institution that is well-known regionally for its contributions to the esthetics of the communities it serves, and is gaining an international profile for its environmental initiatives and for its beautiful campuses and their integration into an educational agenda that is environmentally-focused.