New engagement map shows our community impact globally

September 13, 2017 - Vanessa Stofer

UVic faculty, staff and students are actively impacting the communities we live, work and play in—and an interactive map facilitated by the Office of Community-University Engagement (OCUE) highlights the sheer scale of these efforts.

Over 1,000 entries for more than 70 countries

In 2016, OCUE began a mapping project to track the breadth of our community impact around the world. The online, searchable database now displays over 1,000 unique records in more than 70 countries, including a diverse range of initiatives—from community research projects to co-op work terms and guided tree walks. Faculty, staff and students can also submit their own initiatives, crowdsourcing the map on a university-wide level.

Highlighting community-engaged learning opportunities

“The map demonstrates the vast extent of UVic’s community engagement,” says John Lutz, chair of the Department of History and a 2016 recipient of the Provost’s Engaged Scholar award.

For instance, the Stó:lō Ethnohistory Field School—well into its second decade under the direction of Lutz, Stó:lō knowledge keepers and co-teacher Keith Carlson from the University of Saskatchewan—is in the engagement map.

Students can use this map to explore over 500 UVic courses that include community-engaged learning opportunities (such as the field school above). These courses host guest speakers; award credit for working with community organizations; allow students to learn hands-on through field schools; and more.

Lutz adds that the map “offers students and faculty a needed access point to the diverse types of courses, research and other relationships the university has in partnership with local, national and international communities and organizations.”

Community impact around the world

Members of the public can also search the map to see our community impact around the world and learn about Victoria-based events open to the public, such as lecture series and cafés.

“Developing the engagement map has been a very exciting project for the OCUE team and we’re very grateful for the support of units across campus,” says Norah McRae, director of OCUE and executive director of UVic’s Co-operative Education Program and Career Services. “We recognize that this work is never done and we encourage faculty and staff to contribute to the map’s ongoing evolution.”

UVic Systems, Global Engagement, Research Partners and Knowledge Mobilization, and the Co-operative Education Program and Career Services also contributed to the community engagement map.