UTown@UBC

Outcome
UTown@UBC is the university’s ongoing vision for a community where living, working and learning can flourish in an integrated, sustainable environment. It’s a collection of eight neighbourhoods, each with its own distinct character, offering a mix of housing options, improved public transportation, shops and services, and access to cultural/recreational amenities, all in a pedestrian-friendly setting. The vision is to create a vital, lively, healthy and sustainable community where people can live, work, learn, shop and play, where they can walk or easily access transit, and where most of what they need is readily at hand.

Background
UBC is a Canadian leader in setting positive social, environmental and economic examples of sustainability for Canadians. UBC maintains its place among the world's best universities because of its academic excellence and by providing a learning habitat capable of attracting and keeping the best students, faculty and staff. The top students, teachers and researchers are attracted to campuses with energetic and intellectually stirring social environments where they can thrive and where they will be encouraged and inspired to do their best work.

The key themes and strategies of UTown@UBC are:

• To support the University’s academic mission
  
• To be leaders in sustainability
  
• To provide world-class facilities
  
• To provide regional economic benefits
  

Public Materials
Kirk & Co. provided communications and public affairs services to UBC Campus & Community Planning to build awareness of the benefits of UTown@UBC. Kirk & Co. produced community newsletter updates, online and print tours, campus maps and presentation materials for staff, students and faculty, and coordinated and facilitated roundtable discussions.

Key Milestones
Key milestones include:

• Multiple roundtable discussions, which have proven to be a huge success, with faculty, staff, students, alumni, residents and the broader community
• A video presentation about the new, vibrant, sustainable, live-work-study Campus Neighbourhoods
• A virtual tour of all the neighbourhoods at UBC

Website
UTown@UBC