One Response to “Summary of Survey Findings”

1. mrG Says:
   January 27th, 2008 at 11:03 pm

   (the above PDF reprinted here in open text)

   INTRODUCTION

   Thank you to all survey respondents for taking the time to respond to this survey and providing your thoughts, comments, and wonderful insights regarding a university project in the community. I learned a great deal about the viability of a university in the Grey-Bruce Owen Sound region through this survey. More importantly, however, I discovered (or rediscovered) the incredible passion, dedication, vision, and creativity of the people of this community. Though the challenges in sustaining our rural community and ecosystems are great, survey responses indicated to me that focusing on positive solutions—including this university project—is the natural way to move forward.

   This report highlights the findings from the Preliminary Survey on a “university
   ”1 in Grey-Bruce Owen Sound conducted between November 13, 2007 and December 9, 2007.

   METHOD

   An online survey was developed using SurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com) and sent to 40 contacts. Most of these original contacts were people living in the Grey-Bruce Owen Sound region or with connections to the area, though a number were people interested in sustainability education. Survey respondents were encouraged to pass the survey on to additional people (snowball technique for gathering data). SurveyMonkey compiled the quantitative results automatically. Qualitative comments were compiled into tables to highlight recurring themes.

   The survey was designed to attain two main objectives: (1) to assess the level of interest in the community for a university project and (2) initiate conversations about a university based on sustainability education. For this second reason in particular, the survey focused on questions relating to sustainability education.

   SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

   Overall, the responses to this preliminary survey were very positive and indicative of a groundswell of interest in a university project in the Grey-Bruce Owen Sound region. In summary:

   ? 150 responses were collected (78.4% of respondents currently live in GBOS)

   ? 59 respondents indicated that they wanted to receive a summary report from the survey. Many of these respondents also indicated that they wanted to participate in future planning and discussions about the project.

   Throughout the survey, I used the word “university” in quotation marks as a consciousattempt to challenge people to rethink post-secondary education without being entirely confined by our current conceptualizations of what this type of education entails.

   ? 82.6% of respondents indicated that a “university” would definitely benefit the Grey-Bruce Owen Sound area

   ? 81.2% of respondents indicated that this “university” should definitely model goals of sustainability in its courses, buildings, landscaping, and ethics

   ? The majority of respondents (87.6%) agreed that areas of study at the “university” should definitely include themes related to rural issues (poverty, agriculture, women’s issues, democracy, racism, diversity, history, rural-urban migration, impacts of globalization, etc.)

   REVIEW OF FINDINGS

   Survey results were compiled in two manners. First, all quantitative results were compiled automatically by SurveyMonkey (See Survey Results). Second, qualitative results made by respondents to general comments sections and specific open-ended questions were compiled into tables to illustrate the prevalence of certain themes (See Survey Comments). Finally, additional research was conducted into sustainability education and the viability for a university in Grey-Bruce Owen Sound. These findings, along with findings from the survey, were compiled into a report submitted to Professor William Rees, University of British Columbia School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) (See Final Report).

   Selected comments from open-ended survey questions

   The following section is an overview of selected comments made by respondents toopen-ended questions in the survey. These comments were selected because I feel that they express themes that were either mentioned repeatedly or of particular relevance to the university project. For a more complete overview, please see the Survey Comments tables.

   a) Describe the learning environment (80 responses)

   “year-round such that all seasons can be appreciated, possibly with
   gardens for produce with the students and possibly some of the
   community involved in production, small small classes/learning situations,
   possibly based on the farming model but not necessarily with the focus on
   agriculture but more on sustainability”

   “the architecture and structure should be based on sustainable technologies
   (e.g. carbon neutral, recycle water, alternative energies, maybe partly off
   the grit..) The architecture should reflect the natural and cultural and
   ethnic contexts, e.g. escarpment, water (natural), wood and rocks
   (material), farming, first nations (culture/ethnic). New technologies
   (sustainable energy sources) could be part of the “energy supply” and at
   the same time part of the academic and practical focus (experiential
   learning)”

   b) Describe the educational philosophy of the “university” (76 responses)

   “Whole education: holistic education for the whole person, the whole
   community, the whole planet”

   “truly interdisciplinary and holistic. experiential learning combined with
   traditional ‘lectures’, discussions etc. practical and theoretical–present
   concepts, discuss and then see how they can be realized locally. example–
   local food systems: look at the ’science’ and then work with local farmers,
   farmers markets, bakers, butchers etc.”

   “Should be grounded in philosophies of humanity and sustainability. Close
   link between academic studies and practical implication / experience.
   Education could include concepts of living learning concepts. Content:
   Science, philosophy, environmental science/studies, native studies,
   agriculture (organic and other), gender studies”

   c) Describe the teachers, students, and administration (78 responses)

   “All have something to teach one another. Sense of building something
   meaningful, useful, necessary. Dedication to doing better, thinking greater,
   disseminating info, cooperation, coordination. Open learning formats.
   Creative funding, minimal bureaucracy. Earning a degree, not purchasing
   one. High standards. Challenging. Diverse people and interests, offerings
   and perspectives.”

   d) Describe the relationship between the “university” and the community (82 responses)

   “the community is another teacher, and the school will not survive without
   it. As much effort as possible should be made to include the various
   sectors of the community in each area of learning.”

   “I think that in our community there is a very real urban rural ideological
   gap. this is seen in the reluctance to adopt wind energy and other energy
   alternatives in the area, even though it is a prime location for such
   developments. I think that the University idea must seriously consider how
   it is going to integrate itself not only into the urban (owen sound)
   population, which is much more progressive, but also the staunchly
   conservative farmers and rural dwellers. If this does not happen, I think
   that the “university” would be hard pressed to gain legitimacy from this
   important part of the population. remember, while owen sounders might
   like organic vegetables and meat, it is the conservatives in the area who
   are the farmers, who actually produce this food. Some how, perhaps
   through co-ops we must reach out those people (even groups like the
   anglers and hunter, sportsmen association) and try to (without
   confrontation) get them to back such an idea.”

   [...] Integration between the two, and drawing on the community and
   its members as a teaching resource and vice versa, students giving
   presentations and presenting their own ideas. Alot of exchange of ideas
   toward goal of creating a healthy and sustainable “community” and
   planet.”

   Overall, reading respondents’ comments was very exciting and highly informative.
   Clearly, the ideas of sustainability education are very present in the minds of
   community members, and the concept of a university in our community is a dream shared by a significant portion of respondents:

   “We [survey respondent and friend] have had discussions about how we
   needed a University in Owen Sound a number of years ago. We spoke of
   how it would need to be ecologically sustainable and focus on the ecology
   of the area.”

   “…wishing there was a University in Owen Sound that I could ‘go home
   to’ has always been something of a dream.”

   One survey respondent indicated that the Owen Sound mayor was already informed and supportive of a “university” project: “I’ve already discussed this idea with May or Ruth Lovell who agrees with its benefits.”

   Selected sections of the Owen Sound Official Plan that support a “university” project based on principles of sustainability education.

   The City of Owen Sound’s Official Plan contains sections that would support the creation of a university based on sustainability education. For instance, the Plan cites Environmental Integrity as its first goal and objective:

   To protect and enhance the quality of the natural environment through a
   planning framework that maintains and improves the diversity and
   connectivity of the natural forms, features and functions of the City’s
   natural heritage, surface water and ground water resources and that
   minimizes and mitigates the impacts of development on these features.
   (Owen Sound City Council, 2006, p. 7)

   Additional aspects of the City’s Official plan which would support developing a “university” based on principles of sustainability include: its economic goals (sections 3.2.2.1-3.2.2.3), its goals for education (sections 3.3.2.2 and 7.3.3.5), and its equity, diversity, and accessibility goals seeking strategies to counter rural-urban migration by retaining youth within the community (section 3.5.2.6) (Appendix 1: Selected sections from the Official Plan).

   The current ecological, social, and economic issues facing this rural community are pressing. As the Official Plan indicates, willingness exists within the Owen Sound community to address these problems—and, at least at an official level, this plan intends to keep ecological considerations well in the forefront of its development approaches.

   CONCLUSIONS

   Based on the results of this preliminary survey, a great deal of support exists in the Grey-Bruce Owen Sound for a “university” project in Grey-Bruce Owen Sound, particularly one based on sustainability education. Clearly, these results are not representative of a large spectrum of the local population, nor do they provide sufficient direction for establishing concrete recommendations or next steps. What this survey does tell us, however, is that Grey-Bruce Owen Sound community members have dreams for the future of this community that include educational post-secondary education opportunities that are infused with hope, creativity, dedication, and a commitment to sustainability. With ecological and social challenges facing us globally and locally, there may be no better time and place to begin the process of creating vital, sustainable rural communities through a “university” in Grey-Bruce Owen Sound.

   NEXT STEPS

   1. Create a discussion board on the local website http://www.theowen.com for interested participants to continue conversations about the university project. This site will also allow participants to post relevant articles, reports, and web links.

   2. Establish a working group comprised of local community representatives, community members, members of the business community, academics, educators, etc.

   3. The working group, together with local community members, experts, and educators, will establish concrete next steps for the university project.

   4. Research related educational projects in rural communities that emphasize sustainability education. Compile this research into a report of case studies.

   5. Research the development, accreditation, funding, and any other legal, bureaucratic, logistical requirements of a university.

   6. Post all research and progress on http://www.theowen.com for further discussion and dissemination.

   For more information, please contact Julia Ostertag, julia_ostertag@yahoo.ca

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