CityStudio is a partnership program between the City of Abbotsford and the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) that challenges university students to tackle civic issues and provide prototype solutions.
CityStudio supports the launch of experimental projects as part of an immersive and innovative education experience where students and faculty connect with City staff to research, design and implement projects through which they develop job skills, experience group processes, and network with sector experts. The CityStudio concept started in Vancouver in 2011 as a collaboration between the City of Vancouver and Simon Fraser University and has since spread to cities across Canada and beyond.
As part of Abbotsford’s CityStudio partnership, for the past eight years, UFV students have been coming to City Hall to pitch to us their proposals on how to solve challenges facing our community at an event called “Hubbub” — a science fair-type event where students showcase their ideas, energy and creativity with City staff and community members, and awards are presented to the top projects.
Because the students are not constrained by real-world limitations and can experiment in ways City staff can’t, their proposals are often highly creative, innovative and thought-provoking.
The 17th and most recent CityStudio Hubbub was held on April 9. Topics included housing access and affordability, outdoor amenity standards for multi-family housing, transit access for Mathxwí and Semá:th First Nations, transit corridor and parking regulations, and pest management of the European Chafer Beetle.
The judges at this edition of Hubbub were Mayor Siemens, Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service Chief Erick Peterson, and UFV Information Studies assistant professor Smitty Miller. The Team Award and People’s Choice Award both went to the group that investigated the European Chafer Beetle’s presence in local cemeteries and proposed pest management practices to deal with it.
As usual, it was great to get to meet with the students and learn about their projects, and we were thoroughly impressed by their work. We’re grateful to all students and faculty for participating in CityStudio Hubbub 17 and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
UFV is one of the City of Abbotsford’s key community partners and CityStudio is just one of our joint initiatives that strengthens and builds on that relationship, while providing unique learning opportunities that encourage students to find innovative solutions and make a difference in their community.
We’ve also worked with UFV’s Community Health and Social Innovation Hub to conduct research on City initiatives, and for students interested in local governance, we’ve partnered with UFV on the Civic Governance and Innovation certificate program and offer placements to co-op students. In all these cases we have benefitted from the novel and thoughtful perspectives of these talented students.
It’s so encouraging to see young people in our community who not only show an interest in local issues, but are also actively proposing solutions to those issues. These students are the leaders of tomorrow, and it’s our hope that after graduation they stay in our community and continue thinking of ways of making Abbotsford an even better place for everyone. Because one day they’ll be the ones in charge and they’ll finally get to make their vision a reality.
Abbotsford City Council