CityStudio Thunder Bay, a three-year pilot community-campus engagement project that allows for innovative solutions to address municipally identified challenges and opportunities, presented its 2023 achievements to City Council last night. The presentation highlighted significant strides in CityStudio’s mission to foster community collaboration and growth within the City of Thunder Bay, Confederation College, Lakehead University, and NOSM University. 

“2023 was an exciting year as CityStudio saw over 100 students participate in 24 different project collaborations,” said Karen Kerk, CityStudio Coordinator. “The success of these projects shows how CityStudio collaborations can spark new ideas that benefit the academic, community and municipal sectors, while also providing students with meaningful real-life learning experiences." 

With a successful track record in 15 cities worldwide, CityStudio is renowned for its experiential learning and civic engagement model, which taps into post-secondary resources like faculty expertise and student hours to tackle community-driven projects. CityStudio Thunder Bay prioritizes collaborations anchored to the six Priority Areas of the Community Safety & Well-Being Plan. 

“CityStudio is the type of multi-institutional collaboration that supports our ability to address issues big and small in our community to improve our community’s well-being,” said Helle Møller, Associate Professor at Lakehead University. “It can help us achieve the goals of our institutional and municipal strategic plans, while supporting meaningful applied student learning opportunities and community connections for potential employment opportunities. Simultaneously, it provides faculty with new and local research opportunities. It really is a win on all fronts.”

Robyn Gillespie from Applied Research at Confederation College highlighted additional tangible benefits of CityStudio projects, emphasizing, "These projects provide outstanding networking opportunities for students and can even aid local employers in their recruitment strategies. We are actively nurturing the next generation of civic leaders." 

Currently, approximately 25 CityStudio projects are underway, spanning diverse areas such as health, economic development, research, GIS mapping, communications, and marketing.

To learn more, visit www.thunderbay.ca/CityStudio

 

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Contact:       Rebecca Eras, Communications Officer, 807-633-1218, rebecca.eras@thunderbay.ca