The Indigenous Plant Garden is a living classroom that has been used continuously each semester for a variety of activities by instructors in: Indigenous Studies; Indigenous Family Support; Nursing; Community, Family & Child Studies; Mental Health & Addictions; Anthropology; Biology; and Environmental Technology. A living classroom There are opportunities for classes in all disciplines to use the gardens as a tool for learning/living lab projects. Options for experiential, interdisciplinary student learning and participation include learning about Native plant garden propagation and maintenance, researching traditional plant uses, and discussions about community health and access to traditional foods. Other opportunities are highlighted below.As an aid to experiential learning, identification tags (created by Nicole Kilburn and Anthropology classes) in the garden will identify the plants in Lkwugen, English, and Latin languages, and will provide a brief description of traditional Salish uses and a link to our webpage which offers more information on the traditional uses of the plants (food, medicine, technology).If you are interested in using the Indigenous Plant Garden in your class, reviewing your program, or thinking of developing a new course or module to incorporate aspects of intercultural, indigenous, and/or sustainability learning please contact: sustainability@camosun.ca Teaching opportunities in the Indigenous Plant Garden School of AccessEmployment Training and Prep, E.A.R.T.H. Gardening Environmental Approaches for a Resourceful, Thoughtful HumanitySchool of Arts & ScienceAnthropology Indigenous cultural significance and use of native plantsBiology BotanyStudy of native floraNative plant propagationChemistry Chemistry of soilsEnglish Write and publish a collection of garden stories and poemsBrainstorm adjectives that relate to plants in the gardenEnvironmental Technology Participating/leading workshops/garden toursSustainability ProjectsEnvironmental Horticulture Soil testing, composting, organic gardening, culturing and disseminating biological control agents, plant propagation, greenhouse maintenance and landscaping with native and xerophytic speciesEnvironmental microbiologyGeography Human geography: place-making activities, the social and cultural significance of native plantsPhysical geography: Vancouver Island geomorphology, flora, fauna, soil composition, etc.Geoscience Geology and soil science Geology of BC and Vancouver IslandHistory Indigenous history and cultureMath Growth rate of plantsPhilosophy Ethics: Animals to EcosystemsSocial Science Service learning opportunityVisual Arts PhotographyPainting/drawing en plein airCamosun InternationalAn opportunity for Camosun International to invite cultures from around the world to learn about Lkwungen and W’SANEC traditional knowledge and connect with Elders, knowledge keepers, IECC staff, and Indigenous learners. This partnership offers an invitation to other cultures to share in an exchange of their home’s traditional knowledge of the use of plants for food, medicine and celebration. It is Interculturalization in action.Projects with international students could include:Participating/leading workshops/garden toursELS students could develop a script or brochure to introduce visitors to the Indigenous plant gardenCompare and contrast native plants from various regionsCentre for Indigenous Education and Community ConnectionsIndigenous StudiesIndigenous Family SupportIndigenous LiteratureHorticulture Maintenance and care of native plant gardenDigital Media Learning lab component, getting students to photograph garden for websiteMedicinal/technological and food uses of traditional plantsSchool of Health and Human ServicesNursing Learning about the medicinal use of traditional plantsCommunity health and connection to land and food systemsA space to talk and learn about Indigenous health issuesCommunity, Family and Child Studies Learning about the medicinal use of traditional plantsCommunity health and connection to land & food systemsA space to talk and learn about Indigenous health issuesService learning activities; maintenance, invasive plant removalCommunity Mental Health Counselling technique called Morita therapy in the gardenEarly Learning and Care Nature based learning approachesRelated Living Lab ProjectsGeographical Information Systems or Environmental Technology students to make an interactive map of the garden Plot all plants have information (name, uses, etc.) for each onePlot all gardens on Camosun campusPlace-making initiative or project (ex. Geography, Environmental Technology, Anthropology, Indigenous Education) mapping out the gardens and connecting personal stories to different plants or areas of the garden Get Involved You can help Camosun become more sustainable. There are lots of ways to participate, both on campus and off.Learn more