Living Campus lead Kim Thomas and Professor Samuel Mann were delighted recently to learn that their submission "Living Campus — Edible and Educational for over 15 years" had been shortlisted as a finalist in the "Benefiting Society" category of the 2025 Australasian Green Gown Awards.
The winner will be announced at the Green Gown Awards Australasia ceremony on October 30, and will be acknowledged as a leader in environmental, social and sustainability best-practice in the tertiary sector.
Launched by Prof Mann in 2008, then co-ordinator of the polytechnic’s sustainability education programme, the Living Campus programme was designed to bring sustainability to the "front of house" for staff and students.
Ms Thomas and her former horticulture programme ākonga have been heavily involved from the early years, working to develop and expand the Living Campus programme from the initial two gardens to now include seven gardens distributed around the campus and a composting hub.
The spaces have individual names, including Manaaki Food Design Garden and Bio Domes, Pōpopo Wormporium Composting Hub, Poho Permaculture Terraces, Tāwhaki Quad Orchard Garden, Owheo Permaculture Garden, Te Kura Oraka Kararehe Garden and the Natural Resources Permagrow Māra.
"The gardens and green spaces are not only valuable to the polytechnic’s learning programmes, they also help to enhance food sustainability for our staff, ākonga and the wider community," she said.
"So, as well as being vital for helping to inspire and educate our students, they are also places where people come to forage," Ms Thomas said.
Prof Mann, who specialises in professional practice and work-based learning, has been delighted with the growth of the Living Campus from two garden spaces to becoming integrated across the polytechnic campus and programmes.
He paid tribute to former Otago Polytechnic chief executive Phil Ker and the leadership team that the Living Campus had grown into such a success.
"At least 5000 ākonga have interacted with it as part of their learning, and the edible gardens, fruit trees and green spaces enhance every aspect of campus life," Prof Mann said.
"It is also a great example of how embracing sustainability can achieve positive results and give resources to students."
Otago Polytechnic College of Creative Practice and Enterprise senior lecturer Tim Lynch said the Living Campus was a "critical component in the delivery of our degree and certificate programmes".
"It allows the concept of sustainability to move beyond an abstract academic idea and into the tangible, applied realm of teaching," he said.
Both Prof Mann and Ms Thomas are pleased at the work of the Living Campus around composting, which has been part of its focus since the beginning.
This was given a boost in 2018 through a student-led project headed by student Finn Boyle with support from then staff member Ray O’Brien (now head of sustainability at Otago University) to create a composting hub on the main polytechnic campus.
This hub now ensures 7 tonnes of organic waste is diverted from landfill each year.
Ms Thomas said an important aspect of the Living Campus programme was its ability to adapt alongside the changing needs of the polytechnic’s courses.
"Since it was first started, it has gone through many iterations, and I’m sure it will continue to change as needed."
This will include the development of an urban forest on campus, with the support of a sustainability grant.
Recently, the Living Campus team developed large, colourful signs pointing the way and providing information on plants.
