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Innovative. Experimental. Contemporary. Integrative. These are words you'll find in the mandate of the Environmental Policy Institute's new Innovation Lab.
Dubbed "EPILab," this hub of innovation aims to use strategic, innovative thinking and research to engage and collaborate with external partners from government, community groups and industry.
The EPI Innovation Lab brings together faculty, students and community to address contemporary environmental policy challenges.
"The lab is broadly conceptualized as both an idea and a physical space," said Dr. Garrett Richards, EPI assistant professor and the driving force behind the EPI Innovation Lab. "As an idea, it supports collaborative, innovative, and experimental thinking and work to address contemporary environmental policy challenges."
He hopes the lab, which is located in room FC3019 of the Forest Centre, will transform and complement typical academic processes, opening up boundaries between academia and the rest of society. Meeting the needs of the community could take the form of short-term projects with a quick turnaround, or at the other end of the scale, longer, more involved processes.
Brainstorming using whiteboard space, flip charts and wall space for displaying and re-arranging posted contributions.
"We need to focus on policy-relevant needs of our external partners," he said, adding that so far, the lab has provided the following to external partners:
Formal projects with partners such as municipal governments and NGOs include topics such as public transit, invasive plant species and wastewater management.
The physical space itself allows for a wide variety of networking approaches:
During regular workweeks the EPILab holds weekly lab hours, 1:30-3:30 p.m. every Wednesday. These are opportunities for the lab co-ordinator, research assistants and other interested faculty and students to meet and discuss potential projects as well as general content related to EPILab's mandate (e.g. policy innovation, workshop facilitation). Potential partners can contact EPILab to make an appointment during these hours.
"Ultimately EPILab is meant to be mutually beneficial to both EPI – especially its students – and to external partners," said Dr. Richards. "It will allow our students and faculty to conduct research and build networks while providing a free-of-charge resources to potential collaborators."
For more information about the lab and how it might help your organization or institution, visit https://grenfell-epi.com/epilab/ or contact Dr. Richards at (709) 639-6534, grichards@grenfell.mun.ca.
