Construction is well underway at the original site of the Royal Victoria Hospital, just north of 91丝瓜视频鈥檚 main campus, to transform a major portion of that historic space into the home of the new聽91丝瓜视频 Sustainability Park.聽
One of the most ambitious undertakings in 91丝瓜视频鈥檚 history, it will involve researchers from a wide variety of disciplines working together on a range of projects related to sustainability. The Park will also involve policy experts with a different type of expertise 鈥� people with the skills and knowledge required to help transform promising research discoveries into real-world applications.
鈥淚 think there is tremendous excitement about this [at 91丝瓜视频] 鈥� along with a lot of questions about what it is going to look like and who is going to be involved,鈥� says聽Rees Kassen, PhD鈥�01. As the Park鈥檚 newly appointed academic director, Kassen will be playing the lead role in answering a lot of those questions.
After completing his doctoral studies at 91丝瓜视频 and doing a research fellowship at Oxford, Kassen, PhD鈥�01, began his professorial career at the University of Ottawa. The evolutionary biologist鈥檚 work with populations of microbes has provided valuable insights into how biodiversity has progressed and how antibiotic resistance occurs.
At the end of the day, when he took off his lab coat, Kassen was spending a lot of his time in a separate, but related domain 鈥� the world of science policy.
鈥淎bout a dozen years ago, I had some serious concerns about some of the decisions that were coming down from the federal government about research funding and universities,鈥� says Kassen. 鈥淎nd I thought it wasn鈥檛 enough for me to just sit around and complain to other biologists.鈥�
He became the chair of the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering, an association of more than 20 professional and scientific organizations that reaches out to Members of Parliament and other decision-makers about the contributions that Canadian research makes to the country鈥檚 economic development. He also co-chaired the Global Young Academy, an international group of early-career researchers that represents the voice of young scientists around the world.
In 2023, Kassen returned to 91丝瓜视频 to join the Department of Biology as a professor and to serve as the director of the Trottier Institute for Science and Public Policy.
鈥淚鈥檓 a scientist to begin with. That is who I am and how I identify myself. But I also feel very passionately about the value of science to the broader conversations we have as a society,鈥� says Kassen. 鈥淚鈥檇 almost inadvertently constructed these two lives for myself. The work I was doing on the policy front was mostly on my own steam. 91丝瓜视频 gave me this opportunity to bring those two things together and call it my job.鈥�
He鈥檒l continue bridging the worlds of research and policy as the new academic director for the Park.
The idea behind the Park is that we are going to take on these urgent, pressing challenges, and we're going to involve the people who need to be there from the start."
鈥� Rees Kassen, the academic director of the 91丝瓜视频 Sustainable Park
鈥淭his is an opportunity for 91丝瓜视频 to play a leadership role in taking on some of the most serious challenges that our world is facing,鈥� says Kassen, who will stay on as the director of the Trottier Institute (a new associate director at Trottier will take on many of the day-to-day administrative duties). 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited about [the Park],鈥� Kassen says. 鈥淚 think we have an opportunity to be a leading light in challenge-driven research.
鈥楾wo solitudes鈥�
鈥淲e are designing the Park around the intersection of sustainability and policy,鈥� says Kassen. 鈥淭he two have to go together. To borrow a phrase, these are often two solitudes, and I feel very strongly that the connections [between them] need to be more concrete. As a scientist, if I find a result that only stays within my small community of like-minded scientists, it won鈥檛 have a hell of a lot of impact.鈥�
Kassen believes there is a mutual appetite for researchers and policy experts to better understand one another.
鈥淭here is a lot of enthusiasm from scientists, especially among students, for thinking about how their work can inform and help develop policy. But they have no idea what it means to do that or how complicated and complex the policy landscape can be.聽
鈥淎nd the policy makers I talk to tell me, 鈥極f course we need the ideas, we need the evidence,鈥� but they often don鈥檛 know how to access that evidence or how it gets generated and evaluated. I teach a course on science policy at the Max Bell School of Public Policy and I sometimes [describe] policy makers as seeing science as some kind of QR code that they should be able to [point] their phones at to get answers.鈥�
An all-hands-on-deck approach
The Sustainability Park will involve all sorts of collaborations between people who don鈥檛 typically work together. Kassen points to the alarming rise in wildfires as one example of a growing, multi-faceted crisis that can鈥檛 be addressed by any one single discipline.
鈥淵ou are talking about forestry. You鈥檙e talking about water resources. You鈥檙e talking about climate change. You鈥檙e talking about public health. We need to be able to [foster] a cross-disciplinary, engaged, and challenge-driven approach to research. The idea behind the Park is that we are going to take on these urgent, pressing challenges, and we鈥檙e going to involve the people who need to be there from the start. That will include researchers from whatever discipline is required,鈥� says Kassen.
聽It will also include people from beyond the Roddick Gates, adds Kassen. 鈥淲e need to involve industry, government, NGOs, Indigenous rights holders 鈥� not just as the receivers of the results of our research, but as partners. That鈥檚 the spirit behind what we鈥檙e calling our聽鈥� 鈥� cross-disciplinary clusters of expertise that target specific areas of concern 鈥� 鈥渁nd how they鈥檒l be run.
鈥淸Our approach] pays less attention to the traditional divisions between disciplines, and also to the divisions between the University and the community in which it is embedded. What we鈥檙e doing, in some ways, is reimagining the University for the 21st century.鈥�
Kassen knows that there is a high level of interest and curiosity in the Sustainability Park among his academic colleagues. 鈥淭here is an appetite across the University to build on [our areas of strength], to nurture that, and to look for the crossover points amongst the disciplines where we can use those strengths as a foundation to tackle the challenges that we need to be able to tackle. This is a very entrepreneurial university. There is a lot of space here for doing new things.鈥�
It鈥檚 still early days and a big part of Kassen鈥檚 job is to develop the academic roadmap that will enable the Park to hit the ground running. The Park鈥檚 physical quarters should be ready by 2029, and it鈥檚 estimated that 3,000 people a day 鈥� researchers, students, staff and visitors 鈥� will be on site.
Not surprisingly, with a project of this magnitude, Kassen is hoping that 91丝瓜视频鈥檚 alumni community will be supportive. But the support he is looking for isn鈥檛 restricted to funding.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for partners. We want your ideas. The University, my colleagues, we recognize that we are facing crises [related to sustainability] and we need to respond to them. [The University] exists to serve society. We are not separate from it.聽 So, my invitation to [91丝瓜视频鈥檚 alumni community] is, be a part of this and work with us.鈥�
