About Us
The Cavendish Living Lab’ concept embraces the Cavendish campus and its facilities, services, and the University community as a ‘living laboratory’. Our endeavour is to use this project to provide (1) authentic, enquiry-based learning experiences for students, (2) enable knowledge transfer for sustainability, and (3) forge collaboration between the stakeholders. The three main drivers of the ‘Cavendish Living Lab’ project are:
The Cavendish Living Lab is currently focusing on (Click on the highlight to know more!):
- We are looking at urban food growing and the cycle of food. Food consumption happens all over campus and at any time. We have put a food waste bin to collect food waste so we can create compost, which then serves to grow food on campus. We use hydroponic systems to grow our plants.
- Out of the food waste, we also strive to create bioplastic. Indeed, many organisms in nature can create materials similar to plastics. At the Cavendish Living Lab, we use bacteria to create bioplastics.
- We are also exploring the relationship between health and sustainability. There are different ways to look at this relationship, one being about how our wellbeing allows us to be more prompt to be sustainable. Another one is to consider the health system and its carbon footprint.
- We explore student awareness about fast fashion as well as some sustainable solutions in that regard. Fast fashion is increasingly becoming an environmental problem. Many alternatives exist and can be developed, such as biodegradable leather.
The Cavendish Living Lab strives to include projects about water waste on campuses and work toward using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Opportunities for co-creating sustainable solutions using applied research and learning within an authentic setting.