On June 1st, the Sustainable Living & Learning Communities (SLLC) celebrated the progress and achievements of the past year at the annual Spring Showcase. The afternoon event commemorated the three Green Fellows, Tim Z. Burton, Emmanuel Momoh, and Maria Kanwal, who had just wrapped up their year-long projects. The showcase also highlighted many other SLLC developments and member programs. 

Guests met at the corner of the Domes to view Tim’s project, the “Domes Welcome Area.” Throughout the year, Tim collaborated closely with SLLC Academic Coordinator, JayLee Tuil, to install irrigation to support 9 new dwarf fruit trees accompanied by educational signage. Other items include a new bulletin board, updated with SLLC and SCHA happenings, a refinished bench, and refurbished the original Innovative Housing welcome sign. In addition to these items, Tim initiated many landscaping projects that improved the accessibility and appearance of the Domes grounds. 

The showcase guests walked through the Domes property to view the newly installed Redhorse Constructors Demo Hut. In collaboration with the Solar Community Housing Association (SCHA), the Demo Hut showcases many innovative and sustainable building methods and materials. To read more about the Demo Hut and its many collaborators, click here. 

Right across from the Demo Hut is the newly renovated student-built straw bale greenhouse, a project spearheaded by Green Fellow Tim Z. Burton and the Sacramento Valley College Corp (SVCC) Fellows.  The greenhouse has new mesh wire windows and will soon have HexPave surfacing to enable full accessibility. A drinking fountain will soon be installed near the greenhouse, in the ‘the back 40’, funded by an additional grant from The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF). Afterward, guests walked through the ASUCD Experimental Community Garden (ECG), a space for students and community members to rent out garden plots. Moving through the gardens, participants came upon a modern wooden bench, constructed by students in the SLLC Spring Studio course.The bench will be featured along the accessible pathways as part of the Healthy UC Davis Together Accessibility project. 

Continuing to move through the Gardens, the group viewed the Accessibility Hub. Here we can see the HexPave installation in process and a series of raised garden beds for those with limited mobility. These beds were built by a team of Eagle Scouts in collaboration with the Redwood SEED Scholars, Project Team Davis, and others.

Next on the tour, folks walked through the Woods to the Student Farm’s Ecological Garden. Green Fellow Emmanuel Momoh shared his progress on his “African Food Basket Project (AFBP)”. The AFBP is a space for African international students and diaspora communities to grow and harvest their cultural foods. It also became a space for cross-cultural connections and events, like the African Food Potluck and Okra Chili Cook-off which was held at the Student Farm. Read more about Emmanuel’s project and this event here. 

Following the AFBP presentation, guests walked over to Bowley Hall to sit in the cool building and listen to Green Fellow Maria Kanwal’s presentation on her project “Informing Domes 2.0: Sustainability Assessment of UC Davis Student Housing via Life-Cycle Assessment”. In the past year, Maria conducted research and developed a framework to compare the environmental and social impacts of the two different housing models. 

The SLLC would like to thank all of its supporters and donors who help fund these amazing projects and opportunities for students. The Spring Showcase was a great chance to celebrate our Green Fellows and wrap up the end of a fruitful academic year. We will be introducing our new cohort of Green Fellows for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year soon. Stay updated on our website and Instagram.