Research at Royal Roads
Our research is designed to directly benefit the communities in which we live, work and play. Exploring issues ranging from local to global, contributing to positive change, inspiring action and addressing the most pressing challenges of our time; these are at the heart of our role as a changemaking university.
RRU research highlights: a focus on climate and sustainability
- Explore RRU Research in Action highlighting a wide range of research with direct impacts on solving the complex issues of our day.
- Climate Justice and Public Transit - Robert Newell, Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainability
- Reimagining Capitalism and energy democracy - Julie MacArthur, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair
- Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals - Tracy Smith-Carrier, Canada Research Chair
- The Cascade Institute is working to tackle the complex and interwoven issues of social justice, climate change and other converging global crises.
- The Resilience by Design Lab (RbD) is an applied research center, with a focus on resiliency and capacity-building in a changing climate. Establishing the Adaptation Learning Network is a key RbD initiative aimed at improving climate adaptation capacity across Canada.
- Upskilling for Canada’s Climate Transition - research project conducted by the RbD Lab and the Academy for Social Innovation, in partnership with the Future Skills Centre.
- Community, collaboration and sustainability (CoLabs) for facilitating collaboration amongst researchers, from university professors and students to non-profits, government agencies and community groups.
- Energy poverty and low carbon energy transitions: Runa Das explores energy poverty and what it might mean for Canadians living in both rural and urban areas.
- Communication, arts-based research and Indigenist approaches. Geo Takach explores intersections of environmental communication, arts-based research and Indigenist approaches, and raising awareness of (and eyebrows at) how climate change is and can be framed in public discourse.
Living Labs
Experiential and applied learning opportunities tackle real-life issues. Royal Roads’ Living Lab model provides dynamic, place-responsive projects in creative social settings. They enrich student experiences and influence the future of the campus, business, government and community organizations.
Through this program, students test innovative ideas and solutions to real-world challenges. Some examples of Living lab projects:
- Creating a kitchen garden and food farm on campus,
- Students in the School of Environment & Sustainability mapping the biodiversity on campus and participating in nature-based programs to study climate impacts and solutions.
- Bachelor of Business Administration in Innovation and Sustainability putting students to work solving real-world problems, such as how to ramp up food production on campus, and
- Design Thinking Challenge providing teams of undergraduate business students, the opportunity to contribute to an issue of societal concern. For these challenges, students work with civic leaders to address a real-world design challenge.
Students in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management are involved in sustainable destination planning, protecting wildlife and managing sustainable hotels.
