Pando Days 2024-25 is ExPando-ing
Perhaps we should rename Pando Days and make it ExPando Days for the way it’s expanding!
The program, always centered on the fall term in the past, has just expanded – now stretching from the fall 2024 term into the winter and spring of 2025, taking in the full school year.
We’re responding to demand, from students and professors; to the need to better position team projects for ongoing success, and to increase opportunities for new schools to enroll in the program over the fall and create projects in the winter/spring. We hope the longer season will also allow us to expand our reach into a greater number of underserved communities.
The season is off to a great start, with a season lineup so far of 12 SoCal colleges and universities mounting 17 Pando Days projects. Applications are still being accepted for the winter/spring.
Amongst the schools, a number of projects are returning to the program following their involvement in a prior season, aiming to build on their previous work. We are encouraged, as longer stays within the program likely increases the opportunity for real-world success.
This Pando Days season, with its spotlight on water and power, we are seeing a greater level of interest among school teams on water-focused projects. Supporting resources include specialist content (see, for example, this article by Mark VanderSchaaf on water and Southland sustainability planning), field trip opportunities to key locations, and opportunities for advice from expert consultants.
Not all Pando Days 2024-’25 projects must be water-related, but with the help of our esteemed partners on water, the Metropolitan Water District and LA County Sanitation Districts, along with our long-time partners in power, the Clean Power Alliance and Calpine Energy Solutions, we are able to offer superb content- and experience-based resources to school teams.
The Pando Days 2024-’25 lineup to date includes:
CAL POLY POMONA, Civil Engineering Department
Project: Implement Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) and Low Impact Development (LID) techniques to enhance specific areas of the Cal Poly Pomona Campus to increase biodiversity, create new recreational greenspace, and implement renewable energy infrastructure at the campus level.
CAL POLY POMONA, Department of Landscape Architecture
Project: A signage/sculpture project with website integration to support youth education on urban wildlife, biodiversity, habitat, and conservation. Open to the public, the project celebrates biodiversity and conservation.
CAL STATE UNIVERSITY, FULLERTON, Computer Science
Project: Continuing after a successful Pando Days ‘23 run, Bag/Get is a software solution that allows for food banks to more efficiently and effectively alleviate food insecurity.
CAL STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES, Marketing
Project: Harnessing the collaborative efforts of Metropolitan Water District, LA County Sanitation Districts, and Cal State LA student groups to address LA County sustainability goals via a multi-faceted initiative that integrates water conservation, community education, and sustainable agriculture practices.
CAL STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH, Immersive Design Research Lab/Design
Projects: Two projects from CSULB are anticipated, addressing water and power sustainability at the intersection of the ocean and urban life using human experience design that embraces a range of possible interventions including immersive experiences, digital engagement solutions, community activism, cultural education, dynamic mapping initiatives, and local environmental policy recommendations.
CAL STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE, Institute for Sustainability
Project: In process
CITRUS COLLEGE, Architecture and Drafting
Project: Design and build a mobile shower trailer to be used to provide showers to the unhoused.
CITRUS COLLEGE, Architecture and Drafting
Project: Research and develop a wall insulation system that uses adobe instead of harmful materials.
LA PIERCE COLLEGE, Architecture and English
Project: In partnership with several organizations, students research, write about and develop plans to design, build, support and tell a story about biodiversity along a corridor between Pierce College and the Los Angeles River.
LOS ANGELES TRADE TECHNICAL COLLEGE, Architecture
Project: In process
MOUNT ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES, Biology
Project: Forest bathing for wellness: Bringing a Native plant Micro-Forest to the Chalon Campus’s new wellness center with related initiatives.
PEPPERDINE, Religion and Philosophy Division
Project: Further advancing work done in Pando Days ‘22 on curriculum-based communication and action plan for Protestant church leaders who wish to join the conversation on climate migration.
UCLA, Counterforce Lab, Design Media Arts Department
Project: Biophilia Treehouse-3: prototype and strategy development.
UCLA, Counterforce Lab, Design Media Arts Department
Project: A multiple year photography project focused on rethinking our relationship to the life force on which all life depends: water.
UCLA, Landscape Architecture and Horticulture & Gardening, UCLA Extension
Project: Ecologically re-imagining the Encino campus of Sisters of Social Service, including the on-site lake.
USC, Landscape Architecture and Urbanism
Project: Reflect upon existing Test Plots (see previous USC Pando Days projects) and create a system in order to practice sustainable stewardship to ensure their continued success.
And this is just the start! Stay tuned for projects enrolling for the winter/spring term.
Up next in the Pando Days calendar is the intercollegiate brainstorming Blitz slated for September.