We light fires in the hearts of the best and brightest to create positive change in local communities.
Pando puts community at the heart of education to deliver real world impact. But these are not pie-in-the-sky projects. These are practical, sensible efforts at dozens of locations across the Southland.
Pando Days SoCal college/university connections
Click image of map to see an interactive map with more information.
We track impact across three broad yet interconnected areas: Sustainability Impact, Education Impact, and Community Impact.
Sustainability
Our sustainability goals are to help implement the LA County’s OurCounty plan to address local social, health and environmental problems. Our objectives are to raise awareness of the plan and to implement projects/solutions that directly target community health and resilience.
goal #1: Resilience
goal #2: Buildings
goal #3: Land
goal #4: Economy
goal #5: Biodiversity
goal #6: Re-creation
goal #7: Climate
goal #8: Mobility
goal #9: Resources
goal #10: Food
goal #11: Governance
goal #12: Partnerships
Education
Our educational goals are to create an easier pathway to participate in local, effective civic engagement. Our objectives are to implement an effective framework for project-based learning, connecting students and educators to the resources and networks they need to create impact-driven projects rooted in local communities’ needs.
Community
Our community goals are to build more connection and interdependence between “town” (local communities) and “gown” (higher education institutes) in jointly solving community problems. Our objectives are to develop community-based projects which create lasting networks which bring together NGOs, public agencies, business and higher-ed institutions.
Continuing projects spotlight
The wisdom of the rainforest in Northridge
“We could easily process almost 100% of the school’s food waste,” says Carlos Marin who is continuing CSUN’s 2023 Pando Days composting project. “Do you understand what that means?”
Pando Days – the student experience
Mine Ucok Hughes, Cal State LA, and Joseph Burton, Hearts for Sight Foundation, discuss the multi-faceted benefits involved in working with students on meaningful projects.
Restoring the land, one plot at a time
Alex Robinson of USC speaks with Pando about his continuing Pando Days work in native plant restoration and sustainability stewardship.
When your campus is your community partner
Pando Populus chats with Adrian Jones of Mount Saint Mary’s on the success of her Pando Days team’s low-water landscape plans and the campus improvements it’s launching.
What the humanities can offer a world in crisis
Chris Doran, Pepperdine, reflects on his multi-year Pando Days effort to focus the resources of religious communities on the growing challenge of climate migration.
The butterfly effect
We sat down with Beth Abels, Pando Days team lead for Pierce College, to discuss the ways her multi-phase project is changing the College’s sense of connection to the LA River.
There’s a food app for that (and it’s student developed)!
Interview with Pando Days team lead Rohan Kunchala, student from CSU Fullerton, about next steps for the food pantry software they’ve developed that’s changing the game on getting food to those who need it.
Community college and challenging the status quo
Prof. Marcela Oliva of LA Trade Tech comments on her and her students’ history with Pando Days and the role of community colleges in creating on-the-ground change and change makers.
Pando Days coming to life: UCLA’s Biophilia Treehouse
UCLA’s submission for Pando Days 2019/20 is currently being installed in Encino. We get an update.
Pando Days Update: Marcela Oliva, LA Trade Tech
Expanding green space for resilience and prosperity.
Pando Days Update: Gina Valona, Otis
Otis is mapping sustainability across the California Southland.
What is the future of LA housing, and how can artificial intelligence help?
“AI: The Future of Housing,” SCI-Arc’s Pando Days initiative, presents a near future for Los Angeles where AI and new technologies are tools in the fight for housing equity.
The Resilience Project at Pasadena City College
The Resilience Project uses art and interaction to create games, media archives, and virtual reality meditations that explore resilience, both on practical and personal terms.
Imagining Interconnected Foodways Across LA County
Food Within Reach is a project of Cal Poly Pomona that envisions interconnected foodways every quarter mile across LA County.