Pando Days '24/25 - Pando Populus

Pando Days ’24/25 gives Southland colleges and universities the framework and resources they need to help implement regional sustainability plans. Read more about the Pando Days program series, now in its fifth season.

Pando Days brings educators together from across the arts, humanities, sciences, and trades to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the County — water, energy, food, housing, green space, biodiversity, jobs, equity, and more. And asks them to inspire each other. And their students. And Angelenos. And the world. With ingenious new solutions and plans.

Since the program’s founding on the Caltech campus in 2019, 25 colleges and universities have enrolled in the Pando Days program, with over 500 students producing 52 real-world projects implementing visionary change. Pando Days schools and projects come from all 5 Supervisorial Districts in the County, and beyond.

Review previous Pando Days projects. See our impact.

Spotlight water, power, and open call

Pando Days ‘24/25 spans the whole of the school year — fall 2024 to spring of 2025. Through the generosity of sponsors, it is throwing a spotlight on water- and power-based projects, with a bevy of supporting resources such as field trips and opening the doors to high-level experts who can advise on those projects that have a water- or power-focus.

Not all Pando Days ‘24/25 projects must be water- or power-related; there’s also an open call category for any project that responds to any of the goals of the LA County sustainability plan, including biodiversity, wellness, recycling, and much more.

But water and power are the areas where we’ll shine spotlight attention, and through the help of our partners on water, the Metropolitan Water District and LA County Sanitation Districts, and power, Clean Power Alliance and Calpine Energy Solutions, we will make content- and experience-based resources available across our region.

Spotlight challenges for the 2024/25 season:

Water

Power

Open call

How it works

The Pando Days season begins every year in the spring with outreach to fifty-some colleges, universities, and professional schools throughout the Southland.

Instructors from across departments and disciplines apply for the opportunity to enroll their 2024-25 courses, studios, or labs in the Pando Days program.

Pando Days projects may be instructor-led or student-led, developed in tight coordination with the needs of an NGO or developed in response to a college’s sustainability needs as prioritized by campus administration.

We provide a full curricular framework and a broad range of resources, including a Pando Fellowship opportunity for course instructors and honoraria of $1,500. The program is offered to participating institutions free of charge.

See Overview deck below for a full description of the program, timeline, and events. College and university instructors, see Instructor’s deck for additional information on curricular resources. Pando Days Subscribing Members, see Sponsor’s deck for information on how you can get involved advising and mentoring school teams.

Ready to apply? Go here.

How It Works: Overview

How It Works: Instructors*

How It Works: Sponsors

*For a printable version of the Instructor’s deck, click here.

Participating Colleges and Universities

The Pando Days 2024-’25 lineup includes the following schools and projects. Enrollment remains open through the fall for winter/spring terms:

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.

Pando Days ’24/25 events and resources

The Pando Days calendar launches in the spring with the opening of a six-week enrollment period, concentrates program effort over the fall and spring terms, and celebrates impact over the following spring.

Pando Days Launch
April 14, 2024, Caltech

Pando Days Blitz
September 21, 2024

Educational Materials
Fall and Spring 2024/25

Pando Days Consultants
Fall and Spring 2024/25

Pando Days Premieres
TBD

Pando Awards
April 13, 2025

Pando Days Advisory Council

Rita Kampalath and Gary Gero, Key Advisors

Advisory Council: CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) Strategic Taskforce members Heidrun Mumper-Drumm (chair) — Professor & Director of Sustainability Initiatives, ArtCenter College of Design; Robyn Eason — Strategic Sustainability Advisor; Dan Joldzic — CEO, Alexandria Technology; Nurit Katz — CSO, UCLA; Dean Kubani — City of Santa Monica (ret.); Maribeth Larkin — Community Organizer, Sisters of Social Service; Pablo La Roche — Director, Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, Cal Poly Pomona; Emmanual “Cris” Liban — CSO, LA Metro; Marcela Oliva — Professor Architecture & Environmental Design, LA Trade Tech College; John Onderdonk — Assistant Vice President for Facilities Operations and Services, Caltech; Cassie Rauser — Grand Challenge at UCLA; Andy Shrader — Environmental Affairs, consulting; Sandy Skees — EVP, Porter Novelli Global Lead, Purpose & Impact, Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Services; Mark Spears — Director, Sustainable Business Practices, Walt Disney Consumer Products (ret).