SFU re-envisions community engagement with 312 Main opening

SFU has made it our mission to be an engaged university defined by our dynamic integration of innovative education, cutting-edge research and far-reaching community engagement.

With the opening of our 312 Main Street location – the latest addition to SFU’s Vancouver campus – we take another step in advancing this mission.

The new facility will serve as a hub for a wide range of community focused initiatives, including our Community-Engaged Research initiative (CERi), Vancity Office of Community Engagement (VOCE), SFU Public Square and Lifelong Learning.

These are important contributors to our community engagement strategy. Their new location will provide community members and groups better access to SFU programs and resources, while making it easier for faculty, students and staff to benefit from our community initiatives and services.

In particular, it will provide new opportunities for faculty and students to undertake community-engaged research, to participate in community-based learning, and to work collaboratively with grassroots community organizations.

It will also allow the university to support community efforts to build social infrastructure.  

An obvious example is the redevelopment of 312 Main itself, which for many years served as Vancouver’s police headquarters.

With the assistance of First Nations architects Nancy Mackin and Patrick Stewart, who have beautifully incorporated Coast Salish design into its floor plan, the Vancity Community Foundation is transforming the structure to provide space for groups committed to social, economic and environmental justice, and for social entrepreneurs and changemakers.

Find out more about this exciting new space here.