Public Square, Simon Fraser University (Canada)

Program overview:

The Public Square illustrates Simon Frasier University’s commitment to engaging with community, and acts as a bridge to foster university/community knowledge exchange. It maintains a strong commitment to its relationships with a diverse collection of communities – including but not limited to SFU students, staff, faculty and alumni, as well as business, government, academic, civil society and grassroots organizations. SFU Public Square acts a resource for both internal and external stakeholders to add capacity for community engagement activity, supporting partners to extend their networks and reach new audiences, and design activity that is innovative, inclusive, and participatory, and exemplified by its dedication to hosting spontaneous and ongoing conversations.

“SFU Public Square receives honourable mention for MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship”

SFU Public Square recognizes the need to support wide-reaching community engagement as a way to foster inclusive societies, and leverages the resouces of the institution to build social infrastructure, encourage civic participation, model civil discourse, and support knowledge exchange and co-created solutions for our most pressing issues. It focuses on working with its student, academic and community partners to provide opportunities for engagement on a host of different topics and to bring as many people as possible into the conversation. SFU Public Square is primarily a responsive program, which means that most activity is undertaken as a result of a request to collaborate or convene from an individual or organization in the community or from within the institution.