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The Works Department would like students to design and create a physical model that will be used to educate Elementary and Secondary students on how ground water is removed from an aquifer and the treatment process.

 Host Department: Works, Environmental Services

 Type of Collaboration: A small group of students working on a capstone project

 Anticipated Outcome: A useable model to showcase groundwater treatment processes

 Deliverables: Design and construction of a model

 Timeline: 8 months

 Desired Start...

Solar-thermal greenhouses have been widely adopted overseas, particularly in cold-climate regions such as northern China, but their use in Canada remains limited. The challenge is not whether these systems can grow crops year-round, but how they must be adapted to function within Ontario’s regulatory, climatic, and manufacturing context. This project invites students to work with the Cultivation Hub team and municipal partners to carry out a structured technical assessment. The focus is on...

Ontario farmers face high barriers when considering year-round cultivation. This project focuses on developing farmer-oriented business plans and revenue models for year-round cultivation. The work will combine market research, cost analysis, and economic impact assessment to show how adoption can improve farm revenues and reduce reliance on imports, support rural employment and supply chain diversification, and strengthen resilience against trade disruptions and global food price volatility.

The Region of Durham funds multiple community agencies to deliver housing stability and homelessness prevention programs. To ensure these programs are delivering high-quality, equitable, and effective services, the Region is looking to develop a standardized Quality Assurance (QA) tool and supporting success measurement tools. This project builds on work already undertaken through a recent system co-design workshop, which involved broad stakeholder engagement with service providers, lived...

The Social Services Department at Durham Region would like to simplify the complexity in searching for affordable rentals, specifically for seniors.

The intent of this project is to develop ideas to replace the fragmented list of unreliable resources Durham’s residents are currently relying on to find affordable housing.

This system promises to be very user-friendly for seniors and the technically challenged. Everyone searching for a rental unit should be able to utilize this tool to uncover...