The Braun Courtyard is a natural space tucked away inside the Braun Building on main campus. Home to faculties and departments such as Natural Resources Management, Health and Behavioural Sciences, and Anthropology, the Braun Courtyard is truly a living laboratory. In the Braun Courtyard, one can find experimental tree plantings, anthropological dig simulations, and vegetable and herb gardens. This is all in addition to the forested, grassy, and patio areas. 

Classes of most sizes can be accommodated in this space for outdoor learning purposes and the courtyard is utilized by faculty, staff, and students for leisurely, academic, and research purposes. This space can be reserved for academic purposes by faculty and staff by using the room request system.

The CASES Labyrinth is adjacent to the south side of the certified LEED Silver Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering and Sciences (CASES) Building. The labyrinth serves dual purposes-- to encourage contemplative practices and mindfulness and as a stormwater catchment area. Below the surface of the labyrinth, stormwater is collected for potential re-use with the aim to divert water from the sewer system wherever possible. Since all stormwater on campus flows into the McIntyre River, the indigenous, drought-tolerant landscaping surrounding the labyrinth helps filter pollutants and slow down the rate of the runoff, protecting the long-term health of the watershed and mitigating flooding.

The labyrinth is a walking, meditative path with twists and turns that mimic those that we may experience on our own life journey. It encourages the walker to slow down and reflect. Faculty, staff, students, and community members are welcome to use this space as walking meditation to promote wellness. The CASES labyrinth can also be reserved for academic purposes-- whether for contemplative practices or other outdoor educational purposes.

Lakehead’s Climate Action Park is a co-designed space that aims to restore aquatic habitat along the shoreline of the McIntyre River, improve stormwater management through Low Impact Development (LID) techniques like the bioretention site and riparian area, raise awareness of the climate crisis, and create a place for connection and learning. 

The park site is located along the McIntyre River corridor on Lakehead’s Thunder Bay campus. The McIntyre River flows to Lake Superior and is one of the four major tributaries in the urban watershed. With 116 hectares of land and 38 buildings, the university campus is responsible for a sizeable volume of the city’s stormwater impact on the river and local watershed. 

The development of the Climate Action Park at Lakehead University has been led by the Office of Sustainability, the Lake Superior Living Labs Network, and the Thunder Bay Remedial Action Plan. It has also been funded and supported by the Great Lakes Local Action Fund, World Wildlife Fund Canada, EarthCare Thunder Bay, and Lakehead University departments such as the Provost’s Office, Office of Research and Innovation, Alumni Association, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Business Administration, and Physical Plant. The park is part of a broader effort in Thunder Bay that also includes the LRCA’s Climate Change Awareness Park at Fisherman’s Park West. 

Lakehead University also acknowledges the many campus and community members who contributed to the visioning of this space, and in particular, Elders Gene Nowegejick, Peggy Smith, and Beatrice Twance-Hynes. 

The M'wade Gaazhi Namaadibinaanowin Outdoor Classroom (Anishinaabemowin for "A Place Where They Sit Down") seats around 20 people on benches and up to 40 overall.

To book the space for academic purposes, please use the room request system (faculty and staff only), or contact LUSU (for registered clubs and student groups), or your department's administrator (for students).

The space can also be used for events and larger classes if booked through conference services. See photos below of possible seating arrangements.

Lakehead University’s Office of Sustainability, in partnership with EcoSuperior Environmental Programs, conducted a Depave Paradise project on the Thunder Bay campus in the summer of 2019.

The project removed 100 m² of deteriorating grey infrastructure on campus land and replaced it with native plants. Doing so increased the infiltration rate of the courtyard, recharges our groundwater supply, helps protect Lake Superior water quality, helps cool our campus, and provides habitat for pollinators and insects. 

This space was transformed into an outdoor classroom with four demonstration gardens for use by undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as community events. Interpretive signage educates the community about the environmental benefits (stormwater management) of the space, and also identified native plants in the demonstration gardens and their traditional uses, including Indigenous traditional knowledge of plants. 

The four demonstration gardens represent: boreal ecosystem, tallgrass prairie ecosystem, medicinal and edible uses of plants, and pollinator-friendly plants.

Students, faculty, staff, and community members helped remove the concrete and design and install the demonstration gardens.

The CB Courtyard prior to depaving. This courtyard was almost 50 years old.

Volunteers help remove the concrete and "liberate the soil."

Volunteers help remove the concrete and "liberate the soil." Over 100 square metres were removed.

Volunteers get their boots on the ground and shovels in the dirt planting the demonstration gardens.

Almost 200 plants were planted!

Numerous studies have documented the benefits of the outdoors on student learning, such as increased focus, decreased stress, and increased ecological knowledge. This project is in the old Centennial Building courtyard.

This project was made possible by: Depave Paradise, TD Friends of the Environment, Lakehead University, and EcoSuperior Environmental Programs.