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Recommendations for the University of Belize Campus Development Plan - Spring and Summer 2002

The Florida State University (FSU) Department of Urban and Regional Planning presents the Campus Ecology Plan, which has been completed for the University of Belize campus at Belmopan. It includes a profile of the site; a campus planning process; a series of recommendations; a water, wastewater and stormwater plan; and a plan for the campus living-learning laboratory.

Site Profile

Belmopan is the capital of Belize, a nation located on the Caribbean coast of Central America. For the last two decades, there has been an effort to consolidate the national university, the University of Belize (UB), into one campus located in Belmopan. This effort is starting to be realized, as buildings take shape on the new Belmopan campus. Construction of these buildings has been guided by a campus master plan completed by a team of planners from the University of Quintana Roo (UQRoo) in Chetumal, Mexico. However, there are some elements of the creation of a thriving university community, as identified by UB faculty, staff, students, the Belmopan community, and the FSU planning team, that have been largely overlooked by the original master plan. In order to address these concerns, certain existing conditions have been identified, and opportunities for improvement of those conditions have been explained.

Campus Planning Process

During the course of the spring and summer of 2002, representatives from the FSU Department of Urban and Regional Planning made several visits to Belmopan. These visits included such activities as initial coordination meetings with university officials and consultation with local experts. Through this process, the FSU planning team discovered the need for a “campus ecology plan” to complement the building master plan completed by UQRoo. They also realized a lack of participation by anyone except those in the highest levels of the university community, and they, along with officials of the university, acknowledged the need for a more inclusive planning process. As a result, the team held community consultation meetings in March, a Visual Preference Survey™ in May, and a community design charrette in June.

Site Design Recommendations and Implementation

Recommendations for the University of Belize Campus Development Plan reflect the University of Belize vision, “to enhance Belize’s development by creating the learning experiences necessary to produce graduates who are analytical, socially conscious, ecologically responsible, self confident, disciplined, ethical, entrepreneurial, skilled communicators who appreciate Belize.”

This plan provides opportunities for the realizing all of the important values in the mission statement. Recommendations are made from the “spaces” resulting from the March 2002 meeting, including the Biological Conservation Area, Ceremonial Space, Environmental Learning District, Gathering and Meeting Space, Landscape Promoting Ecological Responsibility, Open Space for Aesthetic Appreciation, Outdoor Sporting District, Quiet and Meditative Space, and Space for Public Art and Monument. Additionally this section includes guidelines for pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, and transit circulation.

Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Plan

A major challenge throughout the planning process has been to determine cost-effective, low-maintenance solutions to the problems of campus water provision and wastewater and stormwater management. This section provides a framework for the improvement of such infrastructure systems on the University of Belize campus, including several innovative and ecological designs. This section suggests that these systems could be provided in an environmentally friendly manner, thus contributing to the ecological responsibility tenet of the UB vision. The systems could also be designed, implemented and maintained with the help of UB students, thereby giving students field experience. They could also be used, especially by the Natural Sciences, in everyday teaching, and could be used to demonstrate ecosystems and give field examples.

Plan for the Living Learning Laboratory

The integration of academic programming and physical space into a single cohesive environment is at the center of the campus planning exercise. Although specific course objectives and the curricular direction of individual academic programs remain the purview of the UB administration and the faculty, the desire to foster connections between academics and physical planning for the UB campus at Belmopan has been a consistent theme voiced by UB faculty, administration and students during the planning process. This section helps to provide a framework for achieving such an end.