As part of U-M’s Climate Week, the Campus as Lab Open House at Matthaei Botanical Gardens invites the university community to explore how campus landscapes, living collections, and collaborative networks fuel innovative responses to climate change. This event transforms the dynamic setting of Matthaei Botanical Gardens and the Campus Farm into a showcase of sustainability in action, where research, teaching, and community engagement intersect.

Equal parts celebration, resource fair, and interactive learning experience, the Open House will spotlight the breadth of Campus as Lab work happening across U-M—from carbon-neutral architecture to ecological field studies, climate justice efforts, creative storytelling, and more. Participants will gain a behind-the-scenes look at climate-focused projects led by units including SEAS, Engineering, the UM Biological Station, Taubman College, the Institute for Energy Solutions, LSA departments, and many others.

This event creates a space for faculty, staff, and students to connect across disciplines, spark new collaborations, and deepen their role in using the campus as a living laboratory to address the climate crisis and advance sustainability solutions.

The Living Learning Lab Bus Tour, sponsored by the Institute for Energy Solutions, provides transportation to the open house on one of the electric blue buses. The tour includes a presentation about energy-focused living learning labs along the route, including the IES Living Learning Lab grant recipient projects and the IES Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP) projects. The bus will run from Central Campus to North Campus to MBGNA and back, demonstrating a potential future sustainable mode of transportation to the gardens. Please use the link to sign up for the bus tour.