Sustainability Lab @ T-Rex

Definition

Average number of people in attendance per month at the Sustainability Lab @ T-Rex

Why is it Important?

The Sustainability Lab @ T-Rex (the Lab) provides a collaborative meeting and working space for people working on OneSTL plan implementation. The Lab is a regularly scheduled monthly opportunity to share successes, discuss lessons learned, and confer on solutions to challenges related to advancing sustainability in the St. Louis region. Currently, labs are hosted in person at T-Rex (5th Floor, 911 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63101) and via Zoom on the last Tuesday of the month from 3:45 to 5 PM. Following the lab discussion, there is an hour for networking at T-Rex as well.

Each Lab includes group discussions, information/learning sessions, problem solving, and panel discussions; social space for networking; one-on-one mentoring for youth and young professionals; physical space for collaboration; and opportunities for businesses to get involved. The goals of the Lab are to facilitate greater regional collaboration by bringing people together from different cities, counties, sectors, specialties, and ideologies; better use of academic, research, public, and private resources; opening up new lines of communication; sharing plans and ideas; and partnering on grant opportunities.

Information on upcoming Labs, as well as past Labs, can be found at http://www.onestl.org/get-involved/regional-initiatives/sustainability-lab.

How are we Doing?

In 2022, the labs were offered both in person and via zoom, using a roundtable discussion format. In 2020 and 2021, the labs were held virtually and typically only covered one topic. Prior to the pandemic, labs were held in person only and most covered multiple topics. Attendance was not tracked for most of the labs in 2020. Attendance was tracked in 2021 and 2022, but is not directly comparable to other years. During the COVID pandemic, the labs have continued to provide a space for organizations to come together to share successes and ideas on topics important to the sustainability of the region.

In 2022, an average of 21 people attended the 9 sustainability labs. Average monthly attendance was higher at in person labs hosted in 2017, 2018, and 2019 (44, 50, and 47, respectively). In 2019, the sustainability lab expanded and began hosting labs in Alton and St. Peters as well. In 2021, 11 labs were held virtually with an average of 27 attendees.

This past year, the labs covered the following topics important to furthering sustainability in the region:

• Building circularity to realize an economic system that eliminates waste
• Sustainability performance measures
• Pathways to clean energy
• Transportation
• Geospatial technology

Recordings of many of the labs, as well as information on upcoming Labs, are available at http://www.onestl.org/get-involved/regional-initiatives/sustainability-lab.

Geographic Level

St. Louis eight-county bi-state region, including Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties and the city of St. Louis in Missouri and Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois. View map.

Notes

Not Applicable

Data Sources

OneSTL