CEFPI: improving the places where children learn, in Canada and the United States “We're trying to focus on the positive, on what we should be doing to improve the facilities that we have targeted for attention.”
A companion organization to SPOA, the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International (CEFPI) is a professional association whose sole mission is improving the places where children learn. CEFPI members, individuals, institutions and corporations are actively involved in planning, designing, building, equipping and maintaining schools and colleges. The association serves its members through three key strategic areas: • Advocacy and education of the general public, including policymakers, on the efficacy of school design and student outcomes; resource for planning effective educational facilities. • Training and professional development of our members and others through current program, workshops, seminars and conferences promoting best practices in creative school planning. • Research and dissemination of information regarding the linkage between the educational facility, its design and student success. The new president of the British Columbia chapter is Marty Cole, a professional engineer who heads school district operations in Campbell River. “We typically have two to three events per year and these are usually focused on our roles in education,” he said. “We bring in different speakers architects, engineers and school district officials - and we always learn from representatives of the B.C. Ministry of Education.” Typically, he said, chapter discussions centre on “green” school buildings and environmental sustainability, with a view to incorporating the information on these subjects into the design of new schools. CEFPI's main influence on chapter members, he added, is providing research on general education and how school facilities work in the education of children. He noted the chapter has recently begun a new initiative — education research in cooperation with the
education ministry and with AIBC, the Architects Institute of B.C. Cole said the chapter is working at getting its members more involved with CEFPI activities and, on the research side, to generate studies and reports that provide input into working more effectively with government. “We're trying to focus on the positive,” he said, “on what we should be doing to improve the facilities that we have targeted for attention.” Jim Meiklejohn, a Kelowna architect, is the B.C. Chapter secretary, and he noted that CEFPI is also an advocate for the general public on the efficacy of school design, collecting information and promoting the importance of thoughtful design. “It is a coming-together of professionals, with district and government people, to discuss the issues,” he commented. A current focus is the efficient application of dollars to create “healthy buildings” focusing on environmental issues as well as indoor air quality and occupant health. “Locally, we focus on maintaining contacts with various players in the industry, mostly with meetings. Internationally, CEFPI (which has an excellent website) is more research-oriented and offers papers and pulications on trends in school design.” CEFPI knows that much of the work of its members will be directed at making the best use of available capital and operational dollars. Members are also focusing on maintaining communication between various levels of government. Meiklejohn noted, “There is also a trend to forming partnerships between school districts and municipalities to make efficient use of limited resources. Because the school-age population is shrinking in many parts of the province, a large number of school districts are coping with reduced funding and excess capacity, and all are exploring creative ways of dealing with these issues.” School Plant Officials Association of B.C. 41
