Executive Summary

The HIVE is evolving into the Hub for Innovation, Visualization, and Experimentation within the Faculty of Arts, expanding its role as a collaborative space for interdisciplinary learning, research, and creativity. Originally established in 2017 in the Faculty of Medicine, the HIVE has transitioned to Arts to serve as a central hub for experiential education, visualization-based problem-solving, and community-driven innovation.

The new vision for the HIVE is shaped by three core pillars:

Innovation that is human-centred – focusing on ethical, research-guided approaches to emerging technologies.
Visualization as a tool for transformation – using design, prototyping, and storytelling to enhance learning, research, and engagement.
Experimentation as a learning method – embracing iterative design, hands-on exploration, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Strategic Goals & Impact Areas

The HIVE aligns with the proposed Faculty of Arts' Strategic Plan 2025 through four primary impact areas:

Research & Creative Practice: Providing a space for student and faculty research that integrates prototyping, visualization, and digital experimentation.
Teaching & Learning: Supporting project-based and experiential learning across Arts disciplines, with flexible classroom integration and workshop facilitation.
Community Engagement: Partnering with Musqueam, UBC Library, Emerging Media Lab, student clubs, and external organizations to create meaningful, reciprocal collaborations.
Sustainability & Digital Transformation: Embedding accessibility, ethical technology use, and financial sustainability into the HIVE's operational model.

Planned Implementation Timeline

Spring 2025: Strategic planning with stakeholders, aligning with the Faculty of Arts' vision.
Summer 2025: Consultation with key partners (Musqueam, UBC Library, EML, CTLT, etc.) and Arts departments to refine the proposal.
Fall 2025: Funding applications (TLEF, SSHRC, donor engagement, etc.) to secure resources for the space, equipment, and programming.
Winter 2025-2026: Begin implementation, aligning with the approval of the Master of Biomedical Visualization and Communication program.

The HIVE will be a low-barrier, inclusive space—distinct from existing makerspaces on campus by prioritizing collaborative problem-solving, community-driven research, and interdisciplinary experimentation. Unlike fabrication-focused labs, the HIVE will emphasize visualization, emerging media, and experiential knowledge creation, making it a first-of-its-kind hub within Arts and UBC.

How to Navigate this Proposal Site

This proposal site is organized into six (6) sections, starting with an overview of the HIVE as it currently operates to provide relevant background information—Where are we coming from? Where are we now?—followed by our proposed vision and concept of how the HIVE might integrate meaningfully in the Faculty of Arts—Where are we going? What might we achieve?

At the bottom of each section are buttons to navigate forward to the next page or back to the previous page.

Since this proposal site is the final outcome of a graduate directed study project, the final section documents the learning artifacts that served as milestones in the overall process of this project. While these documents may provide interesting context, they are not essential for the purposes of this proposal site for the future of the HIVE in Arts.