The Dream Lab: Cultivating Hope, Creativity, And Community

The Dream Lab seeks to bring together community engagement professionals in higher education dedicated to the belief that imagination and dreaming is not a luxury—it's a necessity. In a time when colleges and universities face profound challenges ranging from political polarization and declining enrollment to social unrest and institutional inertia, The Dream Lab provides space to step back, reflect, and dream forward.

Meeting monthly, the group creates a supportive and generative environment where members can engage in bold, aspirational thinking. Far from being a retreat from reality, our conversations aim to bridge theory and practice - the visionary with the practical: How might we center engagement in new ways? What does re-imagining a thriving campus-community relationship really look like? How can we remain hopeful when the work feels heavy?

By utilizing and weaving together readings, podcasts, strategies, personal stories, and dream-driven dialogue, The Dream Lab is a space for reimagining what’s possible in higher education, not just what’s feasible. We believe in the power of collective visioning and draw strength from one another’s creativity, resilience, and commitment to the public good.

Whether we're exploring practical optimism, radical hospitality, the power of quitting, democratic renewal, or futures pedagogy, The Dream Lab is a container to both hold and pour out possibilities. We don’t just ask what’s wrong with higher ed—we ask, what could be right? And how do we build toward it, together?

Join us OCCE and Campus Compact in the lab, where dreams are tested, shared, and set in motion.

Open to faculty, staff and students interested in moving community and civic engagement forward.

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