Concordia University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

1- August 2020 Wastescapes course: This course was developed and funded through the Wicked Problem program. The objective of offering wicked problem courses is to provide students with high-impact forms of experiential, collaborative, and transdisciplinary learning that integrates theoretical understanding and practical experience.
Short description of Wastescapes course: What values and practices shape waste production and reduction in Montreal today? In urban cities, waste is largely out of mind and out of site and yet the accumulation of unprocessed waste is a looming public-health crisis and a major contributor to climate change. Wastescapes is a seven-day, interdisciplinary bike tour across Montreal to gather knowledge, increase visibility and strengthen public understanding around emergent best practices in waste management and reduction. Students will bike and camp together to daily sites, while developing a repertoire of skills and network of contacts in the field.

2- At the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability (LCDS), the minor in sustainability studies offers a courses that involve an internship experience. LOYC 420 Integrative Project is a course that focuses on the conceptualization of cross-disciplinary inquiry and the problems of interdisciplinary communication. The role of discipline-based and cross-disciplinary research is studied. A brief intellectual history of discipline-formation and emerging interdisciplinary fields is discussed. One contemporary global issue will usually be discussed in detail in this context. There are two options for this course: the internship option and the research project option. For the first, students complete 120 hours of an approved internship and some related work in class. For the second, students complete a major research paper. Rebecca Tittler, Coordinator for LCDS and faculty member, coordinates internships and matches students to internship opporunities at Concordia and outside the university. For example, students can intern at Concordia University's Creative Center for Resuse.

3- Summer school course "Accelerating societal transformation": Next-Generation Cities Institute is partnering with CIRODD for the first Summer School on Societal Transformation held from July 27 to August 27, 2021. This is a Concordia University-accredited course. A Concordia Continuing Education training certificate will be provided to professionals. A great opportunity to actively integrate SDGs into your projects and strengthen your multi-sectoral collaborative approaches. The School’s objective is to develop key competencies for the achievement of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the municipal level for up to 50 change driven leaders drawn from both the public and private sectors. The training program spans over three phases for a total duration of 45 hours.
Participants will be working with other committed professionals and graduate students from Quebec and Canada concerned with local responses necessary in civil society. They will help craft solutions that are to be applied to real-life community challenges and:
- Actively integrate SDGs in their projects;
- Discover innovative tools and strategies;
- Develop their knowledge and apply their expertise through inspiring case studies;
- Reinforce multi-sectoral collaborative approaches at various scales;
- Generate collective intelligence;
- Exchange in dialogue about best practices and share expertise and resources;
- Collaborate in the development of a community of practice to contribute to the socio-ecological transition.

https://wastescapes.com/app/

https://www.concordia.ca/academics/undergraduate/calendar/current/sec31/31-525.html

https://cirodd.org/0xpy9dRy/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SUMMER-SCHOOL-FOR-SOCIETAL-TRANSFORMATIO1-final-5mars2021.pdf

https://www.concordia.ca/research/cities-institute.html