| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.00 |
| Liaison | Jessica Krejcik |
| Submission Date | Dec. 22, 2021 |
Concordia University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Cassandra
Lamontagne Sustainability Coordinator Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:
The Sustainability Governance Framework is composed of the Sustainability Steering Committee and of three sub-committees.
Sustainability Steering Committee:
- Key functions: strategic planning, policy development, resource allocation, compliance, reporting.
Operational and Environmental Sustainability Sub-Committee:
- Key functions: space usage, resource consumption, environmental sustainability, environmental safety.
Community Engagement Sub-Committee:
- Key functions: community engagement, community relations, social communication systems.
Teaching, Learning and Research Sustainability Sub-Committee:
- Key functions: coordinate teaching, learning and research sustainability activities, prioritize initiatives.
In 2018, five additional committees were struck to develop each of the five Stream Plans included in our Sustainability Action Plan: Food, Waste, Climate, Research, and Curriculum.
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
See the membership of each committee of the Sustainability Governance Framework in the URL below.
Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent employee?:
A brief description of each sustainability office:
The Office of Sustainability at Concordia University was officially created as a separate entity within the Office of Environmental Health & Safety in Spring 2019.
Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
In 2013, members of the President’s Executive Group of Concordia drafted a Sustainability Governance Framework to provide strategic direction in integrating sustainability within the university’s decision-making process.
In 2014, the Sustainability Governance Framework created and approved the University's official definition of sustainability on campus (see http://www.concordia.ca/about/sustainability/strategic.html)
In 2016, the Sustainability Governance Framework with input from a community consultation process created and approved the University's official sustainability policy (see https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/common/docs/policies/official-policies/BD-7.pdf).
In 2017, the Sustainability Governance Framework planned a community consultation process to identify the five key topics to address in our sustainability action plan.
In 2018-2020, the Sustainability Governance Framework oversaw the development and launch of the sustainability action plan. This included another community consultation.
The Office of Sustainability coordinated all these processes related to the development and launch of the Sustainability Action Plan over this same time period. In addition, the Office has:
- launched the student Sustainability Ambassadors program
- launched the Living Planet @ Campus program, in partnership with WWF-Canada
- launched the Sustainability Living Lab, in partnership with the Sustainability Action Fund
- launched a new student scholarship for leadership in environmental sustainability, in partnership with Alumni & Advancement and using funds from the Shuffle for the Climate team in 2019
- continued to select and celebrate Concordia’s Sustainability Champions on an annual basis
- continued to coordinate important sustainability events like Earth Day, Sustainability Week, and Mon Campus à Vélo
- submitted to important sustainability assessments such as STARS and Vélosympathique
- provided sustainability support to committees, student groups, faculty departments, and staff units throughout the university
Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
The Sustainability Coordinator serves as a facilitator in integrating sustainability into the University’s operations and academics, acting through a collaborative process involving staff, students, faculty and administrators towards making Concordia a more ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable institution and campus community. The incumbent is responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining sustainability programs and plans encompassing various areas of the organization and its environment in line with the sustainability policy.
Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
The Sustainability Analyst is responsible for the majority of sustainability assessment at the University. They are responsible for the planning, coordination, and execution of research and reports that serve to assess the sustainability situation of the University, provide recommendations for improvement, satisfy regulatory reporting, keep abreast of regulatory requirements, and evaluate upcoming sustainability priorities from the University community.
Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
The Sustainability Ambassadors Coordinator is responsible for developing and managing the Student Sustainability Ambassadors Program (currently in place) and the Faculty / Staff Sustainability Ambassadors Program (in development). The coordinator provides training and support to student sustainability volunteers, provides development support to sustainability campaigns seeking volunteers, nurtures peer to peer education capacity, and report back on the success of the program and recommendations for future improvement. As coordinator of the Faculty/Staff Sustainability Ambassadors Program they work with the Sustainability Coordinator to develop a training and participation framework that would allow faculty and staff to support the adoption of the sustainable office guide, sustainable event certification, sustainability action plan, and more into their department.
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.