Concordia University
EN-1: Outreach and Communications
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.50 / 5.00 |
Christian
Favreau Sustainability Engagement Assistant Office of Sustainability |
1.1 Sustainability outreach and communications
Website URL of the institution’s central sustainability website:
Does the institution integrate sustainability information into the educational offerings or materials provided during new student orientation or the equivalent?:
Narrative outlining how sustainability information is integrated into new student orientation or the equivalent:
Representatives from the Office of Sustainability are present at student orientation events each term as well the bi-annual Open House for prospective students. Residence students also receive sustainability information in their orientation package
Does the institution integrate sustainability information into the educational offerings or materials provided during new employee orientation or the equivalent?:
Narrative outlining how sustainability information is integrated into new employee orientation of the equivalent:
The Introduction to Sustainability for Employees online training is an entry point to support staff and faculty as they begin to understand what the university is doing to support sustainability and how they can be involved. The training is available on Concordia Learning Management System (LMS).
Does the institution have dashboards and/or signage highlighting the institution’s sustainability features or performance?:
Description of the institution’s sustainability dashboards and/or signage:
Concordia has installed a number of plaques in its major buildings that highlight building history and features. Most recently, the university is opting for digital content, including promotional screens on campus, which highlight current sustainability features and milestones reached. These screens can be found all throughout our campuses.
Does the institution manage a sustainability-focused social media account, newsletter, blog, online community, podcast, video series, or equivalent communications medium or platform?:
Description of and/or website URL for at least one sustainability-focused communication medium or platform:
Concordia has a number of communications outlets dedicated to sustainability: https://www.instagram.com/cusustainabilityoffice/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/office-of-sustainability-concordia-university/, https://www.facebook.com/cusustainabilityoffice/, https://www.concordia.ca/sustainability/newsletter.html
Has the institution coordinated one or more sustainability-focused outreach campaigns during the previous three years?:
Description of sustainability-focused outreach campaigns from the previous three years:
Concordia's Fairtrade campaign: Concordia has been running a university-wide Fairtrade campaign based on ethical procurement and sustainability. Thanks to the campaign, today fair-trade coffee, tea and sugar are required in all food service contracts and encouraging independent food vendors on campus to switch to fair-trade products. Across campus, fair trade is embedded in everyday choices. Dining halls and cafes offer exclusive fair-trade coffee and tea, bananas and chocolate products. Popular cafes like the on-campus Starbucks and Van Houtte offer fair-trade coffee. The university’s Fair Trade Tuesdays initiative has become a favourite event, where buying a fair-trade baked good from a Concordia Food Services location gets customers a free cup of Stingers Roast. Concordia store locations also carry fair trade–certified merchandise, such as t-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, tote bags and Camino products like chocolate bars and hot chocolate. Most recently, the campaign launched Stingers Roast Coffee in 2022, which is sourced from women-owned cooperatives in Nariño, Colombia, and served across all our campus locations.
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
1.2 Percentage of campus stakeholders reached through sustainability outreach and communications
Percentage of campus stakeholders reached through sustainability outreach and communications:
Approach used to determine the percentage of campus stakeholders reached:
Description of the methodology used to determine the reach of the institution’s sustainability outreach and communications:
Meta Business Suite and LinkedIn analytics from the last month divided by 30 days to give a daily average; aggregated open rate metrics from Selligent for both the sustainability-specific newsletter and for sustainability content in the general university bulletin.
Breakdown: Daily average of 655 people reached on Instagram and LinkedIn; 71.2% open rate for our monthly newsletter with 1,500 subscribers; Concordia NOW bulletins: faculty/staff (7,000) 0.88% reach, graduate student (9,650) 0.17% reach, undergraduate student (35,795) 0.1% reach; collaborative post with Concordia alumni account for used book fair with 167K views (304% reach) - all of these results have been aggregated
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
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.