Fleming College
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

Fleming College is a member of the Sustainable Peterborough Coordinating Committee https://sustainablepeterborough.ca/community-plan/, which is led by the Municipalities (City and County) and First Nations governments in the region. The work of Sustainable Peterborough covers planning, reporting, and policy advocacy for every aspect of sustainability (water, energy, economic development, land restoration, agriculture) in the area. The Steering Committee makes recommendations about priorities in each of these areas and oversees the reporting on actions to meet targets and goals through an Annual Report Card. http://sustainablepeterborough.ca. The committee makes presentations to the municipal councils to effect policy such as the City of Peterborough Climate Action Plan, setting targets for GHG reductions and City of Peterborough Climate Action Task Force (City of Peterborough). https://sustainablepeterborough.ca/projects/climate-change-action-plan/ccap-background/ Fleming College also participated as a member of the Steering Committee for the City of Kawartha Lakes Healthy Environment Plan and advocated for the inclusion of new technology (i.e. ground source heat pumps) for deep energy retrofits for the residential and ICI sectors, as part of this municipal plan. The plan was approved by Municipal Council in early 2019 and is the municipality's master policy plan for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The City of Kawartha Lakes Healthy Environment plan was approved by the municipal council https://lindsayadvocate.ca/kawartha-lakes-adopts-its-first-healthy-environment-plan/. The Director of Sustainability for Fleming College has been appointed by the College's executive (Vice President Academic) to participate in the Sustainable Peterborough and the Steering Committee for the City of Kawartha Lakes Healthy Environment Plan. Finally, Fleming's office of sustainability co-hosted a forum on March 2, 2019, with Kawartha World Issues Centre, Peterborough Green-Up and Sustainable Peterborough, of 90 participants including local government leaders (e.g. Mayor of the City Peterborough, Chair of the Board of Governors Fleming College, etc.) to identify local priorities for advancing the UN SDGs. This resulted in a local action plan of five priorities.

Fleming College was part of the Committee of Presidents of Colleges Ontario, which worked with the (former) Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change to identify areas where Colleges can support and advance the Provincial Climate Change Strategy and Legislation. One of the outcomes was that Ontario universities and colleges received funding under the Greenhouse Gas Campus Retrofit program in 2018. Through our OCUSP membership, Fleming College joins other colleges and universities in submissions under the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights legislation to the Ontario Government regarding legislation (e.g. the Waste-Free Ontario Act).

Fleming College joined SDSN (Sustainable Development Solutions Network) hosted by the University of Waterloo and Waterloo Global Science Initiative in 2018. SDSN Canada is part of a global SDSN movement to build a network of universities, colleges, research centers, and knowledge institutions to promote practical solutions for sustainable development. With over 850 participating institutions worldwide, SDSN members work together to support action-oriented research to address some of the world’s most pressing problems, including the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Fleming College is also a signatory to the Association of Community Colleges of Canada (now Colleges and Institutes Canada - CICan) Pan-Canadian Protocol on Sustainability. This is the national association for community colleges across Canada. http://www.accc.ca/wp-content/uploads/archive/pubs/2009_SustProtocol.pdf, and in 2017, a signatory to the CICan Pan-Canadian Indigenous Education Protocol, supporting Indigenous rights and respect of indigenous values and cultures.

Fleming College was a signatory to the Global Call to Action on Climate Change and joined with universities, colleges and student networks from around the world to recognize the vital role of post-secondary institutions in addressing climate change. An open letter was presented to Governments and Ministers gathering next week at the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP 21) meeting on climate change. The letter states that “We believe that our university and college members are pioneers and demonstrators in modeling and piloting effective climate and sustainable development practices.” The full text of the letter can be found here http://educationalliance.global. Fleming College is part of a UNU designated Regional Centre of Expertise in Sustainability Education for Peterborough Kawartha and Haliburton and joins other RCEs globally to advance the UN SDGs. An initiative of the United Nations University, there are 154 Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) on Sustainability Education around the world including 8 in Canada and 3 in Ontario (Toronto, Sudbury, and the Kawarthas). “RCEs” are networks of educational institutions, community, government, business and other organizations that work together to advance sustainability education. A “Centre” refers to an entire region designated as having expertise in sustainability education by the United Nations University. At the UN General Assembly's meeting on July 13th, 2017, member states formally recognized RCEs in having an important role in implementing sustainability education (under point 33).

https://www.collegesinstitutes.ca/policyfocus/indigenous-learners/protocol/