| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79.01 |
| Liaison | Lindsay Walker |
| Submission Date | Feb. 14, 2023 |
Humber College
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Lindsay
Walker Sustainability Manager Facilities Management |
Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Enactus is a global non-profit that provides students with the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship through a low-risk experiential learning platform. The team is made up of student, administrative, and industry leaders who are looking to solve our community's biggest problems through the use of innovative business principles.
Humber College’s Enactus group is composed of student entrepreneurs who design and execute projects that aim to create a positive and sustainable impact on the lives of people through social innovation. Enactus is driven by a single goal; to support young students realize their entrepreneurial dreams while giving them a firsthand experience working with diverse communities. They believe that we need to reflect the diverse demographics of the city of Toronto in order to tackle a wide range of social issues. More information can be found here: https://enactushumber.wixsite.com/website
Does the institution have a garden, farm, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or an urban agriculture project where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The college has an organic garden and greenhouse that use organic gardening techniques. Plants are raised without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilizers and biodegradable waste is composted. The garden and greenhouse serve as a learning lab for students in the horticulture and landscaping programs. Students from any program that wish to pursue projects that require the use of the garden and/or greenhouse are welcomed to go through an open application process to gain access to the facility. The school also recruits students from the college-at-large to work in the maintenance of the vegetable and ornamental gardens. More information can be found here:
https://humber.ca/arboretum/explore/gardens-botanical-collections/food-garden.html
Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
Longos Faculty of Business runs Gourmet Express, a student-run café that features freshly made soup, salads and meals prepared by students at the culinary school. There are a wide variety of food options available offered a wide variety of food options weekly to the Humber community at a affordable price. The Gourmet Express is also priorities sustainability, by offering Fairtrade coffees, sustainably sourced tea, and plant-based meal options. The Gourmet Express also supports local food by offering ‘farm to table’ style dishes, as meals sold are prepared with food from Humber’s Food Learning Garden when seasonally available. More information can be found here:
https://hrt.humber.ca/food-fitness-services/hungry/gourmet-express.html
Does the institution have a sustainable investment fund, green revolving fund, or sustainable microfinance initiative through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
Has the institution hosted a conference, speaker series, symposium, or similar event focused on sustainability during the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
During Earth Month, Humber’s Office of Sustainability organizes an annual Humber Earth Week filled with events for students, staff and faculty to raise awareness, engage and learn more about sustainability and appreciation for the environment. Humber’s Office of Sustainability and campus partners hosted several events, activities and contests that highlighted sustainability at Humber during the month of March. One of the events include “Youth in Action”: a sustainability networking and storytelling event connecting youth-led sustainability organizations with students from Ontario. This event was hosted in partnership with the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo.
Humber students run an annual Fairtrade Week full of events engaging the campus community around Fairtrade products.
Has the institution hosted a cultural arts event, installation, or performance focused on sustainability with the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
Humberthropocene
Initiated by Humber Galleries in partnership with the Humber Office of Sustainability, Humberthropocene (a play on the term "Anthropocene") is a mural assemblage led by Toronto-based environmental artist Anya Mielniczek and co-created by Humber College community members in 2020. It was made by painting on top of discarded waste, produced by programs and activities at Humber’s Lakeshore and North campuses, collaged onto circular panels. The circles represent the planet Earth and our circles of life while the attached Humber garbage encourages us to reflect on how pollution now infiltrates all locations and levels of life from the local to the global. The dominant use of red recalls heat and the urgent climate crisis facing our planet. You can check out this art piece here: Humberthropocene | Humber Galleries
Pop-Up Green Space
In partnership with Lakeshore Interpretive Centre and Office of Sustainability, a pop-up green space was created. This space is open to everyone to enjoy for the entire month of October 2020 in the L Building in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month.
Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Two-Eyed Land Based Play and Co-Learning course helps connect early childhood educators, children, and their families with nature and help foster life-long respect for the land. This course supports the growth of respectful and responsible relationships with places, plant life and animals for the benefit of all. This course follows the “Leave No Trace” Principles.
Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Humber’s innovative Global Citizenship Certificate (GCC) prepares students for engaged living in a culturally diverse and rapidly changing world. Through a combination of academic courses, travel experiences and extra-curricular activities, students gain a highly valued global perspective, deepen their understanding of human diversity, interconnectedness, and cultural complexity and enhance their sense of personal and community responsibility.
The Global Citizenship Certificate is a free cross-college, multi-disciplinary program designed to accommodate currently enrolled students from all Academic Schools. Envisioned as a "global backpack" or a set of courses and experiences that students can fit into your current studies, the program requires them to examine the questions of meaning and value associated with the theme of citizenship within today's global world.
Once successfully completing the program requirements, students are awarded a Certificate of Completion in Global Citizenship. They exit with an e-portfolio documenting global skills, knowledge and experiences to share with potential employers and/or community of professional interest.
GCC Program offers a variety of courses that teach students about Sustainable Development Goals such as Introduction to Global Citizenship, Citizen at Humber, Citizen of the World and Global Studies Courses. The Citizen of the World course, for example, introduces the topics of culture and identity, guided by the Iceberg Concept of Culture, Hofstede’s theory of Cultural Dimensions and Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. Learners will explore topics relevant to understanding the spectrum of identity, uncovering implicit bias, awareness of issues related to equity and inclusion, and community engagement in a culturally diverse and interdependent world.
More information can be found here: https://humber.ca/global-opportunities/global-citizenship.html
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
Humber's Office of Sustainability employs 2-3 students throughout the year to assist with social media, communications, events, graphic design.
The Humber Arboretum employs both regular staff and work-study students for positions in areas such as horticulture, landscaping, nature education, events management, communication, and administration.
Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
The Co-Curricular Record (CCR) is an official institutional document of skill development outside of the classroom. It's an easy way to show all the Co-Curricular experiences students have completed at Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber and have them recognized on an official record.
Experiences range from:
- Paid Positions
- Volunteer opportunities,
- Workshops,
- Conferences,
- Trainings, and more.
Students can present their official record to future employers and other post-secondary institutions to highlight the out-of-classroom skill development they have engaged in during their academic career.
When CCR experiences are put into the program, the lead staff member must identify what competencies are learned/used during that experience. There are three competencies that have a sustainability focus:
- Sustainability
- Global Citizenship
- Social Responsibility & Civic Engagement
During 2021/22, there were 182 experiences within the CCR that included at least one of the above three competencies related to sustainability. More information can be found here: https://humber.ca/student-life/ccr/
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.