MacEwan University
EN-3: Student Life

The Sustainable MacEwan University (SMU) student club was established in 2013. This group aims to engage MacEwan University students, staff, faculty, and community members in fostering the integration of knowledge and issues related to sustainability into the university’s education, operations, and planning processes. This club provides members the opportunity to experience sustainability through an active learning process, allowing members to develop skills needed to become agents of the change in their communities. In its first year of operations, SMU successfully applied for funding for two initiatives: Re-Love Market and Sustainable Business Week. IncrEDIBLE Campus: This student club works to promote awareness of food production on campus and establish partnerships with like-minded community groups. They promote the three pillars of the Campus Sustainability Plan and address sustainability through campus food production. ENACTUS MacEwan Club: This group is dedicated to mobilizing university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders and to create a better world through the positive power of business. The Sustainable Campus International Competition at MacEwan University is led by the ENACTUS MacEwan Club.

• Hosted the first Sustainability in Practice event, Who Will Speak for the Earth, with 100 registered participants in attendance and 50 postcards being sent to Premier Redford as an action piece on environmental priorities for Alberta. (September 27, 2012) • As part of Waste Reduction Week MacEwan Sport and Wellness hosted a display for Greys Paper Recycling Industries Ltd. and collected used white cotton and denim. (October, 2012) • Hosted For the Love of Waste Expo with an estimated 500 community members browsing the displays. Sponsored by Global Electric Electronic Processing (GEEP), in partnership with Students' Association of MacEwan University (SAMU), over 100 donations culminated in 304kg of electronic waste diverted to reuse and recycling and $1,000 in prizes being awarded. Ten lucky individuals took part in an interactive bus tour of the Edmonton Waste Management Centre. (November, 2012) • Supported ConFORT proposal and hosted playful fort building installations on campus and across the City of Edmonton using MacEwan University discarded furniture. (November, 2012) • Launched Earth Common Journal, Voice of Change, as part of the Sustainability in Practice series with 100 guests in attendance and keynote speaker Chris Benjamin, author of Eco Innovators. (September, 2013) • Attracted over 300 community members at the Build Buy Reno Retro event in partnership with the City of Edmonton, who launched its “Green Guide” for homes, with Mayor Don Iveson speaking at the event. (November, 2013) • Hosted “Business as Unusual” event highlighting responsible business in partnership with Net Impact Professional Edmonton, with keynote Jane Bisbee, executive director of Social Enterprise Fund. (November, 2013) • In partnership with Earth Common Journal and the School of Business UN PRME Regional Meeting, hosted Sustainability 3.0, a pre-conference event with Dr. Robert De Vrind, Senior Advisor for Sustainability at the Koning Willem I College in the Netherlands. The event was sold out with 100 registered guests who also participated in an interactive session on cradle-to-cradle product re-design. (June, 2013) • Supported the activities and promotion of Edmonton Environment Week, and in partnership with Bullfrog, hosted Sustainable business, good citizen: the next level of engaging consumers and creating change event with 40 registered participants. (June, 2013)

At the Earth Common Journal launch 2014 "Everyday Activism", students presented to fellow students and other attendees hip-hop performances on the topics of diversity and food systems. These students are involved in cultural sustainability research focusing on the impact of emerging technologies for music learning, the transformation of national culture to culture as commodity, and the social and economic transformations of the globalization of cultural products.

Students' Association of MacEwan University (SAMU) host the annual sustainability festival "Common Ground" which features activities such as build your own worm-composting unit; a farmers’ market advocating local organic products; bicycle repair workshops; a free store promoting reuse; and do-it-yourself stations for tea, bath salt, and cleaning products.

The Sustainability Assistant is a temporary part-time position that assists the Office of Sustainability in the development and implementation of the strategic efforts aimed at enhancing sustainability within residence at the University. The Sustainability Assistant has the opportunity to engage students in activities that will increase awareness and capacities for reducing environmental impacts whilst living in residence. The Sustainability Assistant is also responsible for researching and providing recommendations for other greening opportunities in residence. The Sustainability Assistant is hired on a 6 month term and must be a current MacEwan University student.

The Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the Students' Association of MacEwan University (SAMU) offers an opportunity for students to gain skills in project management, communications, international relations and leadership by supporting the delivery of Green Impact as volunteer Green Impact Consultants (GICs). GICs are matched with teams of staff and faculty and help them complete the sustainable criteria (i.e., actions) in their online Green Impact toolkits.