McGill University
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

International: McGill is a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU), the UNESCO*-based worldwide association of universities. In 1990, McGill signed the Talloires Declaration. The secretariat of this interuniversity agreement is the University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF). The following year, McGill signed the Halifax Declaration. McGill is also a participating member in the Montreal Centre d'expertise régional en éducation en vue du développement durable of the United Nations University. McGill's Environmental Officer, Kathleen Ng, is also a member of the advisory council for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). National: Some McGill student groups are allied with the Sierra Youth Coalition (SYC), a youth-organized group that helps to foster linkages and communication between campus green movements across Canada. McGill student groups are also linked with regional and national university greening campaigns, such as Energy Action and the Climate Change Coalition. Provincial: McGill is an active member of the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec (CREPUQ) network, specifically, on the working group on the environment. McGill student groups have been allied with ENvironnement JEUnesse (ENJEU), a youth-led group which also acts to improve campus environments. Local: McGill works with local organizations such as Voyagez Futé re: transportation projects and both the Éco-Quartier Peter-McGill and the City of Montreal to coordinate greening projects in conjunction with the community, such as a clean-up of the Milton-Parc area. McGill had been a partner in the implementation of the municipal sustainable development plan since 2005. Of particular interest is the collaboration between the School of Urban Planning, School of Architecture, and local NGOs Santropol Roulant and Alternatives in the planting of a vegetable container garden on the rooftop of the Burnside garage (summers, beginning in 2007).