McGill University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Sustainability Literacy Questions
1. The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement included a commitment to prevent the average global temperature from increasing more than how many degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution levels?
• 0 degrees
• 2 degrees
• 4 degrees
• 10 degrees
• I do not know

2. In North America, which of the following would have the greatest impact on reducing your personal carbon footprint? Rank them according to impact (1=greatest impact; 4=least impact).
• Washing your clothes in cold water
• Eat a plant-based diet
• Avoid one round-trip trans-Atlantic Flight per year
• Upgrade incandescent light bulbs
• I do not know

3. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 interconnected categories that address the global challenges that human society faces, including those related to poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, peace, and justice. Which one of the following is not an SDG as defined by the United Nations?
• Zero Hunger
• Reduced Inequalities
• Climate Action
• Safe and Enjoyable Consumption
• I do not know

4. True or False: Fair trade is an approach to global trade aiming to ensure that producers in developing countries receive a fair price for their products.
• True
• False
• I do not know

5. True or False: The term “food desert” refers to any dry region unsuitable for farming.
• True
• False
• I do not know

6. According to the definition of the UN Global Compact, a social entrepreneur is defined as someone capable of:
• Creating and operating businesses with funds from non-profit organizations, without expecting to generate financial returns
• Creating and operating a charitable organization based on private funds
• Creating and operating businesses with a viable economic project that aims to achieve positive social and environmental goals
• I do not know

7. According to Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization, what percentage of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted annually?
• 58%
• 25%
• 13%
• 0%
• I do not know

8. Fill in the gap in McGill University’s land acknowledgement below:
“McGill University is on land which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the ____________ and Anishinabeg nations. We acknowledge and thank the diverse Indigenous people whose footsteps have marked this territory on which peoples of the world now gather.”
• Cree
• Abenaki
• Mi’kmaq
• Haudenosaunee
• I do not know

9. Which of the following statements about the relationship between environmental issues and socioeconomic issues are true:
• Statement 1: Wealthier people are disproportionately impacted by climate change because they are more likely to own properties and businesses that can be negatively influenced by water scarcity, vector-borne disease, and/or potential damage from storms and floods.
• Statement 2: People living in poverty are disproportionately impacted by climate change because they are more likely to live in areas threatened by water scarcity, vector-borne disease, and/or potential damage from storms and floods.
• Statement 3: People of all socioeconomic classes are equally impacted by climate change, but for different reasons.
• Statement 4: Environmental issues and socioeconomic issues are unrelated.
• None of the above
• I do not know

10. What is the objective of a “circular economy” model?
• To produce goods and services while limiting the consumption and waste of raw materials, water, and energy sources
• To reduce, reuse, and recycle
• To enable corporations to circulate their profits throughout their administrative units
• To produce as many products as possible
• I do not know

The literacy assessment was developed with STARS in mind; we repeated some questions from the Fall 2020 survey to be able to see if there was improvement within the cohort, or between cohorts. The questions are in some cases borrowed and/or adapted from similar surveys by participating STARS institutions (such as Concordia University in Montreal). The Fall 2020 survey contained 8 sustainability literacy questions and was combined with the sustainability culture assessment. The sustainability culture assessment has been ongoing annually since 2019.

Sustainability Literacy Quiz 2022
Fielding: November 10 - December 3, 2022
Sample: The survey was sent by the Analysis, Planning and Budget office via email to 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students in credit-bearing programs, i.e.:
- Bachelors, including Professional Programs
- Masters
- PhD
- Certificates and Diplomas
Excluded from the sample were:
- Students on a leave of absence
- Exchange/Visiting/Special/Quebec Inter-University Transfer students
The response rate was 17% or 1,198 out of 7,000 students.

Survey Goals:
• Informally examine how students’ knowledge of sustainability issues have changed over time
• Increase STARS score in AC 6 Sustainability Literacy Assessment by performing a follow-up assessment of the same cohort of students

Sustainability Survey 2020:
Fielding: November 23 - December 14, 2020
Sample: The survey was sent by the Analysis, Planning and Budget office via email to 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students in credit-bearing programs, i.e.:
- Bachelors, including Professional Programs
- Masters
- PhD
- Certificates and Diplomas
Excluded from the sample were:
- Students on a leave of absence
- Exchange/Visiting/Special/Quebec Inter-University Transfer students
The response rate was 11% or 1,132 out of 10,000 students.

Methodology:
• Analysis, Planning and Budget administered 2 surveys on behalf of MOOS: one in Fall 2020 and another in Fall 2022. The literacy assessment was combined with the annual sustainability survey in 2020; in 2022, the literacy assessment was administered as a stand-alone survey/quiz.
• Each assessment included questions from 4 categories: the 3 pillars of sustainability, i.e., social, economic, and environmental, as well as questions that cover all 3 pillars, i.e., the Sustainable Development Goals
• The 2020 literacy assessment consisted of 8 questions, 2 questions per category
• The 2022 survey included 10 questions, where the category breakdown was as follows:
o Social sustainability: 4 questions (40%)
o Economic sustainability: 3 questions (30%)
o Environmental sustainability: 2 questions (20%)
o All pillars: 1 question (10%)
• 5 of the 8 2020 questions were repeated in the 2022 assessment
• We also asked about students’ involvement in community service and/or volunteer activities, to collect data for STARS category EN 13 Community Service
• Each survey was in the field for 3 weeks to a month
• Each survey offered gift-card raffle prizes as an incentive to participate

Key Results:
• There was a 5.5% increase in the overall average of correct answers between the 2020 and 2022 assessments:
o Average percentage of correct answers (2020): 55.4%
o Average percentage of correct answers (2022): 60.9%
• Students improved most significantly in the economic sustainability questions
• There was a 6.8% increase in performance on the five recurring questions from 2020
• There was an 8% decrease in the average response of “I don’t know” from 2020
• Despite the widespread posting of the Indigenous land acknowledgement on McGill websites and elsewhere, only 55% of students answered the fill-in-the-blank land acknowledgement question correctly.
• 40% of respondents participated in some hours of community service/volunteer activities
• 480 students contributed approximately 1145 hours of community service, an average of 2.4 hours per respondent