Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 71.89
Liaison Isabel Savransky
Submission Date Nov. 14, 2023

STARS v2.2

Ontario Tech University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
City of Oshawa- Environmental Advisory Committee

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership?:
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:
Representatives from local community agencies, government and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology joined together to celebrate the official launch of the University-Community Link Unit (CLU). Unit will link researchers and community groups together to tackle local social problems. The CLU will be an ongoing initiative. This research unit was designed to develop and deliver relevant research allowing the group to work together and build a better Durham Region, Northumberland County and beyond. CLU is a campuswide organized research unit that conducts collaborative, interdisciplinary applied research with various stakeholders in Durham Region and Northumberland County to support the needs of those working to build sustainable communities and cities. Its goal is to help scholars, students and stakeholders to understand the dynamics of communities, cities, and regions while informing public policy at local, regional, provincial, national and international levels. The issues targeted include impact of climate change on watershed management, waste management, transportation, digital connectivity and more.

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Region of Durham- Participate in the DECC (Durham Environmental Coordinating Committee)

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
We have established a collaborative partnership with local government agencies and organizations whose goals align with Ontario Tech U sustainability strategic priorities. This includes collaborating for things such as Durham Region Smart Commute activities. Sustainability representatives have made measurable impacts by reaching out to the large student population through the Smart Commute activities by encouraging ride-sharing, cycling, walking and transit during the school day as well as for occasional trips. When a baseline of travel patterns needed to be established for the program, Ontario Tech U exceeded the target responses thereby providing a dataset of sustainable travel metrics, against which future CO2 reduction results can be measured. A brief description of the institution's transformative sustainability

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Ontario College and University Sustainability Professionals Board

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
We have a sustainability platform called "Go Green. Stay Blue" that serves to preserve the environment through initiatives to promote awareness and encourage environmentally safe practices. For example, giving away free water bottles on campus to students and staff so that less plastic bottles of water are bought. Ontario Tech U also supports community environmental health by providing free flu vaccinations at the Campus Health Center for all students.

A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
Partnership with the Region of Durham ( Smart Commute Durham); Partnership with Durham Feed the Need (St. Vincent Kitchen)

Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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