| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.93 |
| Liaison | Emily Zabanah |
| Submission Date | Feb. 1, 2024 |
Seneca Polytechnic
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.60 / 4.00 |
Wai Chu
Cheng Sustainability Specialist - Academics Office of Sustainability |
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement:
As a capstone project, a group of four students developed a proposal on creating the Sustainability Awareness Week that offers a series of outreach and education events to raise awareness on sustainability across the campus. The Sustainability Specialist was the client and provided the problem and guidance for the students who delivered a final report and presentation.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Public Engagement?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Public Engagement:
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Air & Climate?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Air & Climate:
In an eight-month long project, a group of six students is studying how much GHGs are being sequestered by the forests at the King campus. The results will inform Seneca's GHG emissions reduction plan. The students are putting together the project charter for the planning stage in the fall term before project implementation in the winter term.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Buildings?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Buildings:
Two groups of students are studying for their term projects the requirements for installing green roofs on three of the buildings at the Newnham campus. They will review the building features and assess them with the green roof technologies available in the current market.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Energy?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Energy:
In this solar panel study, the group of students is building a business case for the purchase, installation and maintenance of solar panels for the Markham campus. This will include an analysis of costs, the payback period and GHG emissions reduction.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Food & Dining?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Food & Dining:
A group of students is conducting a term project to use carbon footprint calculator to estimate carbon emissions from standard recipes in the Dining Services at the Newnham Campus. The information will be listed on the menu of the cafeteria to help people with making informed choices for the food items they are purchasing.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Grounds?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Grounds:
Students from the several courses, including Surveying, Introductory GIS, Advanced GIS, and Introduction to Remote Sensing, are participating through their class projects to create digital maps of campus outdoor areas including land cover and land use. Terrain analysis will be conducted to promote soil and water conservation.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Purchasing?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Purchasing:
A student is conducting a class research project to explore and propose effective strategies for improving Seneca's sustainability, from procurement policy to behaviour change for reducing paper consumption within Seneca. She is gathering the data records of Seneca's administration/printing services for the current paper consumption. Also, she is also investigating Seneca's initiatives and policies on paper reduction. Her proposal will provide recommendations on the sourcing of greener options on the types of paper.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Transportation?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Transportation:
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Waste?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Waste:
A student conducted a video class project entitled “Seneca sustainability on plastic bottles” for her course Advanced Media Production. She created a video highlighting the amount of used plastic bottles generated on campus daily, the proper recycling of the bottles and promoting the use of the water filling stations.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Water?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Water:
A group of students conducted a research project focusing on soil analysis to learn about how to improve the health of the Odeyto Garden run by our First Peoples’ office. The final report delivered in April 2023 included recommendations for controls of two major invasive species, solutions to improve soil drainage and aeration, a diagnosis of the causes of cedar plants browning and suggestions for growing tobacco.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning:
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance:
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
Website URL where information about the institution’s living laboratory program is available:
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.