Seneca Polytechnic
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Seneca offers the annual PRME Applied Research Conference during the summer. PRME stands for Principles for Responsible Management Education and Seneca is a signatory of the global initiative supported by UN. Through participating in this event, students develop leadership skills and create applied research business projects balancing economic, environmental and social goals.

The first year’s conference was held in 2022 online. Its goal was to advance the UN SDGs through applied research and collaboration with industry and community partners. The projects covered various disciplines including aviation, business management, hospitality and tourism, finance and accounting and legal, public and office administration.

The second year’s conference was held in 2023 as an in-person event. The theme of Sustainable Management covered the domains of Food, Buildings and Carbon Accounting and other Sustainable Business-related topics.

As the incentives for participating and presenting in this conference, students receive recognition through the annual report to UN PRME shared through the Seneca Business channel and the wider PRME community. They also receive a Seneca Business PRME Reward and Recognition certificate. As well, they receive mentorship and get networking opportunities with other researchers, educators and industry partners during the event.

Numerous faculty and students took part in the first year. The second year attracted a wide array of participants including domestic and international researchers.

Seneca offers an Applied Research Fund (ARF) within which sustainability research is an eligible research focus. Seneca faculty from multiple disciplines or academic programs can apply to receive funds ($15,000/project) through this program to conduct research.

In the last three years ten projects have been awarded through the ARF out of which eight projects were related to SDG goals. Two of these eight projects yielded results that have prompted a need for further research, where the Seneca faculty and the external partners are now developing larger research proposals for submission to granting agencies.

Seneca Libraries has transitioned to a 96% digital collection. With a current collection of more than 187 databases, more than 578,000 eBooks, 100,000 steaming videos and 50,000 print resources, Seneca Libraries collection is well established to respond to the demand for sustainability research. Searches conducted through the Seneca Libraries AskUs service, indicate numerous questions received on sustainability issues, across a wide variety of subject areas, from students working on academic assignments.

Within many of the 78 Seneca Libraries research Subject Guides, created using LibGuides by Springshare, are links to specific sustainability resources. Several examples of Subject Guides highlighting sustainability resources include Environmental Sciences, Fashion and Business. Seneca Libraries also offers a focused Sustainability subject guide, which was created in collaboration with Seneca’s Office of Sustainability. It features a selection of library & online resources on sustainability topics. This guide serves as a starting point for researching and learning about sustainability topics.

Librarian Liaisons work closely with faculty to support curriculum development and highlight text and media resources which complement and enhance research, beyond prescribed texts. Course lists of online resources can be created in the library’s Leganto system and then integrated into the course in Seneca's learning management system for 24/7 access online. Librarians also consult with faculty on the availability of open educational resources for alternatives to textbooks and other course materials. This means that students can avoid the expensive costs of purchasing textbooks.

Asynchronous learning modules are built to support multimodal and hybrid teaching and learning, in collaboration with the Teaching and Learning Centre, enabling research access to resources 24/7. Examples include our digital literacies Sandbox and our faculty Open Educational Resources Guide to promote improved access to resources as well as less paper and less expenditures for textual resources. Seneca Archives plays a role in supporting sustainability research, through specialized collections and liaison work that identifies, preserves and makes available for use, the documentary heritage and special collections of Seneca Polytechnic. This service collects inactive records of long-term educational and informational value produced by the departments and faculties of Seneca, as well as the records of individuals and organizations closely associated with the institution. The Archives' resources are open to the Seneca community and external users for the purposes of research, teaching, publication and general interest. Seneca Libraries Digital Repositories, include digitized samples of student work from multiple programs, the School of Fashion extensive collection as well as a unique art collection and photo stock.

Seneca Libraries, through leadership and collaboration with the Colleges Ontario Libraries (CLO) provincial consortium, has introduced The Learning Portal, providing easy, 24/7 access to an additional wide array of resources to support research across the Ontario community colleges. Seneca Libraries' vision, mission and values, support the overarching strategies and objectives found in Seneca’s 2017-2022 Strategic Plan, including to promote sustainable literacy through multiple innovative services and collaborative partnerships.