University of Alberta
ER-T2-6: Sustainability Events

The Office of Sustainability and other organizations on campus host many major events each year. Sustainability Awareness Week is one of many larger-scale sustainability-related events that fall within this credit category. Other examples include the Sustainability Speaker Series and the Student Sustainability Summit. For this credit, we have chosen to feature Sustainability Awareness Week (SAW) as it is one of the largest events of its kind at UAlberta. Every year, SAW demonstrates the diversity of sustainability-related activities and organizations on campus with the goal of educating and motivating our campus community to live a more sustainable lifestyle. This event provides thousands of participants the opportunity to become more aware of environmental, social, and economic sustainability issues, learn more about campus sustainability, and develop their sustainability skills. SAW is a week filled with dozens of events coordinated by many sustainability-related campus organizations. The University of Alberta’s sixth annual SAW took place October 21 to 25, 2013. This year, the Office of Sustainability partnered with 33 other university collaborators, and 9 outside organizations. With the collaboration of these partners and the assistance of two sponsors, SAW 2013 featured 56 events in 5 days across all UAlberta campuses. Activities highlighted how individuals can make a difference when it comes to sustainability both on and off campus. SAW 2013 engaged 9,325 people in event that included: - A farmers’ market - Tours of the Edmonton Waste Management Centre, Inuit Art Museum Exhibit and a net zero home - A sustainability fair - Tours of our campus' district energy system and green buildings - Free bike checks Another large, sustainability-related event is the University of Alberta’s annual Festival of Teaching. The festival is a year-round celebration of excellence and innovation in teaching. The theme for 2014 was sustainable teaching and learning. As an example of the various events and workshops hosted as part of this campus-wide event, Dr. Gary E. Machlis delivered a session in February entitled, "The Craft of Teaching Sustainability". Website: http://www.ctl.ualberta.ca/teaching-events/festival-teaching/2014-fot-events