Université de Montréal
EN-3: Student Life

The “Fédération des Associations Étudiantes de l’Université de Montréal” (FAECUM) has a social and environmental responsibility committee that provides many services to their members and actively promotes the ecological awareness in the University community. It organizes different events (such as annual Environment Week), provides washable dishes for events, offers compost services, manages repair work at the bicycle station, etc.
http://www.faecum.qc.ca/

The “Action Humanitaire et Communautaire” (AHC) organizes activities to engage and raise awareness of the social economy. In short, through their values this group promotes the empowerment and development of the community by providing the necessary support for the personal and professional development of members of the university community. Some of their activities include “Le Grand Bazar” (Second hand clothes sale) “Popotes communitaires” (Community and cultural cooking) and “Les paniers de noel” (Christmas food basket for the students in economic needs)
http://ahc.umontreal.ca/

The “Éco-leaders” have the role to exercise leadership related to sustainable development issues in his immediate environment. They are part of a network of people particularly concerned by environmental issues and want to provide solutions. Éco-leaders are the connection between the central actors of sustainable development on campus and the university community.
https://ecoudem.wordpress.com/

The acronym P.A.U.S.E. (which stands for Production Agricole Urbaine Soutenable et Écologique) means "Sustainable and Ecological Urban Farming"; its primary purpose is to give the University’s community the means to produce healthy food on campus while respecting the environment.

The project includes eight community gardens whose maintenance tasks and crops are shared by the volunteers (students and employees). Each of these gardens includes flowering plants that feed pollinators and gardeners who are encouraged to adopt environmentally friendly farming methods through training, group outings and community gardening sessions.
https://www.facebook.com/pause.udem/

Even before the construction of the MIL campus pavilions, the Ephemeral Projects were created on the site. From April to October, an unused portion of the site is the scene of educational and convivial activities: outdoor movie nights or concerts, ephemeral gardens, workshops on urban agriculture, guided tours and solidarity markets.

En Vrac is a non-profit organization managed by students who volunteer to offer organic staple foods (nuts, grains, dried fruits, flours, etc.) at the lowest possible cost, without packaging. It is located on the main campus.
(https://commandeenvrac.wixsite.com/accueil)

A multitude of student-run coffee exist on campus and many of them put in place sustainability initiatives. For example, they offer:
- Composting services
- Discounts for reusable mugs
- Products with compostable packages
- Fair-trade products

An explicit statement concerning sustainability is mentioned on their website (e.g. Vivarium, Café Acquis de droit).

The Fond Amelioration de la Vie Etudiante (FAVE; fund for the improvement of student life), offers funding for a large diversity of project including those related to sustainability. It aimed to improve student life at Universite de Montreal (typically funds project such as the revitalization of common spaces, student cafes and sustainable development initiatives).The FAVE is financed out of the student tuition fees (25$ per trimester with possibility of retracting).
The evaluation committee is joint between the Direction and students.
https://bourses.umontreal.ca

The "eco-responsible fortnight" is a 15-day event that happens in November where a series of events, conferences and activities around the theme of sustainable development take place.

Since 2016, this event is organized with the collaboration of student groups dedicated to sustainability in the affiliated schools, i.e. HEC Montréal and Polytechnique Montréal.
Most of these activities are free.
www.faecum.qc.ca/

Each year, the Cultural Activities of Student Services offer a program that invites political, environmental, social, cultural and artistic reflection through a unique vision of recognized or emerging filmmakers.

Because of sanitary measures, no events took place in 2020 and in 2021, cultural events were hold online.

AUT 2021:
Living large movie (by Flor Levasseur)
Free online broadcast to the entire community including employees (166 views and 313 downloads)

AUT 2022:
Animal movie by Cyril Dion,
In person, free screening for students. 2 days, 6 sessions up to 180 people each.

The university counts with a Biology Station in the Laurentians area (SBL). Covering an area of 16.4 km2, the territory of the SBL is located 75 km north of Montreal, in the heart of the Lower Laurentians. The territory has the status of a "projected" biodiversity reserve since 2009.

Each year, the station host teaching activities, scientific projects, business meetings and training sessions. Nine biology courses take place every year that include outdoor activities in their programs. The station is also available to students writing their thesis who wish to have access to natural and quiet environment during their writing process. All outdoor activities at the Biological Station follow the principles of the Leave No Trace program, as it is a protected area.

Classes that take place at the SBL: BIO6065/BIO3441/BIO6441/BIO2854/BIO3753/BIO3843/BIO2440/BIO2703/BIO2476/BIO2350

https://sbl.umontreal.ca/accueil/

Each year, the theme course EDD 6005-Knowledge mobilization addresses sustainable topics such as biodiversity, water preservation, governance, climate change, transportation, etc. The students are being proposed real issues on/off campus and are invited to produce posters that are later exposed in an event.

The group “Éco-leaders” offer a multitude of workshops DIY for different products:

Dishwasher liquid
Laundry
Tawashi (sponge)
Lip balm
Toothpaste
Beeswax wrapping
Deodorant

They also organize discussions on different subjects like:

Digital pollution
Greenwashing
Veganism
Zero waste

Other activities available to the students are: Winter’s bazar, projection of documentaries, conferences, cooking classes zero waste etc.

Also, each year an event is organized on the theme of fair trade as part of Fair Trade Canada's Fairtrade Campus certification

Students have access to a website where the different units of the institution and companies post their job offers.

Students can search through the job offers using fields of study (such as "Environment and Prevention") which include jobs related to the environment and sustainable development. Students can also create an alert related to this sector of activity.

The Sustainability Office, as well as other actors of sustainability on campus, use this service for its own job offers.

The Student Initiative Projects (PIE) aim to encourage and support the development of student projects at the Université de Montréal. The program is funded by the University’s Student Services and administered by the FAECUM (the federation of student associations). Sustainability-related projects are eligible for the program.

The Montreal Declaration for the Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence is the result of the work of a multidisciplinary and interuniversity scientific team based on a citizen and student consultation process with experts and stakeholders in AI development.

The Montreal Declaration for Responsible Development of artificial Intelligence is an initiative of Université de Montréal and follows three objectives:

1. Develop an ethical framework for the development and deployment of AI;

2. Guide the digital transition so that everyone can benefit from this technological revolution;

3. Open a space for national and international dialogue to collectively achieve an inclusive, equitable and ecologically sustainable development of AI.

The 25th Christmas Basket Campaign was launched this year.
The university community mobilize to raise money and non-perishable food to help UdeM students in need. The goal is to distribute 500 Christmas food baskets and collect $100,000.