| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.89 |
| Liaison | Jonathan Rausseo |
| Submission Date | Nov. 25, 2021 |
University of Ottawa
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Jonathan
Rausseo campus sustainability manager physical resources service |
Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
There are several groups on campus that work to support social and environmental issues. Notably, Climate Justice uOttawa (CJC UO) is a student run, non-profit grassroot organization aiming to achieve climate justice. CJC works hand in hand with local climate justice organizations as well as plans and attends strikes, walkouts and other awareness raising events.
Their goals include creating awareness of the climate crisis, educating students about plastic pollution, biodiversity decline on land and in the oceans, and the impact of agriculture as well as fossil fuels on the environment.
Does the institution have a garden, farm, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or an urban agriculture project where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The University of Ottawa, in collaboration with various groups across the campus, operates community gardens across campus. There was a total of 50 plots this past season and there are plans to expand next year. Plots are available to all faculty, staff, and students as well as community members.
The University of Ottawa also operates a CSA program through its Health Promotions Office. Students, staff, and community members can access a local organic food box and learn about the importance of such programs.
Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
POLY makes it possible for any community to make recycling a job creator, profit generator, and a beneficial piece of infrastructure. Through the use of their small-scale systems, anyone is able to start their own business selling products made out of recycled plastic.
POLY plastics: https://www.polyplastics.ca
Flirt Drinks Inc. is a company whose mission is to reduce food waste by using innovation to achieve its goals. By constantly creating new products based on leftover food, it democratizes the use of unsold food as a raw material in consumer products. By reusing unsold food, it drastically reduces the carbon footprint of the agri-food industry.
Flirt Kombucha https://en.flirtkombucha.com/en
SHYNE eyewear
From the start, SHYNE was built around the values of sustainability and transparency. They want to build a community of changemakers, who can move fashion forward into a sustainable future. Throughout the entire process, they are ethically and environmentally responsible with the goal of being entirely carbon neutral. Aside from their environmental goals, they want to help support the community. So $5 from every pair of glasses purchased goes directly to a local Ottawa charity.
https://shyneeyewear.ca/pages/about-us
Sprout is a social enterprise that addresses food insecurity in food deserts by stocking fresh produce and instructional meal kits in corner stores.
Sprout https://www.sproutott.ca/about-sprout-1
Does the institution have a sustainable investment fund, green revolving fund, or sustainable microfinance initiative through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
In 2019, the University of Ottawa created a Campus Sustainability fund:
This year, we have created a special 'Campus Sustainability Fund'. Money donated to this fund will go towards sustainable programs on campus, such as the Free Store, and sustainable infrastructure, such as community gardens.
Has the institution hosted a conference, speaker series, symposium, or similar event focused on sustainability during the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
There are several groups on campus who create conferences and events that focus on sustainability as the key discussion point or unifying factor. Some of these groups include the Smart Prosperity, Positive Energy, and the Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability.
Some recent events include...
Conference on water law and governance:
This conference examines the challenges and opportunities around the establishment of the Canadian Water Agency, in particular from the perspectives of social sciences. Four themes will be explored: Legal considerations for Canadian water governance, Mechanisms for Canadian water governance, International experiences in water governance, and Sectoral approaches in water resource protection. This bilingual and interdisciplinary event is organized by the Public Law Centre, the Centre on Governance, and the Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability at the University of Ottawa, with the support from the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue.
Carbon Pricing at the Supreme Court of Canada:
Professors from the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law and counsel representing parties before the Supreme Court will share their perspectives and insights on the oral arguments made before the Court in the Carbon Pricing Reference.
Greening Canada's future- Imagining the transition to more sustainable cities:
The population of Ottawa alone is expected to grow by almost half a million in the next twenty years (Ontario Ministry of Finance) taxing urban planners, policy-makers, and businesses alike with finding transformative and innovative solutions to sustainable urban development. Given that buildings consume almost 50% of all global resources, 40% of all produced energy and contribute approximately 40% of all carbon emissions globally (UN-EIEA, 2017), reimagining how neighbourhoods, and entire cities will be designed, planned and built will be crucial to Canada’s carbon reduction and mitigation efforts.
Has the institution hosted a cultural arts event, installation, or performance focused on sustainability with the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
Students from an engineering design course and a visual art course in sculpture make a sculpture together called Wave of Consciousness using plastic water bottles, chicken wire, with integrated LED strips and Arduino software to make it kinetic and interactive.
https://www.uottawa.ca/gazette/en/news/building-bridges-between-engineering-and-visual-arts
Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
uOttawa Outdoor Club
A UOttawa Club aimed at promoting the great outdoors through various outings, activities, socials and learning opportunities!
The Outdoor Club hosts a number of trips every semester, ranging from day trips to sugar-shacks and climbing gyms to multi-day hikes and paddles in Algonquin Park.
https://www.facebook.com/outdehors
Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
The Green Reps program is a program focused on engaging students in first year living in residences in sustainability programming. Students are offered monthly themed events focusing on sustainability (waste, sustainable transportation, sustainable food systems, etc...). The program is open to any first-year student.
All of the events are run with partnership organizations, such as the Students Union's Sustainability Centre, Food Services, and the Wellness Centre.
https://sustainable.uottawa.ca/green-reps
Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Student Life and Student Services organize several events each year called Envirodays that promote sustainable living, such as events with the uOttawa Free Store and talks on sustainable/ nutritional eating.
The University's Health promotion Team offers a bunch of great sustainability information that is relevant to students through their student ambassadors. They host plant workshops throughout the year, offer information about healthy nutrition options, fair trade options, and wellness activities.
The University offered a zero-waste workshop with NU-Grocery, a local Zero waste grocery store. Participants learn about zero-waste shopping tips and about waste in the food industry.
Several student groups focused on sustainability at the University, such as the Student Union's Sustainable Development Centre, provide resources on sustainable living to students through social media, resources documents, and events.
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
The Office of Campus Sustainability in collaboration with other Facilities departments offer student employment positions related to sustainability. Specifically, two coordinators are hired each semester to operate the Free Store along with a variety of other student positions related to environmental engineering or as a research assistant working on sustainability-themed research.
The department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics hired a Work Study student to write a carbon accounting report for the department in January 2021.
The Student Union also hires student coordinators to work in their Sustainability Centre, up to three during academic semesters.
https://sustainable.uottawa.ca/
https://www.seuo-uosu.com/services/sustainability/
Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
The students of the Telfer MBA program take the MBA Oath upon graduation. This oath states “I will conduct my activities in an environmentally sustainable manner, and will consider the true societal costs when making investment and operating decisions.”
https://telfer.uottawa.ca/assets/documents/2010/TelferMBAOath.pdf
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
The Office of Campus Sustainability also participates in the uOttawa 'Living Laboratory' program which connects courses at the university with hands-on projects on sustainability-themed challenges. These experiences contribute to student's co-curricular record with each student working approximately 30 hours per semester. The Office works with approximately 4 courses every semester.
https://sustainable.uottawa.ca/community-service-learning
Over the past 4 years, almost 500 students have received the UOGlobal recognition and built their learning for active global citizenship in this program on collaborative activities and discussions on the subject of SDGs and sustainability issues on campus and in the world. And our capacity building efforts to employees and faculty educator programs includes SDGs and sustainability at a percentage of around 10 % of covered subject matter
https://international.uottawa.ca/en/uoglobal/become-an-active-global-citizen
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Links to programs included in submission fields.
There is no link listing staff working at the Office of Campus Sustainability.
Lead for the uOGlobal program is Sylvie Albert (Lead, Internationalization and New Initiatives) salbert@uOttawa.ca
Links to programs included in submission fields.
There is no link listing staff working at the Office of Campus Sustainability.
Lead for the uOGlobal program is Sylvie Albert (Lead, Internationalization and New Initiatives) salbert@uOttawa.ca
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