Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 59.07
Liaison Matt Wolsfeld
Submission Date March 5, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Saskatchewan
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Matt Wolsfeld
Community Engagement Co-ordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is the institution an active member of a national or international sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Canadian Alliance of College and University Sustainability Professionals (CACUSP) Billion Dollar Green Challenge Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC)

Is the institution an active member of a regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):
Saskatchewan Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainability (RCE) Sustainability Education and Policy Network (SEPN)

Has the institution presented at a sustainability conference during the previous year? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):
1. Chopin, N. (2019, July). About the Sustainability Education Research Institute. Presentation to the 2019 delegation of the Royal Society of Canada, Saskatoon, SK. 2. McKenzie, M. (2019, July). Panel commentary on learning dimensions in ESD/GCED learning. UNESCO Forum, Towards a Just and Sustainable World, HaNoi, Vietnam. 3. Benavot, A. (2019, July). Cognitive, social and emotional, and behavioural learning in Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship from pre-primary to secondary education. UNESCO 2019 Forum on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship, Ha Noi, Viet Nam. 4. McKenzie, M. (2019, June). Tracking progress and reporting Action for Climate Empowerment implementation. UNFCCC 7th Dialogue on Action for Climate Empowerment, Bonn, Germany. 5. Malena-Chan, R. (2019). Narrative approaches to engaging with the climate crisis. SERI Talking Sustainability Seminar, University of Saskatchewan, SK. 6. * McKenzie, M. (2018, May). Sustainability in K-12 and higher education in Canada. Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) – Canada launch, plenary panel on ‘Education and training for sustainability,’ University of Waterloo, Ontario. 7. *Hargis, K. (2019, May). Practicing Climate Actions: A Practice Perspective on Climate Change Education. Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication 2019 Conference, Saskatoon, SK. 8. McKenzie, M., & Chopin, N. (2019, May) Sustainability education policy forum. Pre-conference workshop offered at the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication 2019 Pre-Conference, Saskatoon, SK. 9. McKenzie, M., *Stahelin, N., & Reid, A. (2019, April). Policy networking: Examining the social relations of global governance in ESE policy programs. Comparative & International Education Society, San Francisco, CA. 10. * Reid, A., & McKenzie, M. (2018, April). What matters in climate change education? American Educational Research Association, New York, NY. 11. McKenzie, M. (2019, April). Plenary session on “Environmental Education” and “Education for Sustainability”: Historical and Critical Perspectives. Comparative & International Education Society, San Francisco, CA. 12. Chopin, N., & McKenzie, M. (December 2018). Global climate change education monitoring. UNESCO Global Education Meeting, Brussels, Belgium. 13. * McKenzie, M., Hargis, K., Reid, A., Li, Y., & Monroe, M. (2018, October). Trajectories in climate change education and research. North American Educational Research Association Research Symposium, Spokane, Washington.

Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to a sustainability awards program that is inclusive of multiple campuses? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the awards program(s) and submission(s):
The May 2017 Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainability Recognition Event recognized the following U of S ESD programs and initiatives: University of Saskatchewan Students' Union Sustainability Committee (USSU) College of Agriculture and Bioresources Rooftop Garden Urban Agriculture Demonstration (College of Agriculture and Bioresources) The May 2018 Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainability Recognition Event recognized the following U of S ESD programs and initiatives: University of Saskatchewan Recycling Outreach and Communications Update (Office of Sustainability) Our Common Future: Undergraduate Symposium on Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan (Office of Sustainability and Undergraduate Environmental Programs Office) Louis' Campus Pub Sustainability Programme (Louis' Campus Pub - USSU) The May 2019 Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainability Recognition Event recognized the following U of S ESD programs and initiatives: University of Saskatchewan John Mitchell Building Solar Array (Office of Sustainability, ENVS 401 - Student Project, Infrastructure, Planning and Land Development) ECOHack - Environment and Sustainability Hackathon (Office of Sustainability, Undergraduate Environmental Programs Office)

Has the institution had staff, students or faculty serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):
Marcia McKenzie, a faculty member at the College of Education is the Executive Director of the Sustainability Education Research Institute (SERI) located at the University of Saskatchewan. The Office of Sustainability sits on the planning committee for the Saskatchewan Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainability (RCE) Recognition Event and Forum each May. Dwight Grayston (Facilities, Operations, and Maintenance) and Matt Wolsfeld (Office of Sustainability) serve as the Board Chair and Board Vice-Chair respectively for the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council. USOS, SENS and SERI co-hosted the 2015 RCE Recognition Event.

Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
No

A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:
---

Has the institution had staff, faculty, or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data (e.g. GHG emissions or course inventory) and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
No

A brief description of the peer review activities:
---

Has the institution participated in other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year, e.g. joint planning or resource sharing with other institutions? :
Yes

A brief description of other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year:
Sustainability Education Research Institute: (1) Academic partnerships with University of British Columbia, Dalhousie University, The Kings University, and international locations in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, The Netherlands, South Africa, the USA, and the United Kingdom; (2) Collaborative Journal with the Saskatchewan Outdoor and Environmental Education Association (SaskOutdoors) and the University of Regina Faculty of Education (3) Hosted the 2019 Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM) conference with the theme of “Action on Climate Change Through Education - Conference organizing committee comprised Nicola Chopin & Marcia McKenzie (SERI), Karen McIver & Leah Japp (SaskOutdoors), and Tim Straka & Adam Thomas Young (EECOM) (4) Partner on Student Action for a Sustainable Future, led by the City of Saskatoon, with partners including the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, Saskatoon Public Schools, Saskatoon Light and Power, and the Sustainability Education Research Institute (5) Developed the Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Change Education partnership, which brings together a team of 70 researchers, academic institutions, and organizational partners and collaborators including UNESCO, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Education, Environment and Climate Change Canada (6) Led successful application for UofS to become an Observer Organization under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Education in collaboration with President’s Sustainability Council School of Environment and Sustainability: SENS faculty have the opportunity to collaborate on projects with colleagues and supervise and work with students at MESPOM- affliated universities: (1) The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University (Sweden); (2) The University of Manchester (United Kingdom); (3) Central European University (Budapest); (4) University of the Aegean (Greece); (5) Monterey Institute for International Studies (USA). SENS has also partnered with the Faculty of Forest Sciences located at Swedish Univerity of Agriculture (SLU) to offer student exchange opportunities. In addition, SENS faculty and postdoctoral fellows are conducting research with SLU colleagues on sustainable forest management. University of Saskatchewan-Beijing Normal University joint Master of Water Security program: In 2019, the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment and Sustainability (SENS) formally established a Master of Water Security (MWS) program in China through a strategic partnership with Beijing Normal University (BNU). Students will be trained in science, engineering, and policy analysis to investigate water security and sustainability issues of regional, national and international significance through a holistic lens. Locally, the concept for such a partnership began as a joint initiative between SENS and the closely aligned Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS) – a Saskatoon-based, world-leading center focused on research that addresses climate change, flooding, and drought as well as the policies and social impacts of water management. This bilateral agreement between the USask and BNU partners together two of the top-ranked universities in the world for water research with world-leading experts in hydrology, toxicology, water policy, and resource management to achieve education, research, and sustainability goals common to all partners. Community Appropriate Sustainable Energy Security (CASES) Partnership: The Community Appropriate Sustainable Energy Security (CASES) Partnership is an international research initiative involving 15 northern and Indigenous communities and public and private sector project partners from Canada, Alaska, Sweden, and Norway. Hosted by the University of Saskatchewan, the overarching goal of the CASES initiative is to reimagine energy security in northern and Indigenous communities by co-creating and brokering the knowledge, understanding, and capacity to design, implement and manage sustainable renewable energy systems that support and enhance social and economic values. CASES is a partnership between USask and the following: • Alaska Village Electric Cooperative • Canadian Museum for Human Rights • Finnmark Kraft • First Nations Power Authority • Gwich'in Tribal Council • Lulea University of Technology • ONEC Construction Inc. • Peter Ballantyne Group of Companies • Saskatchewan Polytechnic • SaskPower • UiT Norway • University of Alaska Fairbanks • University of Winnipeg • Valard Construction LP Master’s Program in Energy Security: SENS is developing a distance-based Master’s in Energy Security degree program that is set to launch in September 2020. The Master’s in Energy Security courses, course content and delivery methods are a collaboration between USask, Yukon College, Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC), the North West Territories Power Corporation, and others. In addition to building capacity through education, the program will hire an Indigenous Project Coordinator, who will be the touchpoint for the north, ensuring the needs and values of Canada’s northern and Indigenous population is reflected throughout the duration of the project. Prairie Water Project: Prairie Water is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the USask Global Water Futures Program. It aims to develop knowledge and tools that address the water needs of our user community, and will co-generate usable knowledge to enhance resilience of prairie communities via sustainable watershed management. Work focuses on four themes (hydrology, groundwater, wetlands, and governance) and research questions are driven and informed by partners, including agricultural producers, watershed stewardship organizations, provincial water management agencies, industry, and urban, rural and Indigenous communities.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
http://www.seri.usask.ca/collaborations/academic-collaboration-opportunities.php

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.