Western University
EN-2: Co-Curricular Activities

https://westernusc.ca/services/envirowestern/

-          EnviroUSC (formerly EnviroWestern) is a University Students Council student service that actively promotes environmental sustainability at Western. This student group seeks to make Western a more sustainable campus by leading events and initiatives that enhance student awareness of environmental issues on campus, incentivize student behaviour change, and provide a network for students to address their sustainability concerns on campus and in the community.

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https://sustainability.uwo.ca/get_involved/riverfest/index.html

RiverFest is an annual event that takes place through the month of September with a goal of connecting students and our campus community with the river that flows through campus and connects us with the broader community. It is a collaborative initiative co-led by the Office of Sustainability, Indigenous Students Association, and Indigenous Student Centre. RiverFest features a month-long series of events and activities to connect with water and the river; such as: River Through Your Eye photo contest, art exhibitions, wellness walks, Water Walk, paint night, bioblitz, river clean-up, and more.

https://sustainability.uwo.ca/get_involved/western_sustainability_leaders_program.html

The Western Sustainable Leaders Program (WSLP) is a way for students to engage with sustainability throughout the year with a network of like-minded students from across campus with an interest in sustainability. Each month features a different theme with educational and experiential opportunities to get involved.

A team of 5-7 student leaders are recruited and trained each year to lead the program collaboratively with the Office of Sustainability. The student leadership team develops themes, events, and outreach campaigns to engage the broader student membership (roughly 300 students from all faculties).

https://www.uwo.ca/mes/program_components/coop_information/index.html

The Office of Sustainability has been hosting two co-op students from Western’s Masters of Environment and Sustainability (MES) program on an annual basis since 2012. The MES program requires completion of a four-month, full-time co-operative work term to complete the degree. To support this program requirement and student employment, Western Sustainability had hired two students from May – September each year. Students gain a diverse set of skills and understanding of sustainability in a university setting including operational, project-based, and community engagement work.

https://westernusc.ca/services/food-support-services/

Food Support Services is a USC student service dedicated to relieving hunger among undergraduate students on campus, helping to enable the full participation of students facing barriers of food insecurity. The organization is student-managed and in addition to the food bank service provided, Food Support Services also runs several events and campaigns through the year that relate to food sustainability and combatting food insecurity; for example: quick, easy and affordable recipes that fit with students’ lifestyles and food literacy messaging about food waste, food equity and more

Using the 2023 Sustainability Pulse Survey as a representative sample of Western’s community members, data was extrapolated from the survey results to estimate the percentage of student participation in Western’s sustainability activities. Of the 3,226 survey responses, 70% are classified as students.

 899 people responded to the question “Have you ever participated in any sustainability-related events, programs, clubs or groups at Western.” Therefore, assuming 70% of these respondents are students, we find that 29% of students have participated in sustainability activities at Western.