Office of Sustainability
Sustainable campus. Just solutions. Thriving communities.
Mission
The Office of Sustainability at Concordia University is committed to engaging students, staff, and faculty, as well as the surrounding community, in achieving our sustainability commitments. Our purpose is to transform Concordia into an institution defined by ecological vitality, social equity, and economic integrity, by driving tangible change and fostering a thriving campus community of sustainability leaders. By integrating sustainability at every level of the institution, we aim to hold ourselves accountable to current and future generations at the campus, local, and global scale.
Our primary programs include coordination of:
Our values
We seek to enact all sustainability work through a mindset and approach that supports Indigenization, decolonization, equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice. We endeavor to align with, and champion, the recommendations and work resulting from Concordia’s Indigenous Directions Action Plan, EDI Action Plan and Task Force on Anti-Black Racism Final Report.
The values that guide our behaviour and decision-making include:
- Environmental, social, and economic justice
- Accessibility
- Accountability
- Collective resilience
- Community care
- Empowerment
- Evidence-based action
Our mandate
The Office of Sustainability (OoS) at Concordia University plays a central role in ensuring compliance with its Sustainability Policy and monitoring progress on the university’s sustainability commitments. The office strategically assesses, plans, and implements projects to enhance the sustainability of the university’s infrastructure and operations. We engage the entire campus community through transformative educational programs and collaborative initiatives that foster a culture of sustainability. Acting as consultants and subject-matter experts, we provide resources and support across administrative, academic, and student spheres.
Key functions of the OoS include:
Institutional Planning and Monitoring: Developing and implementing policies, guidelines, and strategies to achieve sustainability goals. This involves regular assessments, progress measurement, and support for the operational and academic portions of the university’s Sustainability Action Plan.
Operational Sustainability: Introducing sustainable practices within infrastructure, facilities, and daily operations. Initiatives include waste reduction, reuse and recycling programs, sustainable transportation, biodiversity conservation, and green procurement, often in collaboration with other departments.
Community Engagement: Raising awareness and fostering a sustainability culture through events, campaigns, and outreach programs that promote sustainable education and behaviors.
Academic Support: Collaborating with faculty to integrate sustainability into academic programs by aligning campus initiatives with teaching and research objectives. This includes conducting joint assessments, applying expert recommendations, enabling access to space, offering guest lectures and workshops, and facilitating the exchange of data and ideas between academics and sustainability practitioners, with a primary focus on enhancing research and teaching activities.
Student Experiential Learning Opportunities: Providing students with practical, hands-on experiences in sustainability through a variety of programs such as internships, research projects, volunteer work, and extracurricular initiatives. These opportunities are primarily coordinated by the Office of Sustainability and enable students to directly engage with and contribute to sustainability efforts on campus.
This work embeds sustainability at every decision-making level within the university, fostering a collaborative vision of ecological vitality, social equity, and economic integrity.
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Cassandra Lamontagne (she/her)
Sustainability Manager
Cassandra is the Sustainability Manager, responsible for supervising the sustainability team on their projects, for supporting institutional planning around sustainability at Concordia, and for incubating new sustainability projects, partnerships, and programs. With an MSc in Geography, Urban and Environmental Systems from the department of Geography, Planning and Environment, and three years’ experience fostering applied and curriculum-based sustainability projects at Concordia prior to joining the Office of Sustainability in 2018, she brings an interdisciplinary and holistic focus to her work in sustainability.
Because sustainability belongs to everyone, she aspires to develop the Office further into a true resource for all Concordians seeking to learn about and implement sustainability in their respective roles at Concordia.
Anna Timm-Bottos (she/her)
Reuse Programming Specialist
Anna founded the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR) in 2017 and now acts as a Reuse Program Specialist, assisting members of the Concordia Community with all different types of reuse projects. Although a majority of time is still spent at our reuse centre, CUCCR, you can also find her supervising student interns, training volunteers and assisting with sustainability event planning across campus. Her position currently sits within the Office of Sustainability, but she is also a key member of Zero Waste, placed within Facilities Management, dedicated to Concordia’s goals towards waste reduction and diversion.
Anna is keen to connect our community with the materials or resources they need while getting creative to use what we already have instead of buying new.
Faisal Shennib (he/him)
Environmental Specialist
As the Environmental Specialist, Faisal has been responsible for implementing operational sustainability initiatives for Concordia University since 2009. This has manifested with a particular emphasis on waste management initiatives, leading to the creation of the Zero Waste Program and several related initiatives that he oversees.
Faisal’s educational background is in Engineering, with degrees in Mechanical, Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is also conducting ongoing research into applications of AI and IoT in driving community-scale zero waste behaviors as a PhD Candidate, in the form of the OpenWaste.ai project.
Jackie Martin (she/her)
Urban Agriculture & Biodiversity Coordinator
As the Biodiversity Coordinator Jackie's role is to implement best practices in ecological management and to support our many thriving Urban Agriculture initiatives. This involves leading annual biodiversity assessments, working towards a campus wide biodiversity strategy and creating opportunities for student and faculty to engage meaningfully with the outdoor spaces on campus. Before this role, Jackie completed her undergraduate degree in Human Environment, here at Concordia. Since then, she has been continued to work on campus as the Greenhouse house coordinator at SGW and the City Farm School Coordinator at Loyola. She is very passionate about anything to do with plants and loves spending time outdoors kayaking, hiking and camping with her dog.
