Sustainability at Concordia
February 2025 Newsletter
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This Black History Month, we invite you to check out and attend the fantastic events being hosted by the Black Perspectives Office. The NouLa Black Students Centre is also running and promoting some awesome events for students this month. Learn, listen, reflect, engage. |
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Concordia wraps up a milestone year for its Sustainability Action PlanJanuary marks more than a new term at Concordia — it’s a time to reflect on the university’s progress coming out of the fourth year of its transformative Sustainability Action Plan. Launched in 2020, the five-year action plan integrates sustainability across university operations through five key streams. As it enters its final year, recent progress updates showcase Concordia’s leadership in advancing impactful sustainability initiatives. “It has been exciting to see the action plan come to life through new initiatives and programs,” says Cassandra Lamontagne, manager of the Office of Sustainability. |
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A new report highlights opportunities for Concordia to amplify its sustainability impactAs part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, Concordia recently released findings from its Voluntary University Review (VUR), an institutional self-assessment that began in 2021. The resulting report offers crucial insights into how the university can maximize its impact and engagement in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It documents Concordia’s current activities related to the 17 SDGs and identifies ways to deepen the university’s contributions to global efforts to promote equity, security, well-being and respect for planetary limits. The findings are based on extensive consultation and analysis with the Concordia community through various activities, including the 17 Rooms exercise. “The daunting nature of the challenges the world faces makes it vitally important that we, as a place of research and learning, but also as a large, socially responsible institution, lean into the work that the SDGs challenge and inspire us to do,” says Concordia President Graham Carr. |
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Concordia open-access web resource series encourages sustainability educationConcordia is at the forefront of a new web resource series created to support sustainability learning worldwide. Developed as a collaboration between the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and the Office of the Vice-Provost of Innovation in Teaching and Learning, the series will help support the development and incorporation of sustainability learning outcomes, activities and assessments across the university and beyond. The Education for Sustainability resources are directly aligned with the Sustainability Action Plan 2020–2025 for the curriculum. Identifying opportunities to infuse sustainability into curriculum, supporting faculty who seek to integrate these into their courses and showcasing their successes, the resources include a space dedicated to promoting activities that support the furthering of sustainability in the curriculum. |
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manifesting gardens / manifester des jardins : 2025 Undergraduate Student Exhibition From January 13 to February 21, FOFA Gallery, Room EV-1.715, 1515 Ste-Catherine St. W. This exhibition highlights the FOFA Gallery’s ongoing efforts in sustainability. The wall signage was made from recuperated posters collected on campus walls, treated with natural dyes and glued using nori paste. Many of the featured artworks evoke subjects tied to sustainability and current ecosystems. Using the metaphor of the garden, the exhibition calls to sustain and cultivate the student community, to tend to its diverse voices. The gallery collaborated with Sustainability Consultant, Arrien Weeks, to design a special modular plinth which will debut during this exhibition. Join us for the exhibition’s closing reception on February 20th, from 5 – 7pm. Tuesday, February 4 @ 12 - 2 p.m., SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation, LB 145, 1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W. SHIFT's February Learning Community Showcase will highlight the work of two SHIFT-supported initiatives that create opportunities for their community members to come together to make art. They will discuss the power of art-making to break isolation, forge connection, and open possibilities for challenging the systemic barriers to their communities' well-being. CEED's BUYPOC Market - February Edition Wednesday, February 5 @ 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., LB Atrium, J.W. McConnell Bldg, 1400 Maisonneuve Blvd W Calling all students, community members, and friends - join us at our next BUYPOC Pop-Up Market! Meet inspiring Black, Indigenous, and People of Color entrepreneurs who enrich our community with creativity! Thursday, February 6 @ 6 p.m., PS141 - 7141 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest Le Petit Velo Rouge, the community bike shop located on Loyola campus is hosting its 2024 AGM! Come eat food, hear about our progress, and help us make quorum! Friday, February 7 @ 3:30 – 4:30 p.m., Online This workshop invites participants to learn about local Kanien’kehá:ka-led environmental and education initiatives that support community awareness and responsibility to restore and preserve the environment for future generations. Friday, February 7 @ 6 – 11 p.m., Hive Cafe 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W. H-239 Join the community for second soul marketplace: It's like Facebook marketplace, but in-person and for students. Anyone can join. Bring a bag, and sell, trade, buy second hand! There’ll be drinks for our 18+ friends and djs playing beautiful sounds; adding on more reasons to come, even if it's just to hang out with the community. Cyanotype Workshop: Sustainable Art-Making Thursday, February 13 @ 2:30 - 4:30 p.m., CUCCR, 1200 rue Guy Cyanotype printing uses sunlight and natural materials to create stunning blue-toned images! In this workshop, you'll learn: the basics of cyanotype printing, how to incorporate found and recycled materials into your art, and the environmental impacts of digital and film photography and sustainable alternatives. No prior experience is needed! All materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own pressed plants, textured objects, or transparency prints to experiment with. SINGING BACK THE BUFFALO Screening Monday, February 17 @ 7pm, Hall Building room H-110 A screening of SINGING BACK THE BUFFALO featuring a post-screening Q&A with special guests. Roots & Recipes Cookbook Launch Monday, March 3 @ 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation, LB 145, 1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W. Join us for the official Roots & Recipes Cookbook Launch- a celebration of food, culture, and sustainability! This is your chance to see your recipes, along with those of your peers, featured in a physical copy of the cookbook we’ve all worked so hard to create together. |
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Honourable Mention: We are thrilled to announce that Concordia University received an honourable mention for the UNIVER/CITY 2030 project in this year's International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) Excellence Awards! The UNIVER/CITY 2030 initiative is inspired and guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Concordia University has committed to contribute to the Decade of Action to achieve the Global Goals by 2030. The project aims to align and mobilize the capacities of Montréal’s universities to help achieve municipal goals related to socio-ecological transitions. |
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Let's stay in touch!
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Office of Sustainability |