Humber Polytechnic's Office of Sustainability unveiled a new engagement plan for the coming years that focuses on educating, enabling and engaging.
Called the Three E’s, the new plan was announced on Feb. 11 when Director of Sustainability Lindsay Walker said the new vision aims not to prevent climate change from a material aspect but rather to educate and encourage students, staff and faculty to live more sustainably.
“We are fostering sustainability mindsets, enabling a sustainable campus experience and translating knowledge into climate action. Educate, enable, and engage,” Walker said.
“We will provide regular opportunities for the community to continue to guide their actions throughout the year, and we will measure the progress toward our goals and ensure you have access to all of that information.” Walker said.
Humber has previously achieved a gold level in Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating Systema (STARS), the highest ranking awarded by the organization dedicated to monitoring post-secondary sustainability.
The Three E plan will help Humber improve on that gold STARS rating.
“The world, the planet, wildfires, everything that's going on, it's only getting more extreme and intense, and we need to get more extreme and intense in the things that we do to reduce it," Walker said. "It's not that we can stop it from happening, of course now, but we can definitely impact how bad it gets, and that has to happen fast and furious, so that's what this is about.”
The Sustainability Office has released ways to become more sustainable, such as a free online course, advice on using native plants, and opportunities to meet with its staff to give feedback.
“We're going to have specific opportunities throughout the year where students, staff, faculty, really anyone actually can come and tell us how we're doing, give us more commentary. That's always been available, but I don't know if it's always felt available,” Walker said.
The launch event was attended by a full auditorium of people who closely worked with Walker and the Sustainability Office to bring this plan to life.
"Over 750 people contributed their ideas and imaginings of what we should be doing and what we need to be doing. The detailed writing, support, and imagining from specific departments came from a smaller group maybe 40 or 50 people and then myself," she said.
"Our new vision is a north star. It does not have a start or end date; it is about the institution that we are and what we want to be, and it is focused on our students," Walker said.
