Six days of action to encourage 365 days of commitment
Sustainability Week is a completely student-run, student-led initiative here at the University of Guelph. The week aims to highlight sustainability issues and innovative solutions that could be used in the Guelph community, both on and off campus. This year’s Sustainability Week was run through a political science experiential learning credit, which allowed the coordinators to research and critically reflect on sustainability and the means by which to achieve it.
This year’s theme for Sustainability Week was the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through local actions, which aim to show how individual actions can contribute towards the success of reaching the 17 overarching goals.
Ultimately, the goal was to have six days of action that encouraged 365 days of commitment, whether it be through encouraging people to skip ordering straws, using a beeswax wrap to pack their food in, or participating in the thrift clothing trend.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
MONDAY: FOOD
I had the pleasure of coordinating the Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems day, which was the perfect kickoff day for Sustainability Week since the University of Guelph is known as Canada’s “Food University.” This day had events that covered various food-related issues, which many of you might have seen or attended. A few of the highlights were the Pollination Blitz, which was a fundraising event to appreciate pollinators and their ecological services. The event raised $300.80 for Bees for Development, an international beekeeping organization. The executive director of Hunger Project Canada also gave an amazing presentation on the importance of empowering women in agriculture and shared their strategy for sustainable development globally. There was even an amazing documentary screening of Food Evolution, which was the perfect event for an agri-food collaboration since it combined all of Guelph’s food-related organizations into one event.
TUESDAY: CITIES & COMMUNITIES
This day was themed around how to achieve sustainable communities and what that would look like. Wendy Li, the coordinator of this day, ran two incredible events that utilized the landscape architecture program here on campus. The design charrette was an event that had individuals draw up designs for how they would use a specific spot on campus in ways that integrate sustainability initiatives such as pollinator gardens with outdoor study space. The Pecha Kucha talk was a Japanese-inspired panel discussion that had various industry professionals talk about how their work helps to create more sustainable communities. Both were incredible events in engaging students and professionals to collaborate together to show how sustainability can be designed or integrated into a community, which is the UN’s SDG #11 Sustainable Communities. The results of the design charrette will be on display at the University of Guelph Sustainability Office.
WEDNESDAY: HEALTH, WELL-BEING & GENDER EQUALITY
The third day of the week was focused on the concept of eco-health and gender equality. This day sparked conversations around the connections between inequalities in societies around the world and environmental issues. The coordinator for this day was Paige O’Neill, who ran a plant sale promoting well-being through indoor plants. The day also included a sex bingo event.
THURSDAY: WATER
Thursday was World Water Day, so it worked perfectly for coordinator Emily De Sousa, who is the TapIn! campaign coordinator and an avid marine conservationist. Emily ran an amazing sustainable seafood cook-off on the food day on the Monday and an amazing water talks panel discussion that highlighted various issues surrounding water governance. This day also included some activism here on campus from the TapIn! campaign, which promotes a campus free of bottled water.
FRIDAY: CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION
Friday was coordinated by Emma Fox, whose sustainable lifestyle was perfect for coordinating the Responsible Consumption day. If you went into the UC on March 23, you probably saw her sustainable business fair, that had 12 local vendors whose businesses actively apply or promote sustainability practices.
Friday also included a very popular clothing swap and zero waste workshop run by Kelsea Walker. This day was completed with the Music 4 Change fundraising concert that had amazing local bands perform tunes to raise funds for Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW). Their concert was a great way to show the importance of collective power, especially when it comes to fundraising.
SATURDAY: MOVING FORWARD
The final day of the week was the Moving Forward day, which aimed to encourage conversations around ways to achieve sustainability at different political scales. This day had a KAIROS blanket exercise for individuals to learn more about the history of Canada’s settlement through a visual, interactive experience.
Overall, Sustainability Week was a huge success and, on behalf of all the coordinators, I would love to thank all volunteers, collaborative partners, and attendees of the events for helping make this week successful and possible. If you missed out on events during this year’s Sustainability Week, don’t worry, as there is always next year’s Sustainability Week to look forward to! And remember: it’s always the right time to take action and make a commitment towards a more sustainable future.