The University of Ottawa’s commitment to sustainability is long standing. As a signatory to the Talloires Declaration, the Halifax Declaration, the "Ontario Universities Committed to a Greener World" pledge, the Montreal Carbon Pledge, and most recently, the “Investing to Address Climate Change” Canadian Universities Charter, the University understands how important it is to support talk with action. The Environmental Management and Sustainability Policy (policy 72) and Strategic Plan (Transformation 2030), solidify our commitments as guiding documents that will help focus the University’s attention around a culture of sustainability.
The strategy for the Campus Sustainability Plan has been divided into two volleys; one for immediate response and another for further contemplation. Recognizing that some issues require urgent action, three categories have been identified as strategic candidates (climate, waste management, and experiential learning). These categories were identified through focus groups with university staff and a broad community survey.
The need for a more meditative approach was also identified, allowing the University community time to reflect on how best to tackle the very difficult issues that may come to define the future of our species. These categories of the Campus Sustainability Plan will be identified through a thorough community consultation process.
The impending climate crisis will be the challenge of our generation. In order to make meaningful change, the University of Ottawa will be required to reduce its carbon budget across a variety of activities.
The Sustainable Campus Committee has determined that our path to success should start with reducing emissions at the source and then acquire offsets. The aim is for carbon neutrality by 2040 and strive to eliminate our remaining emissions by 2050.
Waste management was identified as one of the most important topics to campus community members. Recycling, in particular, is viewed as one of the issues whereby everyone has a role to play.
The Sustainable Campus Committee has determined that our path to waste reduction should include a target to become zero waste by the year 2050, but this should be accompanied by another target to reduce overall waste on campus by 30% by the year 2030. This will focus our target towards dematerialization rather than substituting one form of waste for another (ex. Recycling packaging vs eliminating single use materials).
Community Service Learning (CSL) was identified as a strong unifying academic activity for campus sustainability
The Sustainable Campus Committee has determined that our pathway to increasing sustainability in academia should include a target to incorporate community service learning opportunities in every faculty and service on campus. The recommendation is to have 50% of all departments on campus offering one CSL related to sustainability by 2025.
