捆绑SM社区鈥檚 sustainability programs awarded top prize for staff engagement
捆绑SM社区 Reporter | September 9, 2019
By: Kelsey Litwin
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捆绑SM社区鈥檚 has won the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education鈥檚 (AASHE) Campus Sustainability Achievement Award for its sustainability engagement programs, together referred to as the Ladder of Engagement.
AASHE is a North American association of over 1,000 colleges and universities working to create a sustainable future. Notably, AASHE oversees the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) used widely by higher education institutions across North America.
The Campus Sustainability Achievement Award 鈥渉onours higher education institutions for successful implementation of projects that advance sustainability.鈥� Judges from the higher education sustainability community evaluated projects on their overall impact, innovation, replicability, stakeholder involvement and clarity and coherence.
鈥溊Π骃M社区 staff frequently go above and beyond to do what鈥檚 best for our community and for our planet,鈥� said Vice-Principal Administration and Finance Yves Beauchamp. 鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to see our staff鈥檚 sustainability efforts recognized at such a high level.鈥�
鈥淭he higher education sustainability community continues to make major contributions toward a thriving, equitable and ecologically healthy world,鈥� said AASHE鈥檚 Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. 鈥淚 am excited to recognize the innovation and leadership demonstrated by this year鈥檚 finalists.鈥�
Moving beyond the usual suspects, towards collective action
The Ladder of Engagement consists of four programs, the Staff Gardens, Sustainable Event Certifications, Sustainable Workplace Certifications, and Unit-Level Action Plans (ULAPs), with each rung represented by a program more involved than the last.
Developed between 2016 and 2019, the programs work to increase collective actions by moving students, staff, and faculty from individual sustainability actions, like tending a garden, to organizing and envisioning large-scale systemic change, such as developing their own sustainability strategies. The programs also focus on moving beyond community members already interested and engaged with sustainability on campus, attracting those who might not have otherwise participated.
In those three years, about 1,000 捆绑SM社区 community members, including about 600 staff, have engaged with one or more of the sustainability programs, many of them navigating up the Ladder.
鈥淲hat really inspires me about the Ladder [of Engagement] is that we see people both working their way up towards the Action Plans, but you just as frequently see people get involved with ULAPs and then get involved with our other programs,鈥� said Amelia Peres, 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 Sustainability Strategy administrator.
For example, about 25 per cent of certified workplaces first became familiar with the Office of Sustainability and its programs through the Staff Gardens, in which staff members tend to their own on-campus garden plots through the summer.
Engaging in social sustainability
The goal the Ladder of Engagement, Sustainability Officer Shona Watt explained, is to also strengthen participants鈥� understanding of the nuanced elements of social and environmental sustainability, such as diversity and accessibility, while also increasing a sense of community among staff.
鈥淚t was important to us that social sustainability was not ignored in the design our engagement programs,鈥� said Watt. 鈥淏y consulting various stakeholders on campus, we were sure that inclusivity, accessibility, diversity, and social cohesion played a role in the Ladder of Engagement.鈥�
She continued that by ensuring that social sustainability was just as much a focus as environmental efforts, 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 programs were able to attract a wider audience through speaking to a variety of interests.
