the Portico
“Our mission is to enhance the relationship between the University and its alumni and friends and promoted pride and commitment within the University Community.”SUSTAINABILITY IS U OF G GOAL FOR A BETTER FUTURE
Alastair Summerlee
Photo by Jason Cremasco
This past winter semester, the University of Guelph saw many events and campus milestones connected under the broad theme of “sustainability.”
At the end of January, we published the report of our Sustainability Task Force. A week later, we released our annual report on U of G’s Community Energy Plan, a report card of sorts on our ongoing efforts to reduce the institution’s environmental footprint. In the last fiscal year, our conservation efforts saved $734,000 ─ mostly through lighting retrofits ─ and reduced our greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 1,300 tonnes.
Many energy-saving projects receive funding from the University’s Energy Conservation Fund, supported each semester by a $10 contribution from all students and by additional donations from staff, faculty, retirees and alumni. The University matches all funds, and a campus working group representing contributors determines how the money will be used.
We hope the Sustainability Task Force report will spark ideas for duplicating our energy-saving success throughout the University’s teaching, research and physical operations. As important as these actions are, the report isn’t just about protecting the environment. The task force also considered how we might achieve economic and social sustainability.
Its report offers many recommendations, including creating a “sustainability action network” to help increase involvement across campus and create awareness among incoming students. We aim to motivate the entire University community to consider how to live and work more sustainably.
Days after publishing these two documents, the University held winter convocation ceremonies, the sixth annual President’s Dialogue and an international student conference -- all connected by the common theme of alleviating world hunger. Again and again, we heard that, although food aid is essential for people facing an immediate crisis, what’s needed long-term in affected countries is sustained food production.
Conference participants from government, industry, social organizations and universities ─ most from Canada and the United States ─ pledged to ensure that their organizations commit to helping almost a billion hungry people worldwide. The event nourished the enthusiasm of young leaders and sustained a movement to make the world a more equitable place.
Food production and supply are among the greatest challenges for our society and in our time. In yet another initiative to address those challenges, the University announced in early April a new faculty appointment to the Loblaw Chair in Sustainable Food Production. This new chair, to be funded by a gift from Loblaw Companies Ltd. to U of G’s BetterPlanet Project campaign, will be held by Prof. Ralph Martin, a Canadian expert in organic research and education.
At Guelph, Prof. Martin will help address issues of global food sustainability. We plan to develop a national program in sustainable food production, one that will almost certainly produce a model for use in many other countries.
Through this chair, we will engage public- and private-sector stakeholders in Canada’s agri-food industry in developing new research collaborations and a teaching curriculum in sustainable practices and food policies for greater food production and profitability and a cleaner environment.
Sustainability is all about the future -- improving life today while preserving resources for tomorrow. It’s a keystone of The BetterPlanet Project, a University of Guelph invitation for all concerned citizens to support our researchers, teachers and learners working together toward solutions for a healthy, equitable and – yes -- sustainable world.
Alastair Summerlee
President
