Sustainability Initiative

The University of Winnipeg

Our Green Campus Users' Manual  is finally here! Please take a few minutes to browse it.

UW Sustainability Initiative - Welcome to our Crew!
Imagine colleges and universities with a commitment to operate so that they do not undermine the integrity, beauty, and stability of the world their students will inherit....The limits are no longer technological or even economic, but those of imagination and commitment. - David Orr 

Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan once said, "There are no passengers on spaceship Earth. We are all crew." As crew members on planet Earth, each and every one of us is responsible for all its inhabitants - human, other animals, and plant alike - and for the health of the planet itself. 

The UW Sustainability Initiative is about meeting this responsibility. Every student, every faculty member, every staff member at this University has a role to play in creating and sustaining an institution that can nurture healthy, prosperous human communities within intact and thriving natural environments.

We invite you to learn more about the UW Sustainability Initiative, to build your understanding of how you can help shape it, and to connect with your campus community around a common goal – making the University a centre for demonstrating, implementing and teaching the values, principles and practices necessary for sustainability.

Sustainability Strategic Plan

Over the 2009/2010 academic year, the Campus Sustainability Office undertook a broad consultation process as part of the development of the University's Sustainability Strategic Plan.  Consultation results have been compiled and posted here:

Town Hall: Read the presentation here if you missed it.

Online Survey: Read compiled results here.

Focus Groups: Read summaries of the student,  faculty, and staff sessions here.

Inquiring Minds: During the Grass Routes Sustainability Festival the Inquiring Minds squad used public art, video, social media and face-to-face conversation to gather your thoughts and visions for a sustainable campus.

A draft plan is now being developed based on the insights and feedback received through the consultation process.  Please be on the lookout for more opportunities to offer input as the draft is developed.
 
If you have any comments or questions about the planning process or about consultation results please do not hesitate to contact Alana Lajoie-O'Malley (a.lajoie-omalley@uwinnipeg.ca, 789-1479).

Thank you to those who are helped to make this consultation a success by encouraging students and colleagues to participate, getting informed, sharing thoughts and asking us tough questions.