| Overall Rating | Platinum - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 88.31 |
| Liaison | James Gordon |
| Submission Date | May 31, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Thompson Rivers University
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
James
Gordon Environmental Programs and Research Coordinator TRU Office of Environment and Sustainability |
Is the institution an active member of a national or international sustainability network?:
The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
Is the institution an active member of a regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network?:
The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):
The BC Higher Education Carbon Neutral Working Group
Has the institution presented at a sustainability conference during the previous year? :
A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):
TRU staff members presented at the following three conferences in the last year:
- The International Sustainable Campus Network conference (Stockholm, Sweden - June 11-13, 2018). The presentation was a poster presentation on TRU's zero waste strategies.
- Livable Cities Forum (Victoria, BC - Sept 2017). The presentation was a case-study plus discussion on “Exploring Post-Secondary Leadership in Climate Action (http://www.livablecitiesforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Livable-Cities-Program-2017_final_bleeds.pdf).
- AASHE annual conference (Pittsburgh, Pa - Oct 2-5, 2018). There were three presentations: Introducing the Campus Community to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (60-minute presentation); A Sustainable Parking Framework and Strategies to Encourage More Sustainable Transportation (30-minute presentation); and Thompson Rivers University - The Solar Compass: A Case Study on Ground Mounted Solar Modules (Poster Session).
Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to a sustainability awards program that is inclusive of multiple campuses? :
A list or brief description of the awards program(s) and submission(s):
Has the institution had staff, students or faculty serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years? :
A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):
Up until 2017, the Director of the TRU Sustainability Office, Jim Gudjonson, sat as the Chair of the BC Higher Education Carbon Neutral Working Group. It is comprised of sustainability and facilities departments from 17 institutions across B.C.. The committee discusses all aspects of planning and reporting as per the provincial authority’s carbon reporting (CAS). The core goals of the committee are identifying and quantifying GHG emissions, and discussing goals and initiatives to reduce GHG emissions.
Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:
The TRU Sustainability Office has an ongoing relationship with the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) to mentor them and help them develop their strategic sustainability plan. NVIT is ‘BC’s Indigenous Public Post-Secondary Institute’ - http://www.nvit.ca/).
Jim Gudjonson, TRU Sustainability Office Director, goes there and meets with their CFO, VP of Finance and Administration regarding energy issues, and helped get NVIT enrolled in the BC Hydro Energy Program.
Has the institution had staff, faculty, or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data (e.g. GHG emissions or course inventory) and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the peer review activities:
Has the institution participated in other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year, e.g. joint planning or resource sharing with other institutions? :
A brief description of other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year:
Jim Gudjonson, Director of TRU’s Sustainability Office, sits on the national working group/committee “Bioenergy Support Network for Sustainable Communities (BIOCOMM). The group, made up of advanced education institutions from across Canada, currently has a federal proposal in for 'Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities (CERRC) Capacity Building Stream'. If accepted, the project proposal would create education and outreach materials for remote communities that aim to use renewable energy.
TRU shares information and collaborates on issues to do with waste reduction with other provincial universities and colleges. Staff from TRU went to the recent all-day Post-Secondary Recycling Forum at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver on April 27th, 2018. This group shares information re waste on an ongoing basis.
Jim Gudjonson also shares and collaborates with BC Interior universities and colleges. Jim has gone to visit many of their campuses, and TRU has installed a solar system on its campus based on his visit to Okanagan College’s system. TRU learns a lot from collaborating and information sharing with the other institutions. As an example of this information sharing, the following email thread is from a recent discussion about textbook reusing:
Hi All
Sorry for delay
Here is what we do
thx - Jim
Jim Gudjonson
They get sent to the warehouse and put on a pallet. Once we have one or two pallets, Textbooks for Change is contacted and they send a freight company to pick them up. The books get sent to Ontario where they are consolidated with other shipments and then sent to universities in Africa for distribution to students in need. See the link below for Textbooks for Change’s information:
https://textbooksforchange.com/
Thanks,
Randy Matter
Bookstore/Print Services Manager
Thompson Rivers University
Email: rmatter@tru.ca
Bookstore Website: www.thebookstore.tru.ca
From: Rob St. Onge [mailto:rstonge@okanagan.bc.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 11:28 AM
To: Bilodeau, Leanne <Leanne.Bilodeau@ubc.ca>
Cc: Graham Kershaw <GKershaw@okanagan.bc.ca>; James Gudjonson <Jgudjonson@tru.ca>
Subject: RE: Textbook Recycling
Fantastic – Thanks!
I’ll drop them a line and see what I can learn.
Rob
Rob St. Onge
From: Bilodeau, Leanne <Leanne.Bilodeau@ubc.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 11:14 AM
To: Rob St. Onge <rstonge@okanagan.bc.ca>; James Gudjonson <Jgudjonson@tru.ca>
Cc: Graham Kershaw <GKershaw@okanagan.bc.ca>
Subject: RE: Textbook Recycling
Hi Rob,
UBCO partners with Better World Books and provides deposit box outside the campus bookstore. I understand Better World Books undertakes the following re-use steps:
a. Resell the books - a portion of the proceeds are used to support their education or literacy partner (e.g., UBCO bookstore)
b. Texbooks that are unable to be sold are donated
c. Textbooks unable to be donated are recycled
To date the company indicates that over 26 million books have been donated; over $28 million funds have been raised for literacy & libraries; and almost 315 million books are being reused or have been recycled.
Hope this helps,
Leanne Bilodeau Associate Director
Sustainability Operations | Campus Planning and Development
The University of British Columbia | Okanagan Campus
ADM 006H, 1138 Alumni Avenue | Kelowna BC | V1V1V7 | Canada
leanne.bilodeau@ubc.ca
www.sustain.ok.ubc.ca
From: Rob St. Onge <rstonge@okanagan.bc.ca>
Sent: August 29, 2018 11:54 AM
To: Bilodeau, Leanne <Leanne.Bilodeau@ubc.ca>; James Gudjonson <Jgudjonson@tru.ca>
Cc: Graham Kershaw <GKershaw@okanagan.bc.ca>
Subject: Textbook Recycling
Hi Leanne/James,
We have a couple professors who are looking to purge their bookshelves of old textbooks and apparently, we can no long just put them into standard paper recycling.
Wondering if you have a sustainable method for dealing with these?
Thanks.
Rob
Rob St. Onge, CEM, LEED Green Associate
Manager of Buildings and Sustainability Services
Okanagan College
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.