We are pleased to partner with Dr. Robert Patrick (Professor of Regional and Urban Planning in the Department of Geography and Planning), Janelle Hutchinson (Chief Sustainability Officer), Stephanie Ortynsky (Research Associate, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association), and Matt Wolsfeld (Reporting and Engagement Specialist) from the University of Saskatchewan to bring the Local Futures project to life in the City of Yorkton, Saskatchewan.
In 2021, The University of Saskatchewan released their sustainability strategy, A Critical Path to Sustainability, which outlines five commitments the university has made to achieve progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This strategy names that universities play a key role in achieving the SDGs, as “they sit at the nexus of local, regional, national, and international co-operation,” and therefore commits to action at each of these levels.
While Office of Sustainability reports annually on the sustainability strategy, they wanted to increase their understanding about how the University is contributing to the each of the SDGs. So, they developed the SDG Hub, a dynamic website that allows people to explore how the university is impacting and advancing the SDGs.
For each SDG, the hub includes the following sections: key facts, news, institutional stewardship initiatives, research institutes, centres and projects, research impact, sample courses, and key STARS (sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system) reporting areas. For SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, the SDG hub highlights clinics and health services for students, the university health research unit’s work on health intervention research, and that The University of Saskatchewan is the first Canadian medical school with a Department of Indigenous Health.
Snapshot of the USask SDG Hub.
The Office of Sustainability names that “the broadness of the goals combined with the specificity of the actions nested within each goal allow every member of the campus community to connect their studies or their work to progress on the goals.” The SDG hub reinforces this idea by providing a platform where students, faculty, staff and community members can discover how they are advancing the SDGs and the whole-of-society approach needed to achieve the SDGs’ ambitious vision for the future.
Check out our full list of partners on the Project Partners Page.