Overview
Waterloo's Environmental Sustainability Strategy (ESS) describes how the campus can understand and respond to key sustainability challenges and opportunities. It outlines a clear way of thinking about sustainability, providing clarity on what issues are most important, why they are relevant to Waterloo, where we need to go as a campus, and how we can work together to get there.
The ESS builds upon commitments and priorities set in Waterloo's Values, Waterloo at 100, the Campus Plan, Policy 53, and other institutional guiding documents, reinforcing a long-term vision for campus sustainability through 2050.
Continue reading to learn more about the ESS and how to support it in your learning, living, and working at Waterloo.
Global themes
Waterloo has organized global sustainability challenges and efforts to address those challenges under three tightly connected themes of thriving ecosystems, climate action and resilience, and the circular economy. These themes are highly interactive and not mutually exclusive.
Thriving ecosystems
Climate action + resilience
Circular economy
Campus links
These global sustainability themes are directly relevant for Waterloo. The cascading set of challenges and efforts to address them will affect Waterloo's academic mission, campus operational practices, and engagement of the University community on and off campus.
Academic mission
- Purposeful work
- Entrepreneurial success
- Impactful research
- Reputation
Operational practice
- Resiliency and energy security
- Operational efficiency
- Regulatory compliance
- Future-proofing
- Asset stewardship
- Operational innovation
Campus engagement
- Leadership development
- Skill-building
- Better spaces
- Collaboration
- Well-being
- Satisfaction
Core directions
Reflecting on these themes and links, Waterloo has identified 12 major directions to guide campus action through 2050. Each action also has short-term actions for the 2026-2030 timeframe.
Curriculum integration
Integrate meaningful sustainability competencies for student learning
World-class research
Deliver world-class research in support of sustainability
Green entrepreneurship
Embed sustainability in entrepreneurship
Net zero emissions
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050
Zero waste
Achieve zero waste by 2035
Sustainable mobility
Support a sustainable transportation system
Campus biodiversity
Steward campus biodiversity and greenspaces
Water protection
Protect water quality and local water ecosystems
Sustainable food
Prioritize sustainably certified, local, equitable, and plant-based food systems
Sustainable procurement
Factor sustainability requirements into all major purchasing decisions
Culture of sustainability
Foster a culture of sustainability engagement and accountability
Community partnership
Strengthen community partnerships to leverage campus and local action
Sustainability Playbook
Waterloo's sustainability directions are bold, but they are high-level and sometimes abstract. How can you help? What role can you play? What does your team need to do? The Sustainability Playbook is meant to provide simple and clear ways for individuals and departments to align efforts and decisions with Waterloo's goals.
Decision lenses
- Almost all decisions on campus have a sustainability impact
- Decision lenses are a set of questions/prompts to align actions or decisions with Waterloo's sustainability directions
- Learn more about the '4 Cs' – clean energy, consumption, conservation, and community
Individual roles
- Everyone has a role to play in supporting campus sustainability goals and directions
- Learn more about how you can support sustainability as a:
Unit actions
- Each department or team on campus will need to be part of Waterloo's sustainability directions
- Units can support through common actions and day-to-day practices, but also leverage their 'unit superpowers'
- Learn more about how departments can support sustainability efforts