Dawson selected to track SDGs on campuses across Canada

Dawson College has been selected by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) as one of nine colleges nationally that will track how their colleges are advancing the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Launched in 2015, the SDGs are an urgent call to action for the entire planet. On the SDG website, it is stated that “they recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”

CICan, with the support of the McConnell Foundation’s ImpACT program, is working on ways to develop an integration framework of the SDGs across Canada. Dawson’s Sustainability Office will be reviewing every course and activity for the past four semesters through the filter of the SDGs. At the conclusion, a database showing links to the SDGs will be open to all on our website. The Dawson community will be invited to make recommendations for new initiatives that can help meet these targets for 2030.

A meeting in February 2020 at CICan in Ottawa will jump-start the project, expected to be two years in length. “We have the opportunity to contribute to and learn from leading higher education institutions in Canada, while working more proactively and urgently to meet these goals,” says Chris Adam of Dawson’s Sustainability Office.