KPU takes part in Sustainable Development Goals week for the second year in a row
The event highlights commitments to further sustainable development and bring awareness to SDG initiatives across campuses
Co-organizer of KPU’s SDG week Alexandra Taylor at the "SGD Fair" on March 7 in the Surrey Courtyard. (Hope Lompe)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University joined post-secondary institutions across Canada in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) week for a second year. The week is a national collaborative initiative that aims to increase awareness and institutional engagement with the United Nations’ 17 SDGs.
From March 4 to 8, students and faculty could participate in workshops, panels, and events both virtually and on KPU campuses. Organized events included the “Fire, Climate, and Community” panel discussion on March 6 featuring award-winning climate author John Vaillant, a tour of the KPU Farm Learning Garden at the Garden City Lands with KPU instructor Lee Beavington, and the “SDG Fair” at the Surrey campus courtyard, both on March 7.
“When we have a week like this, … it connects people, it gives [them] a reason to enjoy being and staying on campus, to connecting with the university in a meaningful way,” says Christina Shorthouse, co-organizer of SDG week and an instructor with the Melville School of Business.
The “SDG Fair” showcased a lively outdoor atmosphere covered in 17 different colours representing each UN SDG. Students milled about the sunny Surrey courtyard while grabbing a bite to eat, playing games, winning prizes, and learning about SDGs while walking between classes.
“We decided to put together the fair to really bring together different members of the KPU community, recognizing that just as the 17 SDGs are interrelated and all support each other, we all have our separate strengths, and we can all support each other as well,” says Alexandra Taylor, project support at KPU’s office of Campus and Community Planning and co-organizer of KPU’s SDG week.
The fair featured catered lunch offerings from Grassroots Cafe, along with booths set up by representatives from a variety of KPU programs and initiatives committed to furthering and bringing awareness to the UN’s SDGs. Groups in attendance included the KPU study abroad program, KPU Social Innovation Incubator, the Kwantlen Student Association, and students from the Climate+ Challenge.
A key theme throughout SDG week was collaboration — the desire for the institution, faculty, and students to work together to improve our community. The 17 SDGs, which have been adopted by 193 countries and many post-secondary institutions, serve as a framework for setting goals that work toward sustainable development in all programs, operations, and education.
“If the students at large are not acting, KPU as an organization acting [alone] makes a bare minimum of an impact,” says Manvinder Rayat, a third-year information technology student and member of the Climate+ Challenge.
“So if the students are acting hand-in-hand with KPU organization and the faculty, only then we can try and get something that’s feasible and is tangible.”
Cross-campus awareness campaigns like SDG week allow students to discover these unique programs, think about sustainability in new ways, and inspire action from the KPU community to incorporate these actions at the institution. The ultimate goal is to get students talking, motivated, and curious about sustainability in terms of the impact these initiatives can have in our communities and the world at large.
“Students see [the] inspiration of the SDGs knowing that they’re part of all these initiatives happening around the world, and that they are also working towards these goals [which] are supposed to be completed by 2030 … but we’re behind,” Shorthouse says.
“Hopefully [these events] offer some kind of reassurance that KPU is thinking beyond just students who pay for their tuition, take their classes, and leave. It’s about understanding that KPU’s a community, it’s one of the ways we can bring everyone together.”
