Ontario Tech University
EN-9: Community Partnerships

Representative from UOIT Sustainability Office on following Committees/Boards: -City of Oshawa- Environmental Advisory Committee -Region of Durham- Participate in the DECC (Durham Environmental Coordinating Committee) -Ontario College and University Sustainability Professionals Board We have a sustainability platform called "Go Green. Stay Blue" that serves to preserve the environment through initiatives to promote awareness and encourage environmentally safe practices. For example, giving away free water bottles on campus to students and staff so that less plastic bottles of water are bought. UOIT also supports community environmental health by providing free flu vaccinations at the Campus Health Center for all students.

• Established various collaborative partnerships with local government agencies and organizations whose goals align with UOIT sustainability strategic priorities. ex. Durham Region- Smart Commute Program. UOIT has supported the program for over 3 years. Sustainability representatives have made measurable impacts by reaching out to the large student population through the Smart Commute activities by encouraging ride-sharing, cycling, walking and transit during the school day as well as for occasional trips. When a baseline of travel patterns needed to be established for the program, UOIT exceeded the target responses thereby providing a dataset of sustainable travel metrics, against which future CO2 reduction results can be measured.

Representatives from local community agencies, government and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) joined together to celebrate the official launch of the University-Community Link Unit (CLU). Unit will link researchers and community groups together to tackle local social problems. The CLU will be an ongoing initiative. This research unit was designed to develop and deliver relevant research allowing the group to work together and build a better Durham Region, Northumberland County and beyond. CLU is a campuswide organized research unit that conducts collaborative, interdisciplinary applied research with various stakeholders in Durham Region and Northumberland County to support the needs of those working to build sustainable communities and cities. Its goal is to help scholars, students and stakeholders to understand the dynamics of communities, cities, and regions while informing public policy at local, regional, provincial, national and international levels.