Université de Sherbrooke
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

INTERNATIONAL Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi ) Université de Sherbrooke has been a member of GUNi since 2015. With regard to GUNi’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the University sees in this association an opportunity as to progress towards achieving these goals and contribute to the benefit of all, in a sustainable way. http://www.guninetwork.org/ http://www.guninetwork.org/institutional-members/universite-de-sherbrooke Global Universities and Colleges for the Climate In the fall of 2019, the Université de Sherbrooke partnered with the Global Universities and Colleges for the Climate by signing the Climate Emergency Letter. A movement launched by The Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education (EAUC), Second Nature and the United Nations Environment Youth and Education Alliance (YEA!) programme, in the wake of the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Global Universities and Colleges for the Climate is a recognised partner to the Race to Zero by UNFCCC. Moreover, the Université de Sherbrooke mobilized 9 other Québec universities to join the movement, which resulted in the publication and dissemination of a joint press release issued by the 10 Québec universities. Link to the article: https://www.usherbrooke.ca/actualites/nouvelles/nouvelles-details/article/41102/ Link to the statement (the University is 158th): https://www.sdgaccord.org/climateletter NATIONAL Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO ) Founded in 1937, CAUBO is a “key enabler of excellence in Canadian higher education administration” and represents over 100 universities in Canada. Its mission is to “provide a national perspective on matters related to higher education administration. It strengthens the capacity of leaders in the sector by connecting them with peers and information, enabling them to pursue opportunities and create solutions for shared issues.” While it focuses on higher education administration for business officers and matters related to higher education administration, it covers several areas, of which sustainable budgeting, responsible investment, green funds, etc., are covered through CAUBO’s network. Indisputably, this university network contributes to the advancement of sustainable development, in its broadest sense. Denyse Rémillard, Université de Sherbrooke’s Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development, serves on CAUBO’s 2019-2020 Board of Directors. Since the sustainable development function at Université de Sherbrooke was incorporated into Finance and Operations in order to embed social and environmental sustainability more explicitly, formally and intentionally in the university’s decision-making, she can actively participate to promoting best practices and share experiences related to sustainability issues at that level, particularly regarding sustainable investment. https://www.caubo.ca/discover-caubo/governance/ CAUBO University Manager Magazine (featuring article on sustainable investment): https://www.kelmanonline.com/httpdocs/files/CAUBO/universitymanagerwinter2018/

Réseau universitaire québécois en développement durable (RUQDD) / Québec University Network on Sustainable Development (RUQDD)

The President of Universitas Indonesia invited the Université de Sherbrooke to participate to the 5th International Workshop on UI GreenMetric World University Rankings (IWGM) as a speaker to share best practices in creating sustainable universities as a result of the University’s performance to the UI GreenMetric 2018 rankings. This international workshop was held at the University College Cork, in Cork, Ireland, from April 14th to April 16th, 2019. The Université de Sherbrooke was represented by Denyse Rémillard, Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development, and Patrice Cordeau, Assistant to the Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development. Their presentation, entitled “15 Years of Innovation in Sustainable Mobility”, consisted in providing an overview of the Université de Sherbrooke’s sustainable mobility strategies over some years, to demonstrate how its initiatives on that front shaped the institution’s identity, changed its landscape, and charted the way to a series of inspiring measures related to sustainable mobility.

In 2018, the Association of the Master’s in Environment of the Université de Sherbrooke (Association de la maîtrise en environnement de l'Université de Sherbrooke (AMEUS)) was awarded a prize in the category "transportation and energy efficiency" for its 30th organized symposium at Les Vivats gala. Les Vivats marks annually the various efforts made in terms of eco-friendly organized events and that, throughout Québec. It is in this context that the AMEUS symposium was attributed a prize given by the Québec Standardization Office (Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ)), highlighting the sustainable mobility efforts that were made to limit the use of cars to get to the event and thereby also reduce the emissions of the event. For example, a carpooling platform was set up for the event and a free shuttle bus from the Longueuil Campus to the Sherbrooke main campus was made available to encourage participants not to use their cars. http://www.lesvivats.org/sites/lesvivats/files/pictures/Communiqu%C3%A9%2029%20octobre-Vivats%202018.pdf

1st Reference Julie Gosselin, Section Director, Sustainable Procurement, Université de Sherbrooke’s Financial Resources Section, has been Vice-President of the Regroupement des gestionnaires en approvisionnement des universités québécoises (RGAUQ) since October 2016. She is primarily responsible for overseeing the consolidation of Québec universities procurements and the integration of sustainability criteria. The Université de Sherbrooke assumes a leadership role to ensure a targeted market analysis in order to integrate sustainabilty criteria adapted to the market. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Groupe d’approvisionnement en commun de l’est du Québec (GACEQ) (Eastern Québec Common Procurement Group) since 2019, after having served on various committees of this group. One of the GACEQ's values is sustainability and fairness towards suppliers (see 2018-2019 Annual Report: http://www.gaceq.cpacsante.qc.ca/doc/201909260840230.rapport_annuel_2018-2019.pdf). Concurrently, with the Act establishing the Government Procurement Centre (Centre d'acquisition gouvernemental), which will result in the merger of provincial, regional or sector-based groups into a single purchasing group for public agencies, she is a participant member of the "process" committee that launched this exercise in June 2019. Her role is to share with this network the Université de Sherbrooke’s strategies pertaining to sustainable purchasing in calls for tenders. The goal is for the new Government Procurement Centre to integrate sustainability criteria into its procurement process. 2nd Reference Justine Daniel, a research professional who works with Prof. Carine Villemagne on environmental education, is member of the Association québécoise pour la promotion de l'éducation relative à l'environnement (AQPERE) (Québec Association for the Promotion of Environmental Education) Board of Directors. AQPERE operates at all levels of educational institutions (from elementary school to university) by promoting several projects such as their Colleges and Universities Communities for Ecosustainable Campuses Program. AQPERE also organizes one or more major events each year. The symposia are a great opportunity for actors in environmental education to network, exchange and share experiences and resources. Each event is carried out in partnership with other organisations active in the field of environmental education. It is in this context that in 2017, the Université de Sherbrooke hosted a regional chapter of the Planet'ERE forum (AQPERE is instigator of the international movement Planet'ERE). https://www.aqpere.qc.ca/a-propos/ https://www.aqpere.qc.ca/ 3rd Reference Alix Ruhlmann, as a student from the Université de Sherbrooke, became a member of the Environnement Jeunesse (Youth Environment) Board of Directors in 2018-2019 (see https://enjeu.qc.ca/a-propos/). The Université de Sherbrooke has long-standing collaborations with Environnement Jeunesse, among other things, on the delegation project for the Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In addition, the director of Environnement Jeunesse is lecturer at the Université de Sherbrooke. 2018-2019 Annual Report: https://enjeu.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Rapport_annuel_2018-2019.pdf

The Université de Sherbrooke frequently shares its best practices with other institutions on issues related to sustainability and sustainable development, and particularly with the Université de Bordeaux, France. For instance, it guided and assisted this University with its composting system implementation by transmitting its knowledge and expertise, Université de Sherbrooke being a reference to this regard. Both institutions have been partners for some time now, and have developed a process of interaction and exchange. Furthermore, in 2018, the Université de Sherbrooke was asked by the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), Higher Education School based in Montréal, to provide them with guidance as they were preparing their strategy for gathering and documenting data for their own STARS reporting process, which the University did in all collegiality and diligence.

1st Reference The Université de Sherbrooke is part of the Estrie Higher Education Hub (Pôle régional en enseignement supérieur de l'Estrie (PRESE)). This hub seeks to address common needs shared by five Sherbrooke higher education institutions through collaboration and pooling of resources and expertise. The five institutions which comprise the PRESE are: Université de Sherbrooke, Bishop's University, Cégep de Sherbrooke, Champlain College and the Collégial du Séminaire. The objectives pursued by the PRESE are as follows: 1. To promote accessibility to college or university studies (link with UN SDG 4 - quality education and UN SDG 10 - reduce inequality); 2. To promote student retention and success (link with UN SDG 8 - decent work and economic growth); 3. To pool resources (principle of economic efficiency and link with UN SDG 17 - partnership); 4. To contribute to regional development (link with UN SDG 11 - sustainable cities and communities). The PRESE stands out on the one hand through the various projects it carries out. Among these, the Learning with YOU project, dedicated to service learning, enables the linkage between the needs of organizations located in the Sherbrooke area and the academic activities taking place within the five PRESE member institutions. Also, through an annual funding competition, the PRESE supports collaborative projects from institutions that enable it to achieve these same objectives. Here are some examples of funded projects: psychological health among the student community, protection of natural environments in urban areas, mobile repair café, First Peoples and Higher Education issues, active bystander education program, etc. The five PRESE institutions have a long-standing tradition of collaboration and many projects have been developed over the decades with regard to research, teaching and resource-sharing activities specifically related to sustainable development (i.e., adoption of a joint policy in 2005; inter-institutional project for sustainable development education, carried out from 2010 to 2014). https://www.prese.ca/en/ 2nd Reference The Université de Sherbrooke, in collaboration with two other Québec universities, is coordinating the REL Factory (La Fabrique REL) project (REL for ressources éducatives libres or open educational resources). The REL Factory is part of a mandate granted by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur) and the Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education (Plan d’action numérique en éducation et en enseignement supérieur). The mandate of the REL Factory is to support teaching staff in the development of high-quality French-language REL for the higher education sector.  The vision of the REL Factory translates into an ecoresponsible approach to the development of educational resources based on the principles of ongoing enhancement of teaching and learning tools, the pooling of teaching staff expertise, accessibility to studies through significant savings in academic resources, and the democratization of knowledge and education. The work of the REL Factory thus echoes UN SDG 4 (quality education), UN SDG 10 (reduce inequalities), UN SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and UN SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities).