Université de Sherbrooke
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The Sustainable Development Collaborators Committee (under the leadership of the Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development): This committee is comprised of individuals whose mandates include a significant involvement pertaining to sustainability and sustainable development at the University. Members represent several University services such as Higher Management, Communications, Facilities, etc. Holding monthly meetings, part of the committee’s responsibilities is to coordinate and to assist the various University's sustainable development subcommittees with the organization and implementation of their projects and activities. The committee also supports the many student initiatives in sustainable development at the institution. As well, the committee is to have an overall view of what is occurring in sustainable development on the three Université de Sherbrooke's campuses and to raise awareness among the university community with regard to the many issues relating to this area. While developing its Sustainable Development Plan, the University's approach has been to create sustainable development subcommittees where each of them would elaborate and define what would become the University's seven sustainable development strategies part of its larger Plan. These subcommittees have achieved their objective and the launch of these strategies occurred in the fall of 2018. Although the strategies have been released, their implementation is to be monitored annually, and it is in this context that the activities of the seven subcommittees are being pursued. The seven strategies subcommittees activities relate to different aspects of sustainable development, as follows: The Sustainable Mobility Committee: The mandate of this committee is to promote the intermodality of means of transport with a view to achieving beneficial outcomes for users of the different modes of sustainable transportation. It also aims to quantify the contribution of this sector to the institutional objective of attaining carbon neutrality. The Green Space Planning Committee: Through several objectives, this committee seeks to promote a healthy, pleasant and motivating living environment, conducive to training and work, by protecting campuses ecosystems, improving integrated green space management and raising awareness in the university community on green space issues. The Waste Management Committee: This committee seeks to implement a collective vision that will allow members of the university community to become involved in residual materials proper management while continuing to innovate in this field. The Fair Campus and Nourishing Committee: This committee aims to promote the richness of the Estrie and Montérégie regions by offering visibility to products from organic farming and short food chains. It also wants to pursue with effective actions to democratize healthy eating and to fight against food waste. As well, it is responsible for ensuring that the standards required by Fairtrade Canada's fair campus designation are maintained. The Sustainable Investment Committee: This committee was created to initiate a meaningful dialogue on the issue of sustainable investment. Other mandates include receiving and studying the concerns of the university community with regard to sustainable investment, monitoring emerging trends and innovations in the field and raising awareness within the University. The Sustainable Procurement Committee: This committee seeks, among other things, to adequately assess needs by integrating the 3RV-Ed hierarchy, to systematically integrate sustainable development criteria in calls for tenders, to contribute to Québec government's model with respect to sustainable procurement and to make the university community and its partners aware of sound sustainable procurement practices. The Energy and Greenhouse Gas Management Committee: This committee wishes to continue the Université de Sherbrooke’s sustained efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and energy consumption. The main objective of this committee is to put in place actions to ensure that the University attains carbon neutrality by 2030.

Members of the Sustainable Development Collaborators Committee are as follows: Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development: Denyse Rémillard Assistant to the Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development: Patrice Cordeau Sustainable Development Education Advisor, Office of the Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development: Véronique Bisaillon Project Coordinator, Communications Services: Sabine Gauthier Section Director, Sustainable Procurement, Financial Resources Section: Julie Gosselin Sustainable Procurement Development Coordinator, Sustainable Procurement, Financial Resources Section: Sonia Labrie Responsible Officer, Parking and Sustainable Mobility, Facilities Department, Security and Prevention: Kinouc Patry-Turcotte Assistant Executive Director and Division Director, Facilities Department, Maintenance and Repair: Bernard Fournier Division Director, Facilities Department, Facilities Reliability: Sylvain Corbeil Institutional Research Advisor, Management, Support Service: Lucie Durand Other collaborators (staff, students, faculty) may be called upon to attend the Sustainable Development Collaborators Committee’s meetings as required. As per members of the seven strategies subcommittees, they each count between 9 to 12 individuals, and are comprised of staff, students, faculty members and researchers whose interest and expertise are consistent with the relevant strategy. Details pertaining to the subcommittees’ membership are outlined within the strategies, and are published here: https://www.usherbrooke.ca/developpement-durable/plan-dd/7-strategies-thematiques/

The Office of the Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development (VRADD): To be interested by all parameters that influence a University’s management, may they be related to purchasing, energy savings, quality of life and environmental impacts, that is the very purpose for the VRADD to be created in 2007, the first Vice-President Office for sustainable development to be established in Canada. To integrate sustainable practices into teaching and research programs, building projects, waste management, events, sustainable transportation behaviors, etc., these are only a few of what the VRADD’s mandates and responsibilities are. The VRADD office drives the many sustainable development initiatives on campuses and operates as a resource center for the university community and beyond. The office oversees the various sustainable development reports and collects data (i.e. GHG evaluation and reporting). In addition, the office strategically plans major investments in sustainable development and works closely with students, staff and faculty members on numerous innovations and research projects. Finally, the office actively works with the City of Sherbrooke and the Longueuil region on several sustainability issues such as mobility, arts and culture, etc.

As the main coordinating body of the institution in terms of sustainability, the Office of the Vice-President, Administration and Sustainable Development, over the years, has put forward many initiatives contributing to integrate sustainability practices to the University’s activities. To that regard, the Sustainable Development Assessment Report, launched in 2018, summarises many accomplishments of the past decades, notably in obtaining various certifications and recognitions, or by having put forward innovative measures in the field. https://www.usherbrooke.ca/developpement-durable/fileadmin/sites/developpement-durable/documents/BilanDD2018.pdf Furthermore, the launching of the seven 2018-2022 thematic strategies part of the Sustainable Development Plan is worth mentioning. These seven strategies allow the University to pursue its actions in terms of sustainability, to remain a leading university in the field and to maintain its commitment to providing an educational and working environment that is conducive to the development of individuals and the need to meet the changing needs of society. The seven strategies relate to: - Sustainable Mobility - Green Space Planning - Residual Materials Management - Fair and Nourishing Campus - Sustainable Investment - Sustainable Procurement - Energy and Greenhouse Gas Management https://www.usherbrooke.ca/developpement-durable/fileadmin/sites/developpement-durable/documents/PlanDD_2018-2022.pdf