University of Victoria
EN-1: Student Educators Program

The Residence Green Team is a program for current first year students that live on campus to get involved with sustainability at UVic. Through the program, students learn about campus sustainability and become empowered to create their own initiatives with support and guidance from the Campus Planning & Sustainability Office. Students will also have access to sustainability-related volunteer opportunities around campus, as well as be given exposure to some of the many other sustainability-related groups at UVic. The program includes many peer-to-peer outreach activities on campus where the Res Green Team members engage with other students about sustainability-related issues and opportunities on campus. Examples include: - Love-a-Mug Week where Green Team members hand out free coffee vouchers to students and staff on campus to promote waste reduction by eliminating paper cup usage - Lighten Up! where lights are given out to campus cyclists, primarily students, to ensure they get home safely after Daylight Savings and also to raise awareness about safe cycling - Attending UVic Vikes basketball games and educating patrons on how to sort their waste properly All of these initiatives are campus-wide and are available to every student on campus to participate in. The campus community is made aware of all of these events and are targeted through various communications methods, including from the institution's primary social media networks.

All undergraduate students living in student residences were invited to participate, with the sustainability-themed living learning community being the main target segment. Broader advertising to all of Residences was done in collaboration with UVic Residence Life staff and made use of their communications channels such as social media and through word-of-mouth utilizing the Residence Community Leaders for all buildings. The Sustainability Coordinator and Sustainability Assistant also attends one of the initial community meetings in the Sustainability Living-Learning Community and gives presentations about the program to recruit students who are already identified as having a deep interest in sustainability.

Not including the volunteer opportunities, the program consists of monthly meetings led by the Sustainability Coordinator and covers a broad range of training opportunities: - Identifying sustainability-related issues or opportunities on campus - Understanding the background to these issues/ opportunities and linking them to broader sustainability issues - Team-building, project management, and leadership development training is offered through a group initiative - Professional development opportunities through collaboration on projects with various UVic staff - Effecting change on campus - Reflection and recognition For 2016/17, the group identified a waste reduction opportunity in the Residence cafeteria and are completing a research project in collaboration with UVic Food Services. The aim is to find viable alternatives to the current use of disposable containers in at the cafeteria parfait/ sandwich stations. An outreach component is targeted towards Residence students, specifically.

This program received financial support from the Sustainability Office, which supported the training, and from the Residence Services, which provided the space for the monthly meetings.

The Sustainability Community is designed to engage students in their development by exploring sustainable living as an individual, as a community, and as a society. Living in this building, students engage in activities to better understand human influences and their effects on the environment while reducing their own carbon foot print. They also identify changes to their behaviour that contribute to environmental sustainability and integrate the sustainable practices learned into everyday activities. They engage in practices and initiatives beyond daily activities in order to have a positive impact on the environment. The sustainability theme lends itself to a variety of programs which encourage students to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. These include special events, workshops, talks, discussion groups, and various types of competitions. See: http://www.housing.uvic.ca/winter/themed-communities.php.

The program is available to all students living in the South Tower sustainability-themed community.

Students may participate in training programs offered by staff and the student community leaders throughout the school year on a variety of themes: - Sustainable Student - Sustainable Wellness - Sustainable Impact - Sustainable Ciitizen - Community Building Students are also encouraged to develop their own initiatives to offer to other students, for example events A video about the themed-community can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuVoLME217c

The program is run by the Residence Life group of Residence Services, allocating regular staff time and budgeted resources.

UVic offers students living in the student residences different opportunities to participate in voluntary student educator programs focused on sustainability. The largest is the ongoing Residence Life Sustainability Themed Residence program in South Tower, home to 106 students. It is designed to engage students in their development by exploring sustainable living as an individual, as a community, and as a society. Living in this building, students engage in activities to better understand human influences and their effects on the environment while reducing their own carbon foot print. They also identify changes to their behaviour that contribute to environmental sustainability and integrate the sustainable practices learned into everyday activities. The sustainability theme lends itself to a variety of programs which encourage students to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. These include special events, workshops, talks, discussion groups, and various types of competitions. See: http://www.housing.uvic.ca/winter/themed-communities.php.