Vancouver Island University is participating in SDG Week Canada March 6 to 10, 2023.
This week of action, awareness and accountability on university and college campuses across Canada in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals happens annually. All events are open to the general public.
“VIU signed the SDG Accord in 2022,” said Dr. Nicole Vaugeois, Associate Vice-President of Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity and Co-Chair of the President’s Task Force on Climate Action and Sustainability. “This marks the first year that VIU is participating in SDG Week and it is a great opportunity to make the community more aware of the SDG Accord, what VIU is already doing to contribute to the SDGs and how to deepen our engagement.”
How the SDGs can be integrated in your course design.
A podcast with Anwen Burk (CIEL) and Dr. Jerome Lesemann (VIU Earth Science Faculty)
Date: anytime
Location: Link to podcast
Climate Hope Cafe
presented by VIU EcoClub and Nanaimo GreenFaith Circle
Come share your thoughts and feelings about climate change, maintaining hope, and taking action.
Date: Monday, March 6, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: Building 300, Cafeteria
VIU and the Sustainable Development Accord
In 2022, VIU signed the Sustainable Development Accord. The SDG Accord is the university and college sectors’ collective response to the SDGs. It is intended to inspire, celebrate and advance the critical role that education has in delivering the SDGs and to provide opportunities for learning. Join this session to learn more about the SDG Accord and the resources available to us via the sustainability exchange. Presented by Dr. Nicole Vaugeois, Associate Vice-President of Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity and Co-Chair of the President’s Task Force on Climate Action and Sustainability.
Date: March 6, 12 to 1 pm
Location: Building 305, Room 440
Virtual: Zoom link
Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals – Workshop
How can the Sustainable Development Goals, a global call to action to be met by 2030, be advanced on a local level? What is happening at VIU to advance the SDGs? Join Anna and Kyla from Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute (MABRRI) to listen to a presentation about how VIU contributes towards the advancement of the SDGs, followed by a workshop in SDG localization. This workshop aims to give participants a more grounded understanding of how to apply global goals in their everyday lives, in achievable ways.
Date: Tuesday, March 7, 1 to 2:30 pm
Location: Building 305, Room 507
Life on Land: Observations from the Tropics
Join this talk by Dr. Colin Chapman, a VIU Adjunct Professor, to hear about what is happening in the tropics that will strongly determine if the world can meet the SDG goals. The talk will focus on the Life on Land goal, but this strongly affects our abilities to reach many of the other SDG goals. For example, globally, ~60 million hectares of tropical primary forest were lost from 2002 to 2019. This means that an area of old-growth forest almost 20 times the size of Vancouver Island was lost in 18 years. The effect that this has had on the climate and peoples’ abilities to grow food has been tremendous. Dr. Chapman has 33 years of experience in conservation and research in Uganda and will bring insights gained over this time to suggest ways to achieving a more sustainable world.
Date: Thursday, March 9, 12 to 1:30 pm
Location: Building 356, Room 109
The Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework and SDGs goals: The stakes are high post-Aichi
Join this talk by Dr. Lauren Touchant (Vancouver Island University - Political Studies) and Dr. Thomas Burelli (University of Ottawa – Faculty of Law, Section Civil Law) about the SDG and the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. They will discuss the role of cities under SDG11 and the urgent need for a global agreement on Digital Sequencing Information to achieve targets under SDG 2 and SDG 15.
Date: Thursday, March 9, 2 to 3 pm
Virtual: Zoom Link