Office of Sustainability
We champion sustainability at every level of Concordia and work to embed sustainability in all facets of university life through community engagement, robust programs and assessments and strategic university-wide support.
Mission
The Office of Sustainability at Concordia University is committed to engaging students, staff, and faculty, as well as the surrounding community, in achieving our sustainability commitments. Our purpose is to transform Concordia into an institution defined by ecological vitality, social equity, and economic integrity, by driving tangible change and fostering a thriving campus community of sustainability leaders. By integrating sustainability at every level of the institution, we aim to hold ourselves accountable to current and future generations at the campus, local, and global scale.
Our primary programs include coordination of:
Our values
We seek to enact all sustainability work through a mindset and approach that supports Indigenization, decolonization, equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice. We endeavor to align with, and champion, the recommendations and work resulting from Concordia’s Indigenous Directions Action Plan, EDI Action Plan and Task Force on Anti-Black Racism Final Report.
The following values guide our holistic approach to supporting and implementing sustainability at Concordia:
- Environmental, social, and economic justice
- Accessibility
- Accountability
- Collective resilience
- Community care
- Empowerment
- Evidence-based action
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2022-23 Annual report
The Office of Sustainability 2022-23 Annual Report highlights our achievements related to our programming, services, and outreach. Key highlights include:
- Our Student Sustainability Ambassadors Program (SSAP) enjoyed a successful year, with 18 students successfully completing the program and volunteering a collective 2,400 hours. To cap this achievement off, the program earned the prestigious 2023 ISCN Excellence Award in the “Cultural Change for Sustainability” category.
- The Sustainable Event Certification Program was launched in Fall 2022, with a positive reception from our community. Since the launch, 15 events have been certified through the program.
- The Sustainability Living Lab Funding Program (SLLFP), in partnership with the Sustainability Action Fund, proudly disbursed $63,137 in funding for three projects focused on best practices for digital research, urban agriculture education programming and incorporation of recycled and reused materials in ceramics studios.
These and our other accomplishments reaffirm our drive and commitment to continue on our mission to foster sustainability culture change at Concordia University through programs that inform and empower our communities.
Cassandra Lamontagne (she/her)
Sustainability Manager
Cassandra is the Sustainability Manager, responsible for supervising the sustainability team on their projects, for supporting institutional planning around sustainability at Concordia, and for incubating new sustainability projects, partnerships, and programs. With an MSc in Geography, Urban and Environmental Systems from the department of Geography, Planning and Environment, and three years’ experience fostering applied and curriculum-based sustainability projects at Concordia prior to joining the Office of Sustainability in 2018, she brings an interdisciplinary and holistic focus to her work in sustainability.
Because sustainability belongs to everyone, she aspires to develop the Office further into a true resource for all Concordians seeking to learn about and implement sustainability in their respective roles at Concordia.
Christian Favreau (he/him)
Sustainability Engagement Assistant
Christian is the Office of Sustainability’s Engagement Assistant, responsible for the promotion of, as well as community partnerships around, sustainability-related projects, events, and programs. Christian also acts as the link between the university and the World Wildlife Fun (WWF) in their Living Planet @ Campus program. Christian is often seen on the campuses engaging the wider Concordia community through myth-busting, games, and sustainable giveaways.
As a grassroots organizer, Christian is dedicated to critical-thinking and literacy, community empowerment, and developing agents of change. His vision of sustainability is based on radical imagination.
Jessica Krejcik (she/her)
Sustainability Analyst [on leave]
Jessica is an analyst in the Office of Sustainability. She oversees several of the university's sustainability assessments such as the STARS certification, Sustainability Cultural and Literacy assessment, and the greenhouse gas inventory. She is also the lead for sustainable transportation at the university and collaborates with other members of the office on projects such as the Sustainable Event Certification program. Her BComm with a concentration in economics provides her with the skills necessary to help manage the Sustainability Action Plan budget. Her Masters in Environment from Concordia contributed to her in-depth understanding of sustainability concepts and tools to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of large-scale projects.
Jessica likes reading about or listening to podcasts on degrowth and climate change adaptation strategies. Outside of the office she is often found running in the woods with her dog.
Meredith Marty-Dugas (she/her)
Sustainability Ambassadors Program Coordinator
Meredith Marty-Dugas is the Sustainability Ambassadors Program Coordinator, responsible for designing and facilitating educational opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to engage in campus sustainable change. She is deeply invested in how volunteers experience personal growth into the Concordia community, so that we can implement collective transformation of the institution and our global relationships. Meredith is an experienced community organizer and meticulous project manager, using her past writing for and communicating to various audiences to build new connections and inspire action.
Meredith enjoys an array of responsibilities and collaborations across fields, from poetry to sustainability, prison abolition and queer feminist joy; all of which help her continue the work of dreaming together towards new, sustainable futures.
Anna Timm-Bottos (she/her)
Reuse Programming Specialist
Anna founded the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR) in 2017 and now acts as a Reuse Program Specialist, assisting members of the Concordia Community with all different types of reuse projects. Although a majority of time is still spent at our reuse centre, CUCCR, you can also find her supervising student interns, training volunteers and assisting with sustainability event planning across campus. Her position currently sits within the Office of Sustainability, but she is also a key member of Zero Waste, placed within Facilities Management, dedicated to Concordia’s goals towards waste reduction and diversion.
Anna is keen to connect our community with the materials or resources they need while getting creative to use what we already have instead of buying new.
Arrien Weeks (he/him)
Sustainability Technician
Arrien Weeks is the Sustainability Technician in the Office of Sustainability. In his role under the Zero Waste Program, he spends part of his time managing the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse which he co-founded with Anna Timm-Bottos. He spends the rest of his time working with both non-academic and academic sectors of the university to help them embrace reuse culture at Concordia. Material and tool literacy is his greatest strength in helping Concordians see things differently.
He completed his master's in Art Education in 2022, where he researched how studio-based Fine Arts students learn about sustainable material practices at Concordia. Arrien also holds degrees in multidisciplinary design and industrial design. He is a long-standing member of the sustainability community at Concordia and has lectured on sustainable design here, at McGill and Dawson College. Arrien has been running his own multidisciplinary sustainable design consultancy for over 15 years in Montreal. He is a father, builder, gardener, forager and cook.
Faisal Shennib (he/him)
Environmental Specialist
As the Environmental Specialist, Faisal has been responsible for implementing operational sustainability initiatives for Concordia University since 2009. This has manifested with a particular emphasis on waste management initiatives, leading to the creation of the Zero Waste Program and several related initiatives that he oversees.
Faisal’s educational background is in Engineering, with degrees in Mechanical, Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is also conducting ongoing research into applications of AI and IoT in driving community-scale zero waste behaviors as a PhD Candidate, in the form of the OpenWaste.ai project.
Jackie Martin (she/her)
Urban Agriculture & Biodiversity Coordinator
As the Biodiversity Coordinator Jackie's role is to implement best practices in ecological management and to support our many thriving Urban Agriculture initiatives. This involves leading annual biodiversity assessments, working towards a campus wide biodiversity strategy and creating opportunities for student and faculty to engage meaningfully with the outdoor spaces on campus. Before this role, Jackie completed her undergraduate degree in Human Environment, here at Concordia. Since then, she has been continued to work on campus as the Greenhouse house coordinator at SGW and the City Farm School Coordinator at Loyola. She is very passionate about anything to do with plants and loves spending time outdoors kayaking, hiking and camping with her dog.
