Congratulations to BCIT for being recognized as the number one Top Performer in a new milestone report from Colleges and Institutes Canada’s (CICan) ImpAct – Climate initiative.
Released in September 2022 during Global Goals Week, the “Are We Ready?” report details the role played by CICan members in addressing climate change and supporting Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy. Global Goals Week is an annual week of action, awareness, and accountability for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 13: Climate Action calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
The CICan ImpAct – Climate initiative aims to raise awareness of greenhouse gases and promote behavioural change to reduce emissions within the college and institute sector.
The goal of CICan’s research was to better understand climate and sustainability-related initiatives across member institutions within three categories:
- Curriculum
- Campus Infrastructure and Indigenous Approaches to Sustainability
- Applied Research and Community Engagement
Approximately 10% of all college and institute programs incorporate the principles of sustainability.
According to CICan, “This report is intended as a showcase of sustainable design and initiatives, a resource to inspire more leaders in the post-secondary sector to take action and as a means to support collaborative approaches – one of our greatest tools in the fight against climate change.”
Recognized success in Climate and Sustainability Curriculum
BCIT is the Top Performer in the Curriculum category and is showcased in the Building Construction and Performance section of the report (pages 15 – 19). BCIT Zero Energy/Emissions Buildings Learning Centre (ZEBLC) combines many facets of net zero energy and passive house construction, energy modeling, and energy management.
Alex Hebert, Manager ZEBLC, presented in the report launch webinar hosted by CICan discussing “Is our curriculum ready to support a low-carbon economy?” The webinar shared strategies to inspire more post-secondary leaders to act in the fight to combat climate change.
“Sustainability has been embedded in everything we do at BCIT. A few years ago, we launched a Learning Centre called the Zero Energy/Emissions Building Learning Centre with the intent of offering support to the construction industry for their transition to building net zero energy or zero carbon buildings.”
Alex went on to say, “Students can come to see real wall assemblies that would meet the passive house standard and build practice walls. The Learning Centre “secret sauce” is that we have staff that are totally dedicated at evolving the curriculum and we can extend the service to full time faculty that are interested in joining the movement.”
After the webinar Alex said “It was a fun exercise to present on the good work BCIT does, one day in English, the next day in French. I noted that BCIT is truly a leader in sustainability education in Canada.”
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Upcoming CICan Webinars
This webinar was part one of a three-part series following the release of the report. Each webinar explores one of CICan’s three categories of initiatives being undertaken by their members. The next two webinars are free and open to all students, staff, and faculty:
- October 26: How can campus infrastructure and Indigenous approaches help us reach net-zero?
- November 23: Can applied research and community engagement help lower our carbon footprints?
BCIT and the SDGs
Learn more about the many ways BCIT is addressing SDG 13 and the SDGs through education, operations, and community engagement. This includes the SDG Accord which has been signed by both BCIT and the BCIT Student Association.
SEE MORE: BCIT recognized as top performer in the 2022 Sustainable Campus Index