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imagineCALGARY Institutional Partners Gather to Discuss Sustainability
On February 23, 2009, a number of imagineCALGARY Partners gathered to discuss sustainability and the issues that are specific to larger institutions with broad mandates. Hosted by The City of Calgary, the informal meeting included representatives from:
• Bow Valley College
• Calgary Board of Education
• Calgary Economic Development
• The City of Calgary
• Mount Royal College
• Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
• University of Calgary
The discussion included outlining tactics that have been successful in implementing sustainability in these kinds of organizations, shared challenges, opportunities for collaboration and ideas for ways to support one another as a group with common context within the imagineCALGARY Partnership.
“We felt that this was an important step to bring these organizations together,” says Linda Spencer, Manager of the imagineCALGARY Transition Team at The City of Calgary. “Given our numbers of employees, the complexity of our organizational structures and our broad mandates, institutional Partners have a great deal of learning to share with one another. These kinds of meetings ensure we have opportunities to help each other in moving towards making our city more sustainable.”
Some key themes that emerged from the meeting:
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Build on what is already working.
In our institutions, people are often working at or near capacity. Positioning the things they are already doing as an early success will help build understanding, momentum and commitment. |
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Look for champions, regardless of their position in the organization.
While it is essential to have senior leadership, it is important for all kinds of groups within our organizations to take ownership and act towards sustainability. |
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Have a key central sustainability “hub.”
While action should happen across the organization and at all levels, it is important to have a “hub” that provides resources, information and coordination to the sustainability champions throughout the organization. This is especially critical in large institutions where there is great complexity. |
The meeting was well received by Partners, and provided an effective platform for future discussion and collaboration. “There was a great deal of interest and enthusiasm to bring this group back together,” Linda says. “As our individual organizations move forward, this group of institutional Partners will be able to learn from each other and ensure that we are all more effective in our actions.”
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