Concordia University, Canada

Student Sustainability Ambassadors Program

Concordia University’s student Sustainability Ambassadors Program (SAP) provides select students with immersive sustainability leadership experience through an 8-month applied education and volunteer experience. We provide creative engagement opportunities that build students’ skills and competencies as they support a culture of sustainability on campus.

Each year a cohort of 20-30 students avail of high-quality experiential learning through sustainability education, interdisciplinary leadership training, volunteering, community outreach, and project development.

Students graduate from the program having four program-level learning outcomes:

1. Explain sustainability initiatives, resources, and strategies at Concordia while linking them to broader environmental and social challenges.
2. Use social change strategies and personal values to address conflict, problem solve, and confidently make decisions in volunteer locations.
3. Design and implement a report, workshop, presentation, or project that responds effectively and creatively to an on-campus sustainability problem.
4. Plan, motivate and facilitate collaborative and participatory sustainability educational activities that increase sustainability culture on campus.

Top 3 Learnings

1. Students are highly motivated to “get their hands dirty” and apply their learning and skills while studying.
2. Sustainability organizations benefit greatly from a consistent and leadership-trained group of volunteers.
3. Sustainability learning must be taken outside of the classroom in order to be fully effective in training the next generation of sustainability leaders.