McGill University, Canada

Catalysing community: The Nature of McGill’s Sustainability Projects Fund

The Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) is a unique tool to spark student engagement on campus. Created in 2010 from a shared vision of students and staff, the SPF builds a culture of sustainability on McGill’s campuses through the development and seed-funding of interdisciplinary projects. With an annual value of $1 million, the SPF is the largest dedicated campus sustainability fund of its kind in Canada and is committed to collaboration between students and the University in its financing, decision-making, and project implementation. The Fund has supported 370 projects ranging from student-run gardens to widescale compost infrastructure. Importantly, the SPF gives students a chance to try out their ideas and make a tangible change in their campus community.

Students learn throughout the process of crafting, tweaking, and executing their idea. Fund staff coach them through many aspects of their projects, such as personnel management, communications, procurement and budgeting, and reporting.

What the Judges Thought

McGill University offers a robust project that effectively integrates students into tangible sustainability actions, with measurable results and strong community engagement. One interesting thing is the possibility of “Any student, staff, or faculty member” to apply for funding to start a sustainability project and the clearly defined criteria for the selection of applicants. The concept is very interesting and proves student engagement via the possibility to participate in the enhancement. In addition, the project demonstrates a very good system of democratic process of governance.

What it Means to Win

"The environmental challenges facing our world motivate members of the McGill community, including our students, professors, and staff, to approach our everyday and the University’s mission in more innovative, sustainable ways. This Award recognises the significant efforts our community has made, while also generating momentum to set even more ambitious sustainability objectives for our University.”

Professor Deep Saini, President and Vice-Chancellor 

Top 3 Learnings

1. Providing funds for sustainability represents a catalyst with community benefits beyond the funded projects themselves.
2. Encouraging collaboration between students, staff, and faculty through funding for sustainability projects is highly effective.
3. It is beneficial to hire full-time staff to steward campus sustainability funds.