London - In dozens of projects on campus, and as far away as Kenya, The University of Western Ontario is both leading and partnering initiatives that will make our campus, and the world, a ‘greener’ place to live.

On Thursday, Western and 19 other Ontario universities made a public commitment to the environment by delivering Premier Dalton McGuinty a province-wide sustainability pledge entitled ”Ontario Universities: Committed to a Greener World” during a special ceremony at Queen’s Park.

The pledge articulates a university commitment to integrate sustainability into all three pillars of campus life: academic programs, research activities and operating practices. Accompanying the pledge is a comprehensive report of sustainability initiatives currently underway in Ontario universities.

“From robust recycling and waste management programs to environmentally-focused research and interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate student programs, Western has demonstrated leadership in sustainability over the past decade," says Western President Amit Chakma. “Our signing of this commitment is simply an affirmation of our current course of action.”

The pledge does, however, serve as the nexus for further discussion about environmentalism at Western. The University has struck a new campus-wide committee dedicated to fostering environmental initiatives on campus and identifying and measuring tangible targets.

“Academic experts and senior administration are working together with our student leaders to determine which programs and processes we can measure. From there, the University can set goals to reduce consumption,” says Gitta Kulczycki, Vice-President (Resources & Operations), who co-chairs the committee with Fred Longstaffe, Provost and Vice-President (Academic).

Will Bortolin, VP Campus Issues and past EnviroWestern coordinator, says, “It’s exciting to see Western making a formal commitment to environmentalism. The pledge recognizes many of the students’ priorities relating to sustainability and hopefully paves the way for more initiatives in the future. We’re excited to engage in discussions about how best to accomplish our sustainability objectives.”

EnviroWestern’s GROW (Growing Roots Over Western) initiative was specifically highlighted in the summary version of the provincial report. GROW has established a community garden, located just south of Western’s TD Waterhouse Stadium, where team members can grow, harvest and share their own pesticide-free vegetables.

In Kenya, the Lake Naivasha Ecosystem Health project has Western partnering with local residents, and business and government leaders to turn the economically important region surrounding Lake Navaisha into a healthy and sustainable ecosystem. With a $600,000 grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre, Western physicians, pathologists, biologists and geographers are working in the area to address pollution, water scarcity and business practices associated with the local cut-flower industry. Extensive irrigation and pesticide use threatens water levels and water quality for the people living and working near the lake.