McMaster University recognizes and acknowledges that it is located on the traditional territories of the Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations, and within the lands protected by the Dish With One Spoon wampum agreement.
Welcome to the second annual Sustainability Report. This report has been created in alignment with McMaster’s inaugural, university-wide Sustainability Strategy: A Living Laboratory for Sustainability 2022-26. The strategy was created in collaboration with our community and aligns with our vision to advance human and societal health and well-being.
Transforming McMaster’s campus into a living laboratory for sustainability is a university priority. Every year, McMaster is committed to sharing and celebrating our progress in all areas of sustainability. This report shares our progress over the last year within the four strategic drivers of our strategy: 1. A Culture Focused on Sustainability 2. Teaching, Learning and Research 3. Self-Sustaining Campus and Sites and 4. Operational Excellence. Sustainability at McMaster is guided by principles that look through a lens of Indigeneity, and focus on equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion.
I hope you enjoy reading about some of the recent progress in carbon reduction, energy and waste management. We continue to pursue the goal of being a carbon free campus.
It is clear that sustainability, in all its forms, matters to the McMaster community. This report includes a map of how every initiative is connected to McMaster’s responsibility to address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) across disciplines, Faculties and units.
When it comes to sustainability, McMaster has collectively committed to collaborating across the university, listening to feedback and setting ambitious goals. More work is underway, more progress will be made, and we will continue to seek the collaboration of our students, faculty and staff along the way.
David Farrar President and Vice-Chancellor
Strategic Driver 1:
Strategic Driver 2:
Strategic Driver 3:
Strategic Driver 4:
McMaster’s Sustainability Strategy: A Living Laboratory for Sustainability was developed through an engagement process with input provided by students, faculty and staff.
Interwoven throughout the strategy’s four drivers continues to be the principles guiding our campus’ transformation into a living laboratory of sustainability.
Debbie Martin, Assistant Vice-President and Chief Facilities Officer Kate Whelan, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Lalita Goray, Director, Design and Construction
McMaster’s inaugural, university-wide Sustainability Strategy launched on Earth Day, April 22 2022. That same day, three events were held with the goal of inspiring action about the challenges facing our planet and society. On Earth Day, the shelves of the McMaster Community Fridge shelves were filled by donations from our community to help address food insecurity for re-use or recycling at the ACCESS Tech donation drive, students, faculty and staff donated hundreds of used technology items, keeping them out of landfills and sharing them with Hamiltonians in need. At the McMaster Carbon Sink Forest, volunteers from our community planted 250 trees. Leading up to these events, students, faculty and staff collaborated for months on sustainability-related initiatives that encourage McMaster’s community members to participate.
McMaster’s Sustainable Advisory Council (MSAC) will continue to support and connect students, faculty and staff who are leading initiatives that will transform our campus into a living laboratory for sustainability. Next year, our council hopes to see more opportunities for involvement and more community members inspired to participate in sustainability-related initiatives.
We want to invite all of McMaster’s community to get involved and collaborate across campus to achieve McMaster’s Sustainability Strategy. Our ability to work together with students, faculty and staff as partners, is one of our many strengths.
The progress in this report was made possible by Susan Tighe, Provost and Vice-President, Academic and Saher Fazilat, Vice-President, Operations and Finance, who are the champions of McMaster’s Sustainability Strategy.
We would like to express our gratitude to the members of the MSAC and the McMaster community for their support for sustainable projects this year. Finally, we would like to thank you for reading our second Sustainability Report.
Please note that the initiatives highlighted in this report are non-exhaustive. For more information on how McMaster is addressing all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), visit McMaster’s Sustainable Development Goals site.
Connect with us:
You can learn more about McMaster’s Sustainability Strategy and view previous sustainability reports on our website at sustainability.mcmaster.ca.