Self-Sustaining Campus and Sites
McMaster University campus in the springtime.
McMaster is recognizing the interconnectedness between the health of the environment and the community’s well-being. To create a self-sustaining campus, McMaster will focus on:
- McMaster Active and Alternative Transportation
- Eco Parks and Greenspace
- Health and Well-being
Information Box Group
Bike repair station on McMaster campus.
Active and Alternative Transportation
McMaster intends to support students, faculty members and staff in choosing active and alternative modes of transportation:
- Further develop the multi-modal transportation systems that connect to campus.
- Gather data on work-related transportation behaviour.
- Promote inclusive, alternative and active modes of transportation.
- Keep inclusive, active and alternative modes of transportation top of mind when developing McMaster’s next Campus Master Plan.
Eco Parks and Greenspace
McMaster’s commitment to greenspace goes beyond our 300-acre campus.
To preserve natural lands, McMaster will:
- Coordinate and partner with our neighbouring ecological stewards.
- Promote healthy ecosystems by planting native trees and plant species.
- Protect biodiverse ecosystems within the university’s natural lands.
- Explore new opportunities to include greenspace in teaching, learning and research.
Information Box Group
An Academic Sustainability Program student at a tree planting event.
Health and Well-being
McMaster recognizes the intersection between human health and sustainability. To support well-being, McMaster will:
- Explore how greenspace can promote mental well-being.
- Respond to the ways climate change and colonization impact well-being.
- Create a strategy for self-sustaining food systems on campus, including food production via community gardens and other mechanisms, while also addressing food insecurity.
- Develop more sustainability-minded food procurement processes at our sites.
A MESSAGE FROM Saher fazilat, VICE-PRESIDENT, operations & finance.
This is a pivotal moment to be a sustainability-focused leader at McMaster University.
By developing the first university-wide Sustainability Strategy at McMaster, we embarked on mapping and committing to improve the ways sustainability runs through every part of the institution, from innovative teaching and research, to the campus environment and operations.
