Announcing the University of Calgary as the Next Host for SDSN Canada

Original post shared by University of Waterloo/SDSN Canada on 06/20/2023: https://uwaterloo.ca/sustainable-development-solutions-network-canada/news/announcing-university-calgary-next-host-sdsn-canada

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set an ambitious global agenda to guide action on the most urgent economic, social, and environmental challenges facing our planet. The COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, and climate change-induced escalation of wildfire and flooding activity are but a few examples of the continued importance and necessity of working to achieve the SDGs.

Recognizing the role that post-secondary institutions can and should play in advancing sustainable development, in 2018, the University of Waterloo proudly accepted an invitation to serve as the inaugural host of SDSN Canada, a national network to mobilize Canada’s post-secondary sector for action on the SDGs. Since its founding, SDSN Canada has rallied Canada’s universities and colleges to work together on SDG-related research, piloted new models of teaching the SDGs in our classrooms, worked with students to found SDG campus hubs, and brought together over 6,000 people through regular webinars, advocacy campaigns, and speaking engagements to advance the SDGs in our communities, governments, and campuses. They have developed scores of new partnerships across industries to advance SDGs initiatives, represented Canada at the United Nations, and founded and led the Together|Ensemble conference, Canada’s only annual all-of-society gathering for the SDGs.

After an open call for proposals amongst the SDSN Canada membership, the University of Calgary has been selected to be the next SDSN Canada host institution, effective July 1, 2024. The team at UCalgary will take the summer to set up communications, governance, staffing, and priority setting for the coming three years.

SDSN looks forward to working collaboratively with the leadership at the University of Calgary during this transition time and to continue SDSN Canada’s contributions as a global leader in sustainability research, education and innovation. The world faces many big challenges, and the SDGs continue to prove as relevant as ever as a guiding ambition through these tumultuous times.

“We are proud to have been the inaugural host and for everything SDSN Canada has been able to accomplish. After six years, we believe giving other Canadian institutions the opportunity to lead SDSN Canada will strengthen the network and support the ethos of the SDGs to have distributed and diversified leadership structures.”

You contact SDSN Canada at the University of Calgary: sdsncanada@ucalgary.ca.