Goal 13 - Institutional Stewardship Initiatives

Institutional Stewardship Initiatives

Adaptation Resilience Training

Each year, the Adaptation Resilience Training provides 30+ recent graduates from across Alberta with an eight month paid internship working to prepare Alberta for the impacts of climate change. This program gives recent students workplace experience that will help them continue jobs in the climate adaptation field.

Energy Transition Leadership Network

The Energy Transition Leadership Network is a group of more than 100 leaders who work in commercial, industrial, non-profit, educational and institutional sectors. They represent organizations who are passionate about the City of Edmonton's energy transition strategy, with members working together to turn ideas into action. The U of A is represented by members of the Sustainability Council and Energy Management & Sustainable Operations.

Forest Reserve

The University of Alberta has reserved approximately eight hectares of land on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River adjacent to North Campus. This land is set aside and will not be developed, sequestering approximately 55 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year. In addition, reserving this land maintains an unbroken length of the river valley, helping to preserve wildlife habitat and biodiversity.

Greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan

In 2014, the university set a goal to reduce emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020, matching the Government of Canada's goal set under the Copenhagen Accord. As a globally recognized leader in post-secondary education and research, and a leader in sustainability, the University of Alberta plans to align future reductions plans with changing government commitments.

Greenhouse gas emissions reporting

The University of Alberta released detailed greenhouse gas emissions inventory reports for its baseline year (2005–06) and first reporting year (2012–13) and publishes its annual inventory numbers in a public GHG Emissions Dashboard. The inventory allows Facilities & Operations to better plan for reductions, manage sustainability data and support sustainability reporting.

La Cité Résiliente

La Cité Résiliente: A Decade in Transition was a bilingual, community-based energy transition project organized by Campus Saint-Jean professor Sheena Wilson. The project brought together university and community members to respond directly to the City of Edmonton’s materials on climate resiliency, imagining the possibilities and opportunities for community engagement on climate change. The project helped the University of Alberta’s francophone campus adapt to the impacts of climate change.