SDG 17 - Strategic Initiatives
Relationships
Western University collaborates with NGOs and government on SDG policy development and strategies. Some key partnerships include:
- Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction: Conducts multidisciplinary disaster prevention research, including modeling potential futures with and without interventions; focuses on monitoring and reporting the effectiveness of these interventions and enabling adaptive management strategies; and partners with NGOs like the Canadian Red Cross Society to reduce the loss of life and property caused by severe weather and earthquakes.
- United Way: Partners with Western in the local community to advocate for public policy changes aimed at reducing poverty, providing food and basic needs, and reducing homelessness.
- Central Canadian Symposium on Water Quality Research: Unites experts, researchers, NGOs, policymakers, and other stakeholders to tackle water quality issues. It also encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and problem-solving through interactive workshops that provide strategies for improving and conserving water quality in support of SDG6.
- London Environmental Network: Partners with Western to protect the environment and build a more sustainable city by offering environmental programs and climate action opportunities locally.
- The Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance: Contributes to SDG policy development by identifying urban challenges, developing innovative policies, and modeling future scenarios through projects like LoGov-RISE. It also studies the responsibilities of different government levels, financial arrangements, and public participation.
- WeCLISH (Western Centre for Climate Change, Sustainable Livelihoods and Health): Engages with researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations, NGOs, and local communities to co-produce knowledge that informs policy development. This collaborative approach helps identify problems and challenges related to climate change and sustainable development.
- The Northern Tornadoes Project: Collaborates with Environment and Climate Change Canada and other organizations to improve tornado detection and inform policy development. It provides critical data for emergency response planning, models future scenarios, and maintains transparency through public data reporting, enhancing climate resilience and disaster preparedness.
- The Centre for Multi-hazard Risk and Resilience: Conducts extensive research to understand the risks associated with natural hazards and their impacts on communities and infrastructure. It uses advanced modeling techniques to predict outcomes of various scenarios and monitors the effectiveness of implemented policies and strategies.
- The Carbon Solutions initiative: Collaborates with industry, government, and community organizations to address carbon reduction and replacement. Funded projects explore, demonstrate, or validate viable solutions, including demonstration projects, prototypes, system testing, designs, and intellectual property. This initiative focuses on the circular economy to develop sustainable life cycle strategies for products, energy usage, and recycling.
- The Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre: Collaborates with industry, government, and academia to develop effective energy policies and strategies. It conducts extensive research and provides expert consultation to inform policy-making and support sustainable energy practices. It also educates future leaders and monitors the effectiveness of energy interventions to enable adaptive management.
- ICFAR (Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources): Specializes in biomass conversion, waste-to-energy technologies, and sustainable chemical processes. ICFAR collaborates with governments and NGOs to address environmental and energy challenges, contributing to SDG policy development. Additionally, it identifies problems, develops strategies, models future scenarios, and monitors the effectiveness of interventions to ensure adaptable and research-based policies.
Cross-Sectoral Dialogue About SDGs
Western University actively engages in cross-sectoral dialogue about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The university hosts and participates in various events and initiatives that involve collaboration with government bodies, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
- Interdisciplinary Approaches to Development through SDGs: During SDG Week, Western hosted this seminar exploring local, national, and global development to increase awareness and engagement in the UN SDGs.
- Western Sustainable Leaders Program: Guest speakers from across campus and the broader community are engaged to provide opportunities for students to network with professionals and peers involved with a wide range of sustainability initiatives on campus and in the community.
- Central Canadian Symposium on Water Quality Research: Unites experts, researchers, NGOs, and stakeholders to address water quality issues.
- Gender Equality Coalition of Ontario: Through virtual panel discussions, the coalition brings together activists, experts, and allies to explore diverse topics through a gendered lens, aiming to empower individuals, promote inclusion, and raise consciousness in communities across Ontario.
- Local Government Alumni Conference: Municipal working professionals and anyone involved in or aspiring to work in municipal government, or any organization interacting with local government explore how to put vision and values into practice.
- Canada’s Role in the Future of Nuclear Energy: This conference explores the future of Canada’s nuclear sector, both domestically and internationally, with speakers from across Canada.
- Building Reconciliation Forum: An initiative of Universities Canada, Western’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives (OII) hosted the annual Building Reconciliation Forum providing this event for educators, administrators, and students in the postsecondary sector to share promising practices and innovative ideas for advancing Reconciliation in the academy.
SDG Best Practice
Western University collaborates for SDG best practices through international collaboration and research, reviews comparative approaches, and develops international best practices on tackling the SDGs.
We are active members of Sustainability Organizations:
- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education: AASHE’s mission is to inspire and catalyze higher education to lead the global sustainability transformation.
- London Environmental Network: This NGO strengthens connections with local community groups that are doing environmental work across many different facets of sustainability.
- Ontario College and University Sustainability Professionals: OCUSP shares ideas and best practices for sustainability programming and operation among institutions.
- Sustainable Development Solutions Network: The SDSN operates at the intersections of science, policy, and development practice to maximize SDG achievements at the global, regional, national, and local levels. They support peer-to-peer learning to promote the identification of best practices and local solutions, as well as global and regional cooperation to achieve the SDGs.
- University Climate Change Coalition: UC3 connects some of the world’s leading research universities committed to accelerating climate action on campus, in communities, and at a global scale. The coalition applies its strengths in teaching, research, and building community resilience.
Collaboration with NGOs
Western collaborates with NGOs to tackle the SDGs. Western Research facilitates flexible and beneficial relationships among the university research community and industry, government, and non-profit partners.
Volunteering Programs:
- Student Volunteering | Leadership: Our careers office connects students with volunteer opportunities on campus and beyond, providing support to NGOs.
- Community Engaged Learning: The CEL program integrates service to the community with curricular course credit, providing practical experience in the community.
- Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: This innovative program is aimed at supporting student-led initiatives that engage with our local communities to collaboratively advance sustainability. Teams of students conduct research projects focusing on at least one of the 17 SDGs.
- Volunteer with Western International: Many opportunities exist for students to get involved with NGOs like United Way and Pillar Nonprofit Network.
- Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging: Helps volunteers gain meaningful experience while supporting older adults in our community.
- Volunteers in Progress: This structured program facilitates volunteering in local hospitals.
Research Programs:
- Maternal Newborn and Child Health in Rwanda: This partnership among the National University of Rwanda, Western University, and the Kigali Health Institute aims to enhance midwifery and pediatric nursing, and improve maternal, newborn, and child health policies.
- Partnership with Joint Clinical Research Centre: This interdisciplinary education, training, and research collaboration establishes a long-term commitment to address the world’s most challenging global health issues.
- Partnership with VinUni College of Health Sciences: Western is actively seeking new opportunities for collaborative research in population health with this NGO.
- Western Heads East: From interns to African partnerships, from research outputs to transformational learning experiences, Western Heads East continues to make a difference through research, teaching, and service in Canada and abroad, contributing to all 17 SDGs.
- BrainsCAN Mitacs Partnership: Western’s BrainsCAN has partnered with the NGO Mitacs to support neuroscience research.
- Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Composites Research: This NGO partnership researches composite materials to make an international impact in growing sectors such as automotive, aerospace, defense, construction, medical devices, and renewable energy.
Educational Resources:
- Ivey’s 39 Country Initiative: Provides free access to Ivey Publishing, disseminating teaching content for faculty in the world’s poorest 46 countries, to support SDG 1 No poverty, SDG 4 Quality Education, and SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth.
- SDG Week Canada: Western partnered with SDG Cities and Pillar Nonprofit Network to educate students and the local community on how to advance the SDGs in their own sphere of influence.
- Climate Crisis Coalition – Western Chapter: CCC is an NGO that facilitates, participates in, and publicizes local and national climate actions that draw attention to the climate crisis and the strong measures needed to address it.
- Engineers without Borders – Western Chapter: This NGO educates about the SDGs through toolkits, workshops, community engagement, and online resources to contribute to an equitable and sustainable future for marginalized people and the planet.
- Discovery Healthcare: This one-week medical science summer camp is designed to connect high school students with local NGOs to mentor and inspire interest in a career in healthcare.
- Purple Hands: This student-run NGO bridges the gap between the student populations and marginalized and vulnerable individuals in London through outreach, advocacy, and educational events and campaigns about homelessness.
