SDG 4 - Strategic Initiatives
Lifelong Learning
Western provides several resources for those not enrolled as students:
- Open Educational Resources (OER): Offering valuable resources and tools through free, open content designed to support educators and the general public.
- Library Access: Public access to libraries, allowing visitors to browse collections for free. Guest borrowing options are available and free for community members.
- Online Courses and Webinars: Various online courses and webinars are open to the public, covering topics such as mental health, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Public Lectures and Events: Hosting public lectures and events open to the community, featuring guest speakers on a wide range of subjects.
- Complimentary Cases for Secondary School Classrooms: Ivey is renowned for its Case-Method of Learning. They make a selection of cases available to secondary teachers.
- Instructional Technology Resource Center: The eLearning Technology team works with faculty to pursue a Creative Commons license for their digital course content to benefit the global community.
Public Events
Western hosts many events that are open to the general public, both ad hoc and programmed. Use the Western Events Calendar to filter by General Public and discover a wealth of public events every month. Eventbrite also lists many public events hosted on campus or conveniently located throughout the city of London, of which approximately half are free.
The events below are free and open to the public:
- Western Science: Holds several open free events throughout the year to highlight the breadth and depth of our scholarly engagement and to engage members of the public, industry, and government in our research enterprise.
- Public Afternoons at the Hutchinson Suite: Each month is a different geoscience theme with activities for ages 6 and up.
- Public Lectures at Rotman Institute of Philosophy: hosts a variety of public events, including interdisciplinary panel discussions and public lectures.
- Annual Library Lecture Series: The Rotman Institute of Philosophy organizes a public lecture series co-sponsored with the London Public Library and the Department of Philosophy.
- FIMS Public Events: The Faculty of Information & Media Studies hosts a variety of talks in-person and on-line that are public to all.
- Statistical and Actuarial Sciences: Host public lectures every week.
- Public Law Research Group: This group has organized and supported lectures, conferences, public forums, roundtables, research showcases, and reading groups.
- Biology Seminars: Exploring all aspects of biology, these seminars are open to the public and held weekly during the academic year.
- Schulich Visiting Speaker Seminar: Biochemistry hosts regular visiting speakers.
- Grand Rounds in Family Medicine: Sessions present family medicine topics in-person or online.
- Psychology in the Community: Hosts public lectures that may be of interest to members of the London and area community.
- Canada-Africa Academic Collaborations Conference: This conference presents collaborative research on education, policy, climate and environment, indigenous studies, infectious diseases, and non-communicable diseases.
- High School History Day: Entire classes (grades 10-12) and individual registrants are welcome to choose from a variety of lectures and tutorials.
- McIntosh Gallery: The gallery hosts regular events to showcase a variety of art, free and open to the public.
- Art Exhibitions: All art exhibitions at the McIntosh Gallery are open to the public.
- Music Performances: These include Friday performances, operas, faculty and guest artist concerts, and more. All performances are open to the public, some are free, and some are a small fee.
- Public Nights at Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory: A time to view the skies through our telescopes and to pose your favorite questions to the astronomers hosting the evening. There is typically a presentation of general astronomical interest to be held in the main floor lecture theatre.
- Museum of Archaeology Workshops: Family-friendly workshops explore traditions through a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, blending Western and Indigenous perspectives.
- Ivey Events: From storytelling to seeding a startup to paint nights, Ivey hosts a multitude of events each year.
Vocational Learning
We believe learning should be lifelong, so we continue to provide educational opportunities open to high school students, graduates, working professionals, and anyone wanting to advance in their learning journey.
- Western Continuing Studies: Provides opportunities for everyone to keep learning.
- Post-Degree Programs: Full and part-time career-focused credit programs, such as marketing and human resources.
- Professional Programs: Upskill with a micro-credential or certificate in topics like communication, leadership, and management.
- Corporate Learning: Partner with Western for your corporate learning needs, choosing from existing training or developing customized programs.
- Ivey Academy: Provides executive education programs.
- For Individuals: Accelerate your professional development journey with contemporary topics in strategy, finance, communication, and more.
- For organizations: Across every level of talent development, we help guide your leaders with custom programs, strategic facilitation, and team coaching.
- Continuing Medical Education: Develops and delivers continuing medical education programs for healthcare professionals located throughout Southwestern Ontario and across Canada through small-group face-to-face workshops and online modules.
- Anatomy Outreach: We offer workshops for groups in various health professions which provide a hands-on experience that is not possible during formal training.
- ASPirE: Advanced Studies in Professional Education offers additional qualification courses for current teachers to upgrade skills.
- Surface Science Western: Offers courses, workshops, and training for industrial clientele led by national and international experts in the analysis and characterization of surfaces and materials.
- Kodály Certification: This program provides upgrading and training to experienced and emerging music teachers.
- The Founder’s Journey: A free, online course that guides participants through the step-by-step process of launching a business, earning a certificate upon completion.
Education Outreach
Western undertakes many educational outreach activities in the local community and schools.
- Community Partnerships: Western Engineering Outreach has a long history of being involved in our local community – we are always ready to share our STEM passion. We are strong believers in not duplicating programming but partnering with existing programs to make them even better.
- Queering Engineering Conference: Free conference to high school students and their guardians to support diversity in engineering.
- Boys & Girls Club of London: Western engineering facilitates weekly virtual programming for children and youth.
- Neighbourhood Resource Centres: Western engineering facilitates monthly virtual programming for the community in several local neighbourhoods.
- Teacher Professional Development: Free sessions are offered to support grade 4-12 teachers and librarians.
- High School Programs: These include leaders in training, summer academy, FIRST robotics, Just for Girls, and high school co-ops.
- In-School Workshops: These workshops are for elementary and secondary classes, which increase the awareness and enjoyment of science and engineering while complimenting the Ontario Science and Technology Curriculum.
- Western Mathematics Exposition Competition: High school students from grades 9 to 12 join as a team of 2-3 students and work under supervision of a mentor to research one of the announced themes and develop a poster, a video, or a mathematical artifact.
- Science Rendezvous: This annual event is free for all ages. We have activities, prizes, and scientific displays for the whole family, plus you get to complete the national Science Chase race!
- Experiential Learning Academy for Biomedical Sciences: Designed to make biomedical sciences more accessible for students from diverse backgrounds, this program exposes 10 promising students from area high schools to every aspect of a potential career in biomedical sciences.
- Earth Science Outreach: Offers a variety of activities to encourage interest in geology, geophysics, and the environmental geosciences to the younger student population.
- Math Outreach: The Department of Mathematics offers several outreach programs for students from grades 1 to 12 to develop experience in the community by allowing students to create future partnerships and mentorship opportunities.
- Math & Statistical Science Outreach: Enriches our connection with the community and fosters relationships with future students through summer camps, teacher enrichment, and more.
- Discovery Healthcare: Engages and mentors youth in Southwestern Ontario to support and inspire interest in pursuing a diverse range of healthcare careers by providing them with an interactive and fun summer camp experience in their local community.
- Ivey Hackathon: Offers hundreds of students from all over the world an opportunity to showcase their talent and learn from others.
- Science Outreach: Collaborates with community organizations and schools to engage with London families, friends, and future students interested in science at community venues and on campus throughout the year.
- Let’s Talk Science: Volunteers engage Canadian youth in a wide variety of meaningful STEM learning experiences in both school and community settings.
- Chemistry Outreach: Showcases the wonder and excitement of chemistry to audiences of all ages, acquainting the general public, prospective students, and young inquisitive minds with the fun side of science.
- Paediatric Regional Outreach Program: Provides education for hospitals and medical facilities in London and the surrounding communities.
- Canadian Lunar Research Network Outreach: Partners with Western Space to provide exploration activities and classroom style introductions to lunar science.
- Medical Science Community Outreach: Connects Schulich students to volunteering opportunities in London and Middlesex.
- High School Composition & Songwriting Competition: Students currently attending a Canadian high school submit a music recording for cash and coaching prizes.
- High School Vocal Competition: If you are a Canadian secondary school student thinking about pursuing post-secondary studies in music, this is a great way to prepare your audition repertoire, experience Western’s voice area, meet professors and students, and tour the Don Wright Faculty of Music.
- Music Outreach: With wide-ranging opportunities for all ages—from school-aged to retirement—we are pleased to host and offer specialized musical programming for the community.
- Ivey High School Case Competitions: These competitions are held in cities across Canada, challenging students to collaborate in teams, solve business cases, and present their ideas to a panel of judges.
- Ivey’s John F. Wood Summer Leadership Symposium: Through a focus on business and leadership, students will explore essential competencies such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, public speaking, and team management.
- High School History Day: History is about exploration and discovery—grades 10-12 join us to discover new things about people you thought you knew and events you thought you understood.
- Public History project: A community engagement project that discovers the diverse human stories defining the SoHo neighbourhood.
- Anthropology Outreach: Works to provide accessible educational materials related to all fields of anthropology and archaeology and offer interactive learning experiences for young students who are passionate about STEM and the humanities, including class visits.
- Rotman Lecture Series: Organizes a public lecture series co-sponsored with the London Public Library and the Department of Philosophy, hosted downtown London at the public library.
- K-12 Outreach: This outreach introduces students to philosophy, including scheduling class visits.
- Local Impact Experience: Western students support community projects during Western’s Reading Weeks with leadership elements and workshops, combined with service and reflection.
- Early Outreach: Western collaborates with the City of London, Middlesex County, Thames Valley District School Board, Fanshawe College, and a diverse range of non-profit organizations in the community to ensure that the conference addresses the various needs of students during the transition from elementary school to high school.
- Pre-recorded Learning Development Presentations: These presentations cover topics such as Successful Time Management, Memory Strategies, and Designing a Nighttime Routine.
- Uniting Our Nations Programming with Indigenous Youth: In partnership with Ontario’s Thames Valley District School Board, these programs focus on healthy relationships, delivered within a culturally relevant context.
- Track and Field Day: An event for Indigenous students grades 6-8 from elementary schools across Southwestern Ontario.
- Mini-University Program: Introduces Indigenous youth (ages 11-17) to post-secondary living and experiences and helps them develop an awareness of career options following high school.
- Community Engaged Learning: Community-driven problem solving and collaboration results in mutually beneficial outcomes for students and community partners alike.
- Engage Western: Designed to strengthen connections between the university and the local community, the event provides attendees with insights into Western’s research activities.
Accessible Education
As the Accessibility at Western policy affirms, Western is committed to recognizing the dignity and independence of all staff, students, faculty and visitors and seeks to ensure that persons with disabilities have genuine, open and unhindered access to University goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises. This applies regardless of age, ancestry, immigration status, ethnic origin, place of origin, creed (religion), disability, family status, marital status, gender identity, sex, and sexual orientation (see also protected grounds in Ontario).
Visit the Accessibility website to learn more about topics such as:
