Mohawk College commits to UN Sustainable Development Goals

Mohawk College is proud to be a recent signatory of the SDG Accord, the university and college sector’s collective response to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs).

SDG Mohawk is among 21 colleges and polytechnics in Canada that have signed the accord and committed themselves to improvement in all aspects of their activity and operation, in accordance with the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs explains that the SDGs “recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”

Established in September 2017, the purpose of the SDG Accord is twofold:

To inspire, celebrate and advance the critical role that education has in delivering the SDGs and the value it brings to governments, business and wider society.
To get institutions to commit to doing more to deliver the goals, to annually report on their progress, and to do so in ways which share the learning with each other both nationally and internationally.

Mohawk College has been actively engaged in many areas covered by the 17 goals and has been a recognized leader in some.

The college’s accomplishments in green sustainable development (Goal 11-Sustainable Cities & Communities) and climate action (Goal 13-Climate Action) have been nationally and internationally recognized.
As have the ground-breaking work of the IDEAWORKS applied research division (Goal 9-Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure).
City School, Community Integration through Co-operative Education, and Continuing Education programs help make education accessible to everyone (Goal 4-Quality Education, Goal 8- Decent Work and Economic Growth).
The Women in Technology & Trades, Social Inc. and the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion strive to support a safe and welcoming college environment for all (Goal 5-Gender Equity, Goal 10 – Reduced Inequalities).

As a signatory member of the SGD Accord, the college has committed to making further progress in these and all of the 17 SDG goals.

Additional information and updates about Mohawk’s SDG initiatives will soon be shared on a dedicated SDG microsite.

Share your Sustainable Efforts

Also, respecting that Accord members are required to report on their progress on the 17 sustainable development goals, the Sustainability Office has started to assemble an inventory of Mohawk College initiatives, services and research projects that support the SDGs.

If you are currently addressing one or more of the 17 goals in your work practices or are otherwise involved in advancing any of the SDGs in a college initiative, you are invited to share some information about it. By recording and monitoring our SDG-related efforts, we can share our best-practices within our college community, and with other institutions, as we work together to support sustainable development at home and around the world.

Please share your SDG-related efforts with Allison Maxted, Manager of the Sustainability Office at allison.maxted@mohawkcollege.ca.