Dawson College wins international sustainability award by 'living the learning'

Through initiatives like its edible rooftop gardens, planting trees on campus and a commitment to carbon neutrality, Montreal's Dawson College has for years proven to be a leader in sustainability. 

Now, it's been crowned a champion of it. 

The CEGEP has won Sustainability Institution of the Year at the International Green Gown Awards, which recognize and celebrate the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges around the world.

Dawson came out on top, out of 56 finalists from schools across 19 countries.

Chris Adam, the co-ordinator of Dawson's sustainability office, says the win is all thanks to the CEGEP's Living Campus initiative — a series of projects that make Dawson greener, with a focus on well-being for all and building community.

"A living campus is a platform where we celebrate living the learning: hands on, real world experiences, regardless of the discipline involved," Adam said.

"To me, that's the greater purpose of education. That we have a role beyond just the classroom to our communities and to the country. And I think this award actually validates what we're doing at Dawson."

This award comes two years after Dawson achieved the gold-level accreditation for leadership in sustainability from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Sustainability projects at the CEGEP range from tackling food insecurity and social justice to more typical environmental ones, such as maintaining green spaces around the school that attract pollinators and different kinds of birds, as well as recycling and composting. 

Kal Rochon, an environmental science student at Dawson and sustainability student ambassador, is one of several student volunteers picking fruits and vegetables from one of the school's gardens this week, to be donated to Resilience Montreal, a local shelter that helps the unhoused.

Rochon says she got involved with the CEGEP's sustainability team after a small gardening workshop, where she got her hands dirty while learning. 

"It's taught me everything I know about gardening, and I run my own gardens at home now, and I think they've grown thrice the size now that I've learned so much from Dawson, honestly," she said. 

Whether it's tending to the school's biodiversity zones, such as the insect resort where artificial nesting sites for different species are created with small holes, or the wet meadow, where a small area of plants that thrive in continuously damp soil are given that space, students are always involved. 

"It's rewarding, it's invigorating ... it's so exciting to be a part of it because you get to learn, but you also get to feel like you're putting in the effort, you're putting in the work, and you're helping further [sustainability]," Rochon said.