Through multiple initiatives and research projects focused on sustainability and a commitment to sound building principles, Durham College (DC) announced today that it pleased to be part of a group of Ontario colleges that are playing a leading role in Canada’s efforts to tackle climate change.

A newly released report, Moving to Net Zero: Colleges Leading the Way, highlights the achievements of the province’s 24 publicly funded colleges in everything from leading-edge research that promotes energy efficiency to the development of programs that prepare increasing numbers of graduates for careers in areas such as renewable energy and sustainable building construction.

“Doing our part to improve the health of the planet is a priority at our college,” said Don Lovisa, president, DC.  “We are firmly committed to the global effort to fight climate change.”

The report documents achievements in five areas: research, community leadership, college programs, transportation and campus upgrades. The examples in the report confirm that all 24 colleges are playing an active part in the effort to reduce the province’s carbon footprint.

As part of its commitment to sustainability, DC is continually implementing new measures to reduce its carbon footprint and demonstrate environmental stewardship in Durham Region and well beyond.

For example, in September 2016, the Centre for Food (CFF) at the Whitby campus received international recognition from the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics Awards of Excellence, winning gold in the Green Colleges category. The college was recognized for its work to advance environmental sustainability, including its field-to-fork philosophy and 3 Star certification from the Green Restaurant Association. In addition, in June 2016 the CFF was recognized with an Eric Krause Innovative Plans/Policies/Initiatives Award from the Durham Environmental Advisory Committee for its commitment to conserving energy and protecting the environment and in July 2016 Bistro ‘67, the college’s full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, was honoured with a Feast ON designation in recognition of its use of local food and beverages.

Home to a range of complementary post-secondary programs, the CFF offers numerous sustainable features and extensive grounds that include an apple orchard, agricultural planting fields, an unheated hoop house, gardens and greenhouses. The south side of the building includes a ramped garden with a pollinator garden for native birds, bees and butterflies and a two-acre arboretum. These areas also feature trees, shrubs, perennials and fruit-bearing plants, providing a teaching and learning environment for students, the local agri-food industry, community organizations and the general public.

Additional examples of DC’s commitment to sustainability include:

• A dedicated Sustainability office that leads initiatives on campus, including partnerships with local environmental organizations such as Durham Sustain Ability, GM Canada, Friends of the Greenbelt and the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, and roles with regional committees including the Durham Region Roundtable on Climate Change.
• Sustainable transportation options for students and employees travelling to and from campus, including electric vehicle charging stations, designated carpool lots and bicycle storage units.
• A commingle recycling program with a diversion rate of 53.2 per cent as well as additional recycling programs for items such as batteries, e-waste, spent lightbulbs, used textbooks and furniture.
• Water conservation through the installation and use of low-flow toilets, waterless urinals and sensor taps.
• Energy conservation and efficiency through the use of a comprehensive energy monitoring system, replacement of existing windows with high-efficiency models, installation of variable speed drives and lighting occupancy sensors.
• Adoption of renewable energy models at the Whitby campus including the installation of 350 solar panels that provide clean energy back to the grid; six vertical axis wind turbines on the roof of the main building that serve as a learning tool for students in the Renewable Energy Technician program; a white roof that reduces energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions; and a 70-tonne geothermal system that provides energy efficient heating and cooling.
• Applied research projects, including a recent collaboration with industry partner DynaCurrent Technologies Inc. on the development of a new and innovative technology to heat liquid using electricity in a significantly more efficient way than other electrical heating technologies in the marketplace. The technology has the potential for commercial use as an alternate heating source to oil, propane and electricity in homes and small- to- medium-sized buildings.
• Programs such as Construction Carpentry – Sustainable, which provides students with the knowledge required to construct energy-efficient and environmentally responsible residential buildings and obtain the skills required to upgrade existing buildings in a little as 16 months.

The college’s initiatives are reflected in the overall findings of the report, which include:

• Throughout the province, colleges offer more than 300 programs that prepare graduates to work in sectors that directly impact emissions reductions, conservation and renewable energy.
• In 2015-2016, more than 20,000 students were enrolled in programs that prepare them for careers that address climate change. That represents an increase of more than 20 per cent over the previous five years.
• Millions of dollars have been invested in retrofit programs and other upgrades at campuses across the province. The retrofitting projects have included weatherization initiatives, energy and greenhouse gas audits, the installation of wind turbines and solar panels, and the integration of new designs that include green roofs and pollinator gardens.

“While we’re proud of our successes, we also know there is more to do,” said Lovisa. “We are aware of the important role DC plays in producing a strong workforce determined to reduce emissions and help Ontario combat climate change and ultimately achieve greater sustainability.”

The full report is available here.

Despite some rainy weather, visitors to Durham College (DC) were treated to a small farmers’ market on September 29 when the annual Campus Market took place in Polonsky Commons at the Oshawa campus.

Hosted by the Sustainability offices for both DC and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the event raised awareness about the availability of locally grown food and saw students, employees and members of the community treated to a variety of fresh items from local vendors, including meat, vegetables and baked goods.

DC’s culinary and horticultural students participated by assisting in the harvesting of crops from outside the Centre for Food (CFF), which were then sold at the market, providing them with an opportunity to bring the CFF’s field-to-fork vision to life. CFF employees were also selling fresh-baked bread and preserves like apple maple butter all prepared by the college’s culinary students. There were even sweet potato fries served with beet ketchup available for sale.

For anyone looking to purchase fresh, local food year-round, be sure to visit Pantry, the unique retail store located on the first floor of the CFF. There they will find an assortment of delicious, high-quality foods prepared by the college’s culinary students, from fresh-baked breads to frozen entrees and pickled vegetables, jams and jellies.

Three Durham College (DC) students are gaining international experience and perspectives on their chosen fields during a week-long visit to Peru as part of an institutional partnership between DC and the Centro Experimental de Formación Profesional (CEFOP), a technical and vocational college located in the city of Trujillo, Peru.

As part of DC’s delegation of employees and students, Travis Fortnum (Journalism – Web and Print), Vik Panjwani (Digital Video Production) and Kyle Rist (Culinary Management) are in Peru to document and celebrate the partnership between the two schools, which was formed in 2015 with a view to having DC and its Peruvian counterpart share culinary arts expertise.

While Rist, along with DC professor Dave Hawey, shares tips and tricks with members of CEFOP’s culinary program and demonstrates signature Canadian dishes — including, of course, poutine and maple syrup butter tarts — Fortnum and Panjwani, along with DC faculty Danielle Harder, are capturing the DC team’s adventures and sharing them with audiences back home through social media (#DCinPeru), as well as articles and videos for The Chronicle, DC’s student-produced print and digital news publication.

Since May 2016, Katie Boone, manager, International Projects, DC, who oversees the college’s four international projects, has been developing the opportunity for the DC students through identifying objectives, funding and roles for their participation during the trip.

“We work, live and breathe a very internationalized, globalized world,” Boone recently told Fortnum for an article. “Students or graduates that can finish their academic career with international exposure in their field are all the more ready to work in a globalized world.”

The partnership with CEFOP is part of DC’s extensive commitment to supporting international education and training for its students and employees that allows them to learn about industry best-practices, gain global perspectives, exchanges ideas and incorporate them back into the local curriculum.

Durham College’s (DC) Centre for Food and its unique field-to-fork vision has been recognized internationally with the highest achievement – Gold – in the Green Colleges category at the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP) Awards of Excellence. The college received the award at the 2016 WFCP World Congress held in Vitória, Brazil from September 23 to 25.

The CFF is being recognized for its demonstrated excellence in advancing environmental sustainability through knowledge, tools, practices and technologies, including both its facilities and programs. Along with the gold award, the college was asked to facilitate a best practices session about the CFF during the World Congress, and also participated in a Green Colleges Panel Discussion with an institution from Brazil.  

“Durham College’s Centre for Food brings the field-to-fork philosophy to life in a unique post-secondary setting,” said Kevin Baker, dean of the CFF.  “In just three years, the CFF has been recognized locally, provincially and now internationally for the sustainable practices we live every day in all we do. The CFF embodies the college’s focus on sustainability and social responsibility, and we’re honoured to be recognized with a gold award from this prestigious, global competition.” 

Focused on the field-to-fork concept, which is based on the planting, harvesting, storing, processing, packaging, sale and consumption of food – in particular the production of local food for local consumers – the CFF opened to students in September 2013. Supported by ambassador and celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy, it boasts numerous sustainable building features, including: 

• Glass curtain walls to maximize natural light.
• A fully automated building controls management system.
• A two-storey living wall that includes herbs on the ground level.
• A comprehensive recycling and compost program that includes food waste in order to reduce the CFF’s carbon footprint.
• A hydration station for filling reusable water bottles.
• Use of compostable take-out containers.
• Low-flow toilets, touchless sensor faucets and waterless urinal technology.

In addition, the CFF’s production methods have low environmental impact, demonstrate water stewardship and result in reduced energy consumption.

Home to a range of complementary post-secondary programs, the building boasts numerous sustainable features and extensive grounds that include an apple orchard, agricultural planting fields, an unheated hoop house, gardens and greenhouses that support applied learning and research while growing produce for use in the CFF’s kitchens and laboratories, as well as Bistro ’67, a full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a unique retail store for student-created goods, both of which are housed in the CFF and open to the public.

The south side of the CFF includes a ramped garden feature with a pollinator garden for native birds, bees and butterflies and a two-acre arboretum. These areas also feature trees, shrubs, perennials and fruit-bearing plants, providing a teaching and learning environment for students, the local agri-food industry, community organizations and the general public.

Along with the college’s keen focus on environmental stewardship, DC faculty and students are collaborating on unique, agri-focused applied research projects at the CFF, including the development of cold-frame technology, which harnesses the sun’s energy to support the growth of fresh, local produce year-round, and the improvement of drones’ data-collecting capabilities to help local farmers with crop management.

The CFF is also developing its global reach with the college working on a pilot project designed to investigate options for adapting its field-to-fork philosophy for the Centro Experimental de Formación Profesional (CEFOP), a technical and vocational college in Trujillo, Peru. The relationship is helping to reinforce industry engagement strategies, highlight the importance of inclusive management and student-centered teaching strategies and facilitate improvements to CEFOP’s revenue generation activities. 

In addition to receiving Gold honours from the WFCP, the CFF was recognized with an Eric Krause Innovative Plans/Policies/Initiatives Award (Eric Krause Award) for its commitment to conserving energy and protecting the environment in June 2016. It was also upgraded to a 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant® by the Green Restaurant Association for DC’s commitment to environmental sustainability in food and beverage preparation and presentation and honoured with a Feast ON designation in recognition of its support for local food producers in July 2016.

As a whole, the CFF’s many green and sustainability-focused initiatives thoroughly impressed the WFCP judging panel comprising committee members from China, Tanzania, the United Kingdom and the United States who determined this year’s awards recipients. Now in its second year, the WFCP Awards of Excellence recognize post-secondary achievements in a range of categories that includes green leadership, access to learning, applied research, entrepreneurship, higher technical skills, leadership and student support services.

The legalization of marijuana has been a hot button topic for years. In Canada, it has gained considerable momentum since the Federal Liberal government announced that it will introduce legislation in 2017 to legalize the drug.

To explore the complexities around this issue, Durham College (DC) professor Ruth Martin has organized a Global Class discussion on Canada’s prospective decision to legalize the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. The event will be held on Tuesday, September 27 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and will feature speakers in two locations brought together using the Global Class platform.

Canadian Army veteran Sergeant Fabian Henry, president and founder of Veterans Helping Veterans: Marijuana for Trauma Inc., a consultation service to help veterans register for legal supplies of marijuana from licensed producers, will participate from the Global Class in Room A150 of the Gordon Willey building at DC’s Oshawa campus, and Dr. Lester Grinspoon, associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, will join from the university’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A 12-year veteran of the Canadian Forces, with six deployments, Sgt. Henry developed post-traumatic stress disorder during a second tour in Afghanistan. After suffering from depression, he was prescribed antidepressants that left him agitated and suicidal. Sgt. Henry experienced a pivotal moment in his care when he was accidently offered marijuana and found that for the first time he was able to feel and deal with his memories of combat, war and destruction, and their aftermath. Since then, he has worked with countless doctors and neuroscientists to investigate the brain to see exactly how tetrahydrochloride (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) respond to the cannabinoid receptors in the brain.

Dr. Grinspoon was the senior psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston for 40 years and is the author of several books including Marijuana Reconsidered, Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered, Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine and Psychedelic Reflections. As a physician, Dr. Grinspoon was initially against the use of cannabis until 1967 when the drug helped his young son while he was dying from leukemia by eliminating the horrible nausea and vomiting he experienced after each round of chemotherapy. That was the tipping point for Dr. Grinspoon as he decided to research cannabis and the positive effects of the plant.

DC’s Global Class allows for an open exploration of common topics free of outside influence and geographic boundaries. Participants interact with provocative guests, meet people from varied backgrounds, share materials and learn from one another. The experience offers a better understanding of our societies and ourselves in complex “glocal” times. The classes are free and open to everyone.

The event will be livestreamed on the Global Class website and viewers can submit questions and comments via Twitter to @GlobalClassDC.