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Our Mission

We believe in empowering students as initiators of change in addressing today’s social and environmental concerns, through advocacy and service in local chapters. We focus on real, comprehensive and practical initiatives and programs to make our campus, communities, cities, and planet more sustainable.

The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.
— Robert Swan
York University aerial image via City of Toronto: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Our Vision

Our vision is to create an interconnected network that engages both the university community and wider communities to create environmental and community initiatives on the foundation of ‘just’ sustainability, which is: The need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems - Agyeman, et al., 2003, 5

 

Our Theory of Change

We are all aware of the environmental consequences of our modern lifestyles and industries. Yet, despite this knowledge, as a society, we have been unable to address these environmental consequences with more than minor or band-aid solutions. We believe, in order to enact change, both environmental education and action must be effective. Education must help facilitate lifelong commitments to environmental sustainability and taking action. Chosen actions taken must affect and sustain positive environmental changes.

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Our desire to create effective and lasting environmental change drives us to consistently improve our programs and work.

We regularly review the latest research and implement new knowledge and practices into training and operations. Our educational philosophy is built around the idea of critical pedagogy, particularly eco pedagogy which aims to help individuals understand the big picture and historical context of an issue. It is the only major form of environmental education that recognizes and is willing to address the underlying causes of our modern environmental crisis. We empower youth as leaders, with critical thinking and organization skills. As leaders, our youth are equipped to identify causes of environmental problems and effective solutions that can help address these issues.