Thanks to North Oakville Today and Ian Holroyd for the article.

***

The solution of sustainability is not an easy one but Sheridan College may be able to help.

Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, a world leader in sustainable development, told the audience at Macdonald Heaslip Hall at the Trafalgar Campus that there is a particular emission from post-secondary institutions that jeopardizes sustainability.

“It’s not from bad chemicals and detergents and green gases and wastewater,” said Robèrt. “The worst emission is ignorant students.”

Colleges and universities can help the sustainability process by incorporating sustainability in their curriculum, said Robert.

“Students move out into society today without having a clue of how to define sustainability,” he said, “and before being an engineer or a software expert in that context is such a waste. We can’t afford that.”

Robèrt is from Sweden and is a doctor of oncology and a cancer scientist by trade. He founded The Natural Step in 1989, a non-profit organization, which helps individuals and organizations understand and progress towards sustainability.

The Natural Step promotes a unified framework for social and ecological sustainability based on a scientific consensus, developed by Robèrt.

According to Mary Preece, Vice President of Academics and Research at Sheridan College, the school has recognized its key role in sustainable development.

“Sheridan has embraced sustainability as a strategic priority area,” she said, “and this event today will help to launch us on our journey.

“It is vital that our students are imbued with the principals and practices of sustainability so that they can take this knowledge and related skills into the community when they graduate.”

Dr. Robèrt is on the Ontario leg of his speaking tour, which began in London and Oakville on October 18 and ends today at the eighth annual Canadian Business of Social Responsibility Summit in Toronto.