SP0115: ECOLE: Educational Community Living Environment

Living a sustainable lifestyle can be a challenge in an urban environment even for the most committed individual, but can you imagine what a difference living with 10 other people as dedicated as yourself might make? This is the idea behind the Educational Community Living Environment (ECOLE) project at McGill.

The ECOLE project is a venture scheduled to begin its pilot year in September 2014 wherein 8-12 participants will pursue collective sustainable living and learning as they reside at the MORE house on 3559 rue University. Material (energy and water conservation, Carbon footprint) and social (collective living, social justice) sustainability are the focus of the ECOLE project and its coordinators have spent a year on networking and research to develop a base plan and guiding principles.

This project brings together multiple stakeholders of the university in pursuit of sustainable living and learning, with tangible examples for the McGill and Montréal communities. Part of the mandate is outreach and consultation with various groups on campus and in the Milton-Parc community.

ECOLE coordinators have spent a year on networking and research to develop a base plan which will guide the project for a pilot year in September 2014. As part of this plan, participants will agree to follow various governance policies that include weekly meetings where day-to-day operations and reflections on projects, events and campaigns will be discussed.

Resources from the SPF will be used during the pilot project year to provide for ECOLE coordinators as well as two summer internships, pay rent at 3559 University, and for miscellaneous projects that serve the experiment.