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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

SustainableJoes' #RETHINK Tour Visits UOIT

Posted by Mehdi Hosseini on August 13, 2014

SustainableJoes founder Stephen Szucs is traveling via a solar and pedal powered tricycle from Canada to Key West to ask individuals, communities, businesses and organizations to #RETHINK why we need sustainable change.

This week I had a chance to ride a trike; well only for a few seconds. The trike is solar-power assisted. Along with the solar power you can peddle; if you want to speed up or take a rest, just use the 500 W electric motor that runs on batteries. But the trike itself is not the main point. The main point is advocating sustainability and making Sustainability easy as Stephen Szucs does on the #RETHINK Tour.

Stephen founded SustainableJoes to pursue his belief in a sustainable today and tomorrow for everyone. On his 48 day tour (so far) around major cities in Southern Ontario, Stephen is asking residents for their ideas on sustainability and why they need sustainable change.

SustainableJoes' #Rethink Tour's Solar Power TricycleWhen he asked me about the ways to make more sustainable changes, I answered: “by more efficient consumption”.

But is that the only way? Is that the best way, as sustainability includes economy, the environment, and society? Do current plans for sustainable development work?

Experts suggest using wind power for electricity generation, or electric vehicles for short run commutes, but how about public (social) acceptance? Have we assessed all of the very important aspects of sustainability?

For a prosperous economy we need natural resources (e.g., Canadian oil sands and shale gas), but these impact the environment, not to mention the strong public opposition against their developments. During my quick chat with Stephen, I acknowledged his efforts to advocate sustainability. Hopefully this leads to a clearer path to environmental preservation.

He asked me, “how about human preservation”? Now that I think of it, suppose we achieved economic and environmental sustainability, what are the gains on social aspects? Statistics show that 58% of the world’s population do not have access to clean, reliable sources of energy (including electricity), and 783 million people lack access to clean water. These numbers are much improved over the 1990’s levels; however, to achieve sustainability (in all three areas – economy, environment and society) we still have a long way to run. 


Filed under: Sustainability 101

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