Interdisciplinary Cooperation and Collaboration …
401
undergraduate enrolment expanded from 2001–2002 to 2016–2017 by 8.6 times from
444 to 3833, and full-time faculty numbers increased from 100 to 214.
2 EUS: The Drivers
It was within the broader context of university-wide transformation that a proposal
for a new undergraduate program in Environment and Urban Sustainability (EUS)
was developed. Although the idea arose in a conversation between one author (MB)
and the then-Dean of Arts, the development of the EUS program proposal was very
much bottom-up in that it received no administrative sanction nor funding support.
However, the initiative did spring from a series of contextual “drivers”:
• A University-wide sustainability initiative focused on facilities management and
in education programming;
• The growth in student numbers;
• The decision for pedagogical and logistic reasons to constrain the growth of student numbers in existing Arts programs and prioritize the development of new
programs;
• The success of the existing interdisciplinary MASc/Ph.D. programs in Environmental Applied Science and Management; and,
• An Ontario-wide languishing of enrolment in university Geography programs.
Ryerson University “committed to actively pursuing a more sustainable future
for our campus and the world beyond its borders. Sustainability… means taking
responsibility for a shared future with the broader community, and aiming to pursue
environmental, social and economic sustainability through our programs, Scholarly Research and Creative (SRC) activity, policies, built environment and fiscally
sound operations” (Ryerson University 2017). This commitment is now manifest
in developments such as the more than 340 undergraduate courses focused on or
related to environmental and/or social sustainability (notably in Architectural Science, Food Security, Global Management Studies, Mechanical Engineering, and
Urban and Regional Planning), new research centers including the Centre for Urban
Energy and Ryerson Urban Water, benchmarking and operational changes to address
greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction initiatives, the development of a rooftop
urban farm and farmer’s market, and the development of an internal sustainable certification program. The proposal for the development of the EUS program, as the
first environment- and sustainability-focused undergraduate program, melded well
with the university’s overall commitment.
As noted above, undergraduate enrolments at the university and within the Faculty
of Arts were expanding. Existing Faculty of Arts’ programs were seen as differentiated from those at other universities in part by relatively low student numbers,
especially in the first year. Concerns over the loss of this appeal and the universitywide dearth of large lecture halls resulted in the choice to add new programs rather
401
undergraduate enrolment expanded from 2001–2002 to 2016–2017 by 8.6 times from
444 to 3833, and full-time faculty numbers increased from 100 to 214.
2 EUS: The Drivers
It was within the broader context of university-wide transformation that a proposal
for a new undergraduate program in Environment and Urban Sustainability (EUS)
was developed. Although the idea arose in a conversation between one author (MB)
and the then-Dean of Arts, the development of the EUS program proposal was very
much bottom-up in that it received no administrative sanction nor funding support.
However, the initiative did spring from a series of contextual “drivers”:
• A University-wide sustainability initiative focused on facilities management and
in education programming;
• The growth in student numbers;
• The decision for pedagogical and logistic reasons to constrain the growth of student numbers in existing Arts programs and prioritize the development of new
programs;
• The success of the existing interdisciplinary MASc/Ph.D. programs in Environmental Applied Science and Management; and,
• An Ontario-wide languishing of enrolment in university Geography programs.
Ryerson University “committed to actively pursuing a more sustainable future
for our campus and the world beyond its borders. Sustainability… means taking
responsibility for a shared future with the broader community, and aiming to pursue
environmental, social and economic sustainability through our programs, Scholarly Research and Creative (SRC) activity, policies, built environment and fiscally
sound operations” (Ryerson University 2017). This commitment is now manifest
in developments such as the more than 340 undergraduate courses focused on or
related to environmental and/or social sustainability (notably in Architectural Science, Food Security, Global Management Studies, Mechanical Engineering, and
Urban and Regional Planning), new research centers including the Centre for Urban
Energy and Ryerson Urban Water, benchmarking and operational changes to address
greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction initiatives, the development of a rooftop
urban farm and farmer’s market, and the development of an internal sustainable certification program. The proposal for the development of the EUS program, as the
first environment- and sustainability-focused undergraduate program, melded well
with the university’s overall commitment.
As noted above, undergraduate enrolments at the university and within the Faculty
of Arts were expanding. Existing Faculty of Arts’ programs were seen as differentiated from those at other universities in part by relatively low student numbers,
especially in the first year. Concerns over the loss of this appeal and the universitywide dearth of large lecture halls resulted in the choice to add new programs rather