Known for its sustainable practices and initiatives, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) has won a national award recognizing its engagement in and commitment to sustainability goals and initiatives.
TRU Sustainability Programs Manager James Gordon
The university's Sustainability Office team is the 2024 gold award recipient of the Colleges and Institutes Canada's (CICan) Leadership Excellence Award for Managerial Staff. TRU team members include Vice-President of Administration and Finance Matt Milovick, Associate Vice-President of Campus Infrastructure, Sustainability and Ancillary Services Warren Asuchak, Sustainability Programs Manager James Gordon and Manager of Energy Natalie Yao.
The award was given out on April 30 at CICan's Connection Conference in Calgary, Alberta. The annual event brings together post-secondary and institutional leaders and stakeholders from around the world to create networks and share their collective knowledge.
"Thompson Rivers University's exceptional sustainability management team continues to set us apart as a global leader in sustainability," said Yao.
"Sustainability is defined in everything we do, thanks to the leadership of our sustainability managers," said Milovick.
"We are proud to receive the CICan gold Leadership Excellence Award for Managerial Staff; it honours the commitment that this university and its staff have made in sustainability as an integral value at TRU."
TRU Vice-President of Administration and Finance Matt Milovick
A video prepared for the awards event showcases the winning TRU Sustainability Office team and highlights recent sustainability achievements and future plans. Watch the video here.
Sustainability has been a core value at TRU since 2013, when it was identified as a strategic priority. TRU achieved a platinum rating in 2018, the first Canadian institution to reach that level, and again in 2022, for its sustainability initiatives and achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's STARS program. The university was the first in Canada and one of six in the world to have achieved double platinum.
TRU received national and international attention at World Congress 2023 in Montreal, Quebec. At the event, TRU received the bronze award from CICan for Excellence in Sustainable Development and the bronze award from the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics for Sustainable Development Goals.
TRU recently partnered with Creative Energy to build one of the most advanced Low-Carbon District Energy systems (LCDES) in the world the university's most ambitious project to date. The LCDES project is part of TRU's Community Climate Action Plan and pledge to become a carbon-neutral campus and reduce fossil fuel emissions by 95 per cent.
