Established in 2011, the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) has served as a focal point for environmental sustainability research, education, and community engagement at Brock University, within Niagara, and beyond.

Over 20 Faculty Affiliates from units across the university collaborate with Adjunct Professors, Affiliate Members, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students to find innovative, transdisciplinary, and equitable solutions to sustainability challenges.

The ESRC is a transdisciplinary community committed to advancing sustainability through transformative research, teaching, and community engagement. Located within the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network, designated by UNESCO as a learning place for sustainable development, the ESRC engages transdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing interactions between social and ecological systems, including reconciling conservation and sustainable use, and approaches that support equitable and just transformations.

ESRC Pillars

Transdisciplinary research

Academic programming

Engaging with community

Embracing intersectionality

Acknowledging lands and impacts of settler colonization

Focusing on equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA)

Learn more about the ESRC's pillars

Five Year Strategic Plan

Mission

Our mission is to engage in impactful research, learning, and collaboration in support of sustainability. We are dedicated to nurturing an environment where equity is centred, and where everyone can thrive and contribute to just and sustainable futures.

To continue to advance our mission, five objectives with corresponding activities guide the ESRC’s work during the next five years.

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Foster impactful research through transdisciplinary, community-engaged approaches by faculty, staff, and students.

Impactful research

Advance meaningful educational experiences in environmental sustainability.

Educational experiences
Someone in a neon yellow vest standing outside and speaking with a group of students.
A large group of people stand behind two people seated at tables with Brock University and Niagara Parks table cloths.

Seek and nurture collaborations that enable solutions-oriented research and strengthen the student experience.

Collaborations

Foster a more equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible environment while committing to reconciliation and decolonization.

Inclusivity and accessibility
A person stands in front of a movie poster for the film My Name is Wolastoq.
Brock students Damian Haitas and Isaiah Boekestyn discuss a standing poster display.

Foster research and knowledge impacts by engaging in knowledge sharing, co-production, and mobilization to gain insights and advance sustainability research and findings.

Knowledge mobilization

References

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43 (6): 1241-1299.

Scarborough Charter on anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Canadian Higher Education: Principles, Actions, and Accountabilities. (2021). National Dialogues and Action for Inclusive Higher Education and Communities. https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/

UNDRIP. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Available at https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-%20the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html