An AC Green leader: Talloires Declaration 10th anniversary

Posted on Thursday, November 30th, 2017

This month, we continue to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the College’s signing of the Talloires Declaration, an international agreement on sustainability between postsecondary officials. Last Thursday we provided an overview of the Declaration. This week we are featuring an Algonquin College student that fully supports the direction to build a more sustainable future.

Meet Jason Juurlink, an outdoor enthusiast, environmentalist – and devoted AC Green Team leader. Juurlink is a third-year student in the Bachelor of Building Science program. Prior to attending Algonquin College, Juurlink earned a diploma in Green Building and Renewable Energy and worked for five years in the industry. When asked why he decided to return to the classroom, he said that the College’s program offered the exact classes to match his interests.

Canada’s first Bachelor of Building Science program was introduced in the fall of 2013. It embodies many of the 10 action points outlined in the Talloires Declaration such as, “Establish programs to produce expertise in environmental management, sustainable economic development, population, and related fields to ensure that… graduates are environmentally literate and have the awareness and understanding to be ecologically responsible citizens.” This theoretical and applied program was designed to bridge all facets of building design, construction, human comfort, and sustainability.

“Normally, students that are interested in this program are also interested in the environment,” says Bachelor of Building Science program coordinator Maria Parra. That fits Juurlink to a tee. He is committed to learning about environmental sustainability – not only through the choice of his program, but also through his actions on campus. For two years, Juurlink was an AC Green Team leader. This involved sharing sustainability practices with peers at Algonquin College. He regularly worked a booth on campus to engage students in sustainability learning through games or quizzes they created. They educated students on tangible sustainability practices such as waste reduction strategies by reusing cutlery and bringing their own thermos or water bottles to campus.

Juurlink spent a summer working on waste management issues within the Physical Resource team at Algonquin College. In this position, he worked on evaluating the waste and recycling bins on campus and examined best practices at other institutions to explore what we can do to improve waste diversion of recyclable material.

If you’re not already convinced that Juurlink is a natural green leader, then keep reading. He completed the Student Leadership Program, which involves 5 leadership workshops and 18 community volunteer hours. He encourages students that want to be more involved in sustainability practices on campus to first educate themselves about global warming and then ask sustainability-related questions to their professors. He hopes that more students will join the AC Green Team.

No matter the program, industry, or discipline, Juurlink believes professors can engage their students on sustainability-related topics. Through his actions, Juurlink personifies Algonquin’s four-word approach to incorporating sustainability in all areas of the College: Caring Today, For Tomorrow.

For more sustainability stories, check out the rest of our features here and here.


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