SDG 15: Life on Land

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

By aligning its efforts with the targets of SDG 15, Wilfrid Laurier University not only contributes to the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems but also instills a sense of environmental responsibility in our community and serves as a model for sustainable practices in higher education.

Highlights of Progress

The work that Laurier completed in 2025 to advance SDG 15.

Growing Together: Laurier’s Northdale Community Garden Cultivates Sustainability and Connection

When you ask a student where Laurier’s community garden resides in Waterloo, many students are surprised to hear that we have one on campus. Nestled behind the Northdale Campus building, you’ll find more than a green space – a growing hub for sustainability, food sovereignty, biodiversity, community engagement, and campus connections. This is the Northdale Community Garden—Wilfrid Laurier University’s 14,000 square foot garden where sustainability, community, and learning come together in full bloom.

Laurier’s 2025 Anne Innis Dagg lecture explores the greening of the Arctic

Wilfrid Laurier University welcomed a renowned Arctic ecosystem expert for the 2025 Anne Innis Dagg lecture on March 6. Isla Myers-Smith, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia, spoke about rapid changes in the Canadian North as a result of accelerating climate change, including changes to vegetation, permafrost, wildlife habitat and food webs.

First-ever ‘zombie’ fire field data suggests overwintering may not be as destructive as predicted

A new study from Wilfrid Laurier University offers a rare “good news story” in relation to forest fires. Jennifer Baltzer, the Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, published the first-ever field data on overwintering fires – also known as “zombie” fires – which continue to smoulder throughout the winter and reignite the following spring. Despite fears that zombie fires would increase carbon release and hinder forest regrowth, Baltzer’s data suggests that they are less destructive than anticipated.

Research Centres

Laurier research centres advancing SDG 15.

The Cold Regions Research Centre

The Cold Regions Research Centre was established in 1987. Initially focused on arctic and mountain glaciology and hydrology, the scope has broadened to cold regions (mountain and northern) research consulting on topics such as hydrology, climatology, glaciology, resource management, parks planning and biogeochemistry.

The Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems

The Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (LCSFS) connects researchers and community partners engaged in sustainable food systems change. It creates opportunities for citizens, practitioners, policy-makers, private enterprise and academics to work together to imagine and foster food systems that are fair, healthy, ecologically regenerative, culturally appropriate, prosperous and inclusive. Using food as a lever for positive change, the LCSFS enables meaningful collaboration among people across institutions, sectors and disciplines to support community-driven research, innovative knowledge sharing, and the development of community resources and sustainable food system policy.

Initiatives

Laurier initiatives in 2024 that advanced SDG 15.

GNWT-Laurier partnership

Since 2010, Laurier has maintained a unique and productive research partnership with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). The partnership, which has been expanded and extended to 2030, has brought new research expertise and training opportunities to the Northwest Territories and strong community connections and research opportunities to Laurier scholars. Much of the work through Laurier's partnership with the GNWT addresses the SDGs. Close connections between academic researchers and government enhance policy development related to the SDGs and improve the capacity of government to engage in adaptive management.

Commitment to sustainable food systems

Laurier’s Waterloo campus features a 14,000 sq. ft. community garden for students to either sustainably grow their own food or purchase produce grown by community partners. This space is shared with the Graduate Students’ Association, the Indigenous Student Centre, Young City Growers and KW Urban Harvester. The Northdale community garden also features an asparagus patch and edible forest which are accessible to Laurier students.
Across Laurier’s food service areas, students have access to low-impact meals that are created with healthy, locally sourced products. This partnership with Coolfood designates meals based on the emissions produced from growing the food and in the transportation process.

Circularity and waste reduction initiatives

The Waterloo and Brantford Freestores allow for community members to consider gently used items before buying something new. They also provide an avenue for community members to donate quality items they no longer need without resorting to landfill. This partnership between the Sustainability Office, the Dean of Students Office and Martin Luther University College has served hundreds of students and has supported the reuse of thousands of items.
Laurier’s Centre for Cold Regions and Water Science (CCRWS) is a platinum-certified Green Lab. This partnership between the CCRWS, the Sustainability Office, Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management, and the My Green Lab Program outlines practices and process to ensure campus laboratories are meeting the necessary requirements across a variety of areas, including energy, waste, engagement and procurement.
Laurier’s partnership with Friendlier provides reusable containers in five of our dining areas on the Waterloo campus, reducing single-use packaging going to landfill.
The Move Out program runs annually at the end of the academic year to support students moving off campus by collecting and repurposing gently used items. This program supports both our campus Freestores and local community groups by circulating items back into the community.