On Monday, April 22nd, RRC Polytech staff and students came together for a celebration of Earth Day and the winners of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Student Competition.  

At the College, we understand that today’s actions impact the well-being of our communities and the environment of tomorrow. That is why last year we proudly signed the SDG Accord, and this year we celebrated SDG Week in Canada for the first time. 

As part of our commitment, we organized the SDG Student Competition, inviting students to tell us about how they are integrating the SDGs into their studies.  The many responses were inspiring, with projects demonstrating innovative solutions to pressing environmental and social challenges. We thank all the students who submitted their work for their dedication and innovative contributions to promoting the Sustainable Development Goals. Your efforts are essential to creating a more sustainable and equitable future. 

The competition winners are as follows: 

Best Overall Submission: Busayo Ososanwo, Aisha Gbadamosi-Opoola, and Sheyi Omagene for their project on “Predicting the Health of Freshwater Bodies.

Special Prize for Top Applied Research Entry: Jerome Geronimo, Alex Juma, Gagandeep Singh, and Guan-Lun Zeng for their project “Water Quality Dashboard Builder”.

Special Prize for Top Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Entry: Diana Correa for her project “Formulating the Action Plan of the Immigrant Advisory Council”.

Towards the end of the celebration, the audience was treated to a special performance by Diana Correa, winner of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion prize and her husband Alfonso Segura. They performed a traditional Colombian dance that had the audience clapping along. It was a fantastic closing of the Earth Day celebration. 

We left the event feeling inspired and motivated by the work of instructors and students across the College and are already looking forward to planning next year’s competition! 

Happy Earth Day Everyone!