Blue Universities is part of the wider Blue Communities movement, founded by Maude Barlow, an advocate and author dedicated to environmental justice. At the event, Barlow presented Principal Deane with a certificate recognizing Queen’s membership.

"Becoming a Blue University is a declaration of hope," said Barlow. "A promise to empower our youth with the sure knowledge that they can make a difference and together, we can fix what is broken."

That sense of hope was evident moments earlier as students made a splash jumping off the pier as Alexander Wong-Ma, Alma Mater Society's (AMS) Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability, spoke about the close relationships students form with Lake Ontario during their time at Queen's and the importance of the lake to campus life. 

The university’s connection to Lake Ontario is shared by the local community. The City of Kingston has been a Blue Communities member since 2011 and reaffirmed its membership in 2019. Joining the network gives the university and city an opportunity to build on their shared connection and explore opportunities for collaboration on water stewardship.

The Great Lakes make up the largest freshwater system in the world, containing 21 per cent of the world’s surface fresh water. David McDonald, a professor in Global Development Studies who championed Queen’s membership in Blue Universities, said the university has a responsibility to learn from its location.

"My interest in making Queen’s a Blue University is to hold ourselves accountable to the privilege of our location," said McDonald. "We have a moral and intellectual responsibility to learn more and do more about the cultural, political, economic and environmental significance of the lake in front of us, and to better understand how it connects to a larger world of shrinking fresh water supplies."

In his Living Lake Ontario course, McDonald introduces students to the lake’s history, related science and policies, and cultural meanings, including Indigenous communities’ relationships with it, and encourages them to consider how local water issues are linked to global freshwater challenges, such as safe sanitation, climate change, and food security.

In his remarks, McDonald also discussed the importance of research to advancing sustainable water stewardship. At Queen’s, the Beaty Water Research Centre, for example, brings together researchers from various disciplines to study the impact water has on economic growth, social well-being, and health, through traditional water-related disciplines as well as non-traditional and emerging disciplines.

To learn more about Queen's Blue Universities membership, and to read the commitments, visit the Blue University page.