Blue Community University Launch Event

Date

Thursday September 17, 2026
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Location

Breakwater Park, near the Gord Downie Pier
Graphic with Blue Community Logo to the left, and text "Queen's is a Blue Community University: Protecting water as a human right through public stewardship, education, research, and action."

 Queen’s University is joining the Blue University network, a global network of post-secondary institutions committed to advancing sustainable water stewardship.  

The Office of the Principal and Vice-Chancellor is hosting a signing ceremony at Breakwater Park on September 17, from 4 - 5:30 pm, to officially celebrate Queen's membership. Principal Patrick Deane will sign a certificate presented by founder of the Blue Community movement, Maude Barlow, and both will provide remarks. Other speakers include Alexander Wong-Ma, AMS Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability and David McDonald, Professor, Global Development Studies.

No registration is required to attend. All attendees are invited to jump in Lake Ontario following the signing!

A large tent will be set up in case of rain and food will be served at the event. As part of our commitment to reducing waste, the event will be a zero-waste event featuring compostable materials and multi-sort recycling and organics bins with visual guides available on-site.