ECOLE is a model of urban sustainable living and a physical hub for the McGill and Montreal sustainability communities.
Our Mandate
Our mandate, as defined in our constitution, is to “bring together McGill students, faculty and staff and Montreal community members in the pursuit of sustainable living by means of applied student research, alternative education, and community building. ECOLE is an ongoing experiment that strives to be a model of urban sustainable living.”
ECOLE fulfills its mandate by building on these three pillars: Living, Learning, and Community Building.
10 McGill students, called ECOLE Facilitators, live in private rooms in the ECOLE House, with shared community resource rooms in the rest of the House.
The Facilitators live sustainably, both materially and socially, by incorporating sustainable living practices including composting, reducing energy and water use, and using consensus-based decision making and anti-oppressive practices.
Facilitators complete micro-projects on an aspect of ecological and/or social sustainability.
Facilitators develop and implement alternative learning initiatives such as film screenings and skill-building workshops.
All ECOLE members nurture a culture of experiential learning by learning about, using, and teaching consensus-based decision-making, anti-oppressive practices, and materially sustainable approaches to consumption.
Facilitators make all the common spaces of the ECOLE House available for use free of charge by student and community groups with sustainability mandates.
Facilitators actively build relationships with residents and community groups of the Milton Parc neighborhood where the ECOLE House is located.
The ECOLE Board of Directors brings together multiple stakeholders including Montreal students, faculty, and staff and Montreal community members.
Get Involved
Interested in being part of a sustainability group and making ties with the Milton-Parc community and other McGill students? Join the ECOLE Collective! By joining us, you can find out first about the events planned by the facilitators, find out more about their projects and/or join one of our committees to contribute to sustainability on campus.
Learn more about the ECOLE collective →
If you are a McGill student who wants to participate in sustainable, communal, and intentional living, consider joining ECOLE as a facilitator. Our facilitator recruitment cycle runs between February and March every year.