The first cohort was a group of two, second year CRLT students, Keera Taylor and Jessica Di Bartolo Rioullier. The two students traveled to Mexico on February 3rd, 2017. For the first three weeks they did their internship at the UPEMOR, in Jiutepec, State of Morelos. The main objective of their stay there was to support ongoing sustainability projects. They were supervised by the coordinator of the CECAM, Center for Environmental Education of the UPEMOR, Valeria Davila. The students got involved and learned about several institutional sustainability projects. They learned about the institution’s waste management plan, learning about their recycling as well as compost facilities. They were responsible for contributing to two main projects linked to the Aquatic Peace Garden. They helped to build a pond, which acts as a prototype to the Aquatic Peace Garden and also the painting of a mural to highlight the UPEMOR’s commitment to biodiversity as well as the partnership established with Dawson College. The students created a vlog where there uploaded a video each week with a description of the different activities they did as well as their learning. https://jkblog2017.wordpress.com/about/.

Their reflections included their learning and experience beyond the academic and it is a testament to how the experience has impacted their lives. Their Spanish skills improved, they made lifelong friendships and reinforced their commitment to be engaged global citizens. They were also Dawson ambassadors by presenting their participation in the Environmental Leadership Experience through the CRLT program. After three weeks their experience continued in the Preparatoria Comunitaria de Tres Marias, a community college part of the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos. For two weeks they lived in the rural community of Tres Marias and volunteered everyday to support sustainability project at the Preparatoria 3Marias. The students learned about the important role that culture and tradition can play in sustainability. They learned how to make adobe bricks and supported the beginning of the construction of a Bio-classroom which will be constructed out of local materials using traditional techniques and incorporating new technologies as well. They also supported a project on Medicinal Plants. In Tres Marias, they engaged with younger students and learned about life in rural Mexico. Their gracious hosts took them to visit local archeological sites as well as important local environmental projects. During the final week of their internship the students participated in the 3rd International Forum for Campus Sustainability (March 13-15) and the Sustainable Campuses’ Initiative’s midterm evaluation (March 16-17). The students were part of a team of Dawson College students, teachers and staff that presented in the forum as well as participated in all of the activities. Upon their return the interns gave a presentation to CRLT students and teachers within the context of the second part of the 3rd International Forum for Campus Sustainability (April 24-28).

A second set of interns traveled to Mexico from May 26 to July 9, 2017. The five interns are all Environmental Science students. Jade Boutot, Maggie Blondeau, Vanessa Porier, Dimitrios Markou and Anne-Marie Quadros began their internship at the Preparatoria Comunitaria de Tres Marias (UAEM). Their home stays were in the rural community of Tres Marias and they worked from Monday to Saturday at the Preparatoria 3Marias. One of the tasks that they carried out was to present to the Preparatoria’s teachers and students about some of Dawson College’s sustainability initiatives. They shared with them about our Living Campus project, the activities carried out during Earth Week and how we are establishing a composting program. As Dawson College ambassadors they also participated in a radio show called “Gente de Ambiente” and talked about their internship experience. They learned about several of the Preparatoria’s projects and were asked to join a team to do outreach to the nearby elementary schools. They visited local school learning about and supporting their sustainability projects. They learned about local traditions, bio-construction, medicinal plants, local biodiversity and conservation through engagement and by visiting different sites. They were welcomed by the 3Marias community and established engaging relationship with the staff, teachers, students and their host families. The last three weeks were spent at the UPEMOR. The five interns were asked to support many of the ongoing projects of the CECAM and thus learnt through doing, about the campus’s composting, gardening and many other projects. They gave a presentation on several of Dawson College’s sustainability projects and were assigned responsibilities to head several projects during their stay. They were involved in reforestation efforts, bird and butterfly identification, classification of locally found species and a rain water collection and filtration system. They had an opportunity to see how a more technical, engineering school approaches sustainability. They also had the opportunity to live with host families of local students and thus have a different cultural experience from that of Tres Marias. The students put together a blog that shares all their different activities, those linked to their internships and the more cultural ones as well
https://sustainablecampusesinternship.wordpress.com/2017/05/30/first-impressions/.