- The Goals
- SDG 1: No Poverty
- SDG 2: Zero Hunger
- SDG 3: Good health and well-being
- SDG 4: Quality education
- SDG 5: Gender equality
- SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
- SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
- SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
- SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
- SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
- SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production
- SDG 13: Climate action
- SDG 14: Life below water
- SDG 15: Life on land
- SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals
- About
- Contact
Peace, Justice and Strong Instutions
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Compassion and a strong moral compass are essential to every democratic society. Yet, persecution, injustice and abuse still run rampant and are tearing at the very fabric of civilization. We must ensure that we have strong institutions, global standards of justice, and a commitment to peace everywhere.
How SFU is contributing
- Engagement
- Student leadership at SFU
- Working with government
- Research, teaching and learning
- Operations
SFU PUBLIC SQUARE
SFU Public Square—a signature initiative designed to spark, nurture and restore community connections—establishes SFU as the go-to convener of serious and productive conversations about issues of public concern.
SFU MORRIS J. WOSK CENTRE FOR DIALOGUE
The SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue is both a world class, accredited conference facility and a programming unit with a mandate to foster shared understanding and positive action through dialogue and engagement. The Centre strengthens Canadian democracy by promoting democratic participation and innovation, spread best practices by providing dialogue training and tools, and helps governments to engage citizens and stakeholders.
Office of Community Engagement
The Office of Community Engagement at SFU works towards advancing ways in which students, faculty and staff can work respectfully and fairly with community partners to advance common goals like education, strengthening knowledge and making real world impact at the issue being tackled.
The Office of Community Engagement follows five orchestrating principles for engaging in partnerships and speaking to centering communities and external partners: relationships, respect, communication, context and flexibility.
Working with community partners
SFU has a memorandum of understanding (MOU), with the Squamish Nation and another with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, on further advancing Reconciliation. These agreements ensure that these parties continue to engage and collaborate on issues such as: building connections with local Indigenous communities; joint educational initiatives and research; supporting a respectful approach for indigenous knowledge and protocols; and a sustainable, long-term relationship.
Student leadership at SFU
SFU's Student Union Building offers 113,000 square feet of amenities, student activity and study space, including space for SFU Student Society staff.
The SFU Student Society (SFSS) is a student-led organization that represents and advocates for the interests of the 25,000+ undergraduate students at SFU. The SFSS is home to various social and academic clubs open to all SFU students. Students also have access to several services through the SFSS, not limited to: free legal advice, an annual kick-off concert in the fall, affordable medical care, social clubs, and much more.
The SFU Graduate Student Society (GSS) is the society and government for all graduate students at SFU, representing over 4,000 students in 38 academic units. The GSS supports graduate students to achieve their personal, professional and academic goals at SFU and beyond. The society is committed to receptive stewardship in order to provide relevant representation, advocacy and services to its membership.
Embark Sustainability Society
Embark is an independent, student-centred, not-for-profit based out of Simon Fraser University. Itcreates space for transformation by catalyzing student sustainability journeys that centre justice, equity, decolonization, diversity and inclusion. The society does this by engaging students in programs, events, and other initiatives that spark dialogue and cultivate action to address systemic challenges within climate and food systems.
Embark is a student society at SFU which represents all graduate and undergraduate students, making it the largest student society at SFU.
Simon Fraser University has a rich history of deeply engaged partnership practices at the local, national and international levels. SFU works very closely with the City of Burnaby and Burnaby-based organizations, engaging in a variety of levels through various departments and units, with faculty, staff and students from all areas of the university. The university also engages at the regional level by working with the British Columbia provincial government on initiatives of strategic importance, such as the B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation. SFU is not absent from the national stage either, collaborating with the federal government on large-scale and long-term projects such as the establishment of the Canadian Energy and Emissions Data Centre.
Learn more:
STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN 2022-2028
Officially launched in January 2023, Simon Fraser University's 2023-2028 Strategic Research Plan (SRP) captures some of the breadth of activities at the university. It also defines priority areas of research strength and focus for 2023-2028. The SRP is accompanied by an implementation plan that identifies specific actions that will be taken to enhance the impact of the university in its key research priority areas.
In preparing the SRP, the university interacted with hundreds of community members through townhall-style meetings, survey responses and email. to discuss their priorities and where they see their research going in the coming years. Clear themes emerged from these discussions, such as the role of SFU in confronting the climate crisis, the growth of human-health focused research at the institution, the need for the institution to value diverse forms of scholarship, the need to respect and incorporate Indigenous perspectives and knowledge(s) into research at the institution, and the need to support graduate students and other early-career researchers in our community.
CENTRE FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
The Centre for Restorative Justice is an initiative by the School of Criminology at SFU that—in partnership with individuals, the community, justice agencies and the university—exists to support and promote the principles and practices of restorative justice.
FACTS AND FIGURES
- 572 research publications related to SDG 16, 2019-2023 (source: SciVal)
- 258 active research projects related to SDG 16 funded between 2019 - 2023
- Since the 2018/19 academic year, SFU has offered 25 courses related to SDG 16, representing over 5,278 students
- At least 124 researchers involved in research relating to SDG 16 (source: SFU Research Expertise Engine)
UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE
At SFU, both the Board of Governors and the Senate have elected representation from all major stakeholder groups—faculty, staff and students.
The Board of Governors is the senior governing body at SFU constituted under the University Act. SFU Board members do not receive any remuneration for their services to the Board. The overall responsibility for the business of the university (property, revenue and policies) is vested in the Board. The Board has 15 members including the Chancellor, the President, two elected faculty members, two elected students, one elected staff member and eight individuals appointed by the Government of the Province of British Columbia.
The Senate is responsible for the academic governance of the university and so it must be concerned with all important matters that bear on teaching and research in the university: this includes the development of new initiatives; the formation of priorities; and the consideration and approval of policies. The Senate is composed of the University Chancellor, University President & Vice Chancellor, and several members of the senior executive team. It also includes the eight faculty deans; 16 faculty members; 18 joint faculty; 17 students and four convocation members.
SUPPORTING SCHOLARS AT RISK
During times of war and international conflict, thousands of young children, youth and scholars are forced to flee their home countries. Today, there is an urgent need to provide sanctuary and assistance to scholars and students facing immediate threats of violence and/or political repression.
ACADEMIC FREEDOM IS EMBEDDED IN THE SFU FACULTY ASSOCIATION COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT
The SFU Faculty Association Collective Agreement describes academic freedom as, “the freedom to examine, question, teach and learn, and involves the right to investigate, speculate and comment without reference to prescribed doctrine, as well as the right to criticize the University, Association and society at large.” This freedom also extends to research, members of the university -- junior and senior academics -- as well as those invited to participate in its fora.
See SFU President and Vice-Chancellor Joy Johnson's full statement on academic freedom at SFU
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT POLICY
SFU's Responsible Investment Policy states that, "the university incorporates environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations into its investment decisions." The policy also notes that "SFU is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment to support incorporating [environmental, social, and corporate governance] into its investment decisions."
Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre (AKU-ACER)
SFU and Aga Khan University (AKU) continue to build on their existing MOU by partnering together on the Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Center (AKU-ACER), which provides a site for research opportunities in environmental sciences. This site is home to diverse habitats and will provide students a transformative field school experience