What We Do
Our Mission
Enactus Fleming College is a diverse team of creative student volunteers driven to empower our community through social entrepreneurship and collaboration. Using the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals as our guide, we create projects and social enterprises that support our local economy. Our regional, national, and international projects generate several sustainable solutions that rejuvenate communities and give hope to those who need it most. Enactus encourages students to see opportunities and take action to improve the world around them. Currently, we have five active projects - four of which are aimed at improving our local community.
What is Enactus?
Our Projects
Paper Planet
Same Old Paper, Brand New Life!
In 2017, Fleming College’s Enactus team founded Paper Planet with the purpose of diverting campus’ fibrous waste from the surrounding landfills. By extending the life of used office paper collected from the College campuses, the project evolved, and the Paper Planter product was created: compostable planting pots constructed from the paper waste collected on-campus and from the local business community. Prior to the COVID-19 virus pandemic, planters were sold in kits (25 planters, seeds, soil, growing instructions, and teacher lesson plans) to classrooms in the local community. The classroom kits allowed teachers to educate students about the circular economy, growing their own food, and environmental sustainability. The pandemic presented the Paper Planet team with an opportunity to expand its product line: home kits were developed to promote the same fundamentals as the classroom kits and were sold in the surrounding community. In eight weeks, $500 in sales from the home kits were generated. The production of the planters is a time-consuming, labour-intensive, manual process. This year through the support of the Mechatronics department at Fleming College, we were able to develop a hydraulic planter press – allowing rapid production of the planters to supply the growing demand for kits. By expediting the production of the Paper Planters via automation, the potential exists to expand the distribution of the Paper Planter kits to more elementary school classrooms and private households within the community. Expanded distribution of the kits will result in increased awareness of the effects of climate change, thus empowering people to do their part to act against climate change. Through the purchase of Paper Planter kits, customers will learn about the circular economy, the importance of environmental sustainability, and the transferring of knowledge on how to grow their own food to future generations.
Project United
Enriching the learning experience through experiential learning
In 2018, a local elementary school reached out to Enactus Fleming College to find ways to increase student engagement and reduce absenteeism. Project United was formed and with elementary school teacher consultation, a series of learning modules were developed. We called these modules a “Treasure Chest” to reflect the creative and diverse characteristics of the learning objectives. However, COVID-19 halted the project's momentum. It was time to rethink our approach. Since March 2020, the learning environment has experienced unprecedented disruption and adoption. We have seen educators embrace this change and create hybrid learning opportunities. The Project United team would like to collaborate with teachers and believe students can learn essential skills and a sense of community with a combination of in-person and online learning modules. Pre COVID-19, the project was focused on developing in-person-only learning activities and was in the planning phase to launch the activities in the classroom. As the province has now resumed in-person classes, we’re planning to offer 10 “Treasure Chest” learning modules in a hybrid learning format for elementary students. In collaboration with the current educational curriculum, our goal is to reach out to schools and students and support teachers with additional individual and team-based learning modules. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, both the college’s faculty and students learned how to adapt to online learning. With the skills and knowledge that we have gained, we are implementing them into the creation of online learning and informational sessions. From our own experience, some people are more comfortable learning online whereas others prefer an in-person approach. Therefore, we are creating ways to help those who like to learn in different environments.
Paddy Waste to Income
Partnering with rice farmers in India to reduce crop waste burning and find new revenue streams
At Paddy Waste to Income, we are involved in working along with local NGOs, community leaders, farmers with small land ownership, and Enactus teams located in the Punjab region of India. Most local farmers own 1-3 acres of land producing around 3-10 tones of paddy waste and they cannot afford to invest in bailing machinery, hiring a truck, or negotiating with governmental or institutional buyers. Our project “Paddy Waste to Income”, empowers the local community to remove these obstacles, gain access to equipment, market contacts, and logistical support to collect, bail, store, transport, and sell the paddy waste thus stopping the burning while generating revenues for the farmers. Once the project is sustainable and capable of being run by the village cooperatives, we will be scaling our solution by expanding to other villages and creating multiple clusters while benefiting from the lessons learned from the pilot implementation.
Keys To Me
Unlocking potential through workshops catered to Fleming College students
Keys To Me is a holistic solution to mental health and community wellness through education on topics like financial literacy and career development. Our volunteer-based model uses community partnerships to tackle all aspects of our financial freedom model. Money is connected to everything we do. From our career goals to our mental health, by tackling these issues we’re addressing financial problems at the root. At Enactus Fleming Keys to Me, we realize that many students graduate unprepared for a drastically changing workforce. We focus on financial literacy, mental health awareness, and career-building skills. Our project runs workshops, every semester, addressing these skills, free of charge for students. Our aim is to enrich the learning experience of students by helping them fill the gap between what they know and what they need to know to lead a successful career. What differentiates Keys to Me is our holistic approach. The majority of our workshops’ underlying themes concentrate on the mental health and well-being of students. This year, the project is expanding its scope covering different areas such as brand building, and career development. We prepare students to become confident and face real-world work experience. This project will enhance the skill development and mental health resiliency of students that will assist them in their life.
Project Tikinaagan
Creating sustainable and affordable infrastructure that aligns with the lifestyles of First Nation families
The Enactus teams at Fleming College Trent University are a diverse team of creative student volunteers driven to empower our community through social entrepreneurship and collaboration. Enactus is a community of entrepreneurial leaders who see business as a way to address social issues. With this in mind, we wish to use our platform to assist First Nation Communities. The Collaboration Project wishes to assist First Nation Communities in achieving their goals by offering training, resources, and support to our Host First Nation Communities based on their needs. We do so without agenda, research solutions based on their needs, look for collaboration opportunities that use gathered resources and technology, with full transparency, always including First Nation Communities in the conversation, and no execution without First Nation Communities' approval. Currently, under the direction of Chief Emily Whetung of Curve Lake First Nation, we are focused on looking for infrastructure opportunities using sustainable building practices and mindfulness of the sacred land of our Host First Nations and are creating a plan that is scalable and replicable.