Humber’s Earth Fest engages communities

Thuy Trang Nguyen: Senior Reporter

Earth Fest was held at Humber College North Campus to celebrate Earth Month 2024 on March 27.

Earth Fest, organized in partnership with First Year Experience (FYE), aimed to bring Humber communities together to discuss a sustainable future and create a sustainability vision for Humber.

The event offered various activities for students, such as basketball, pottery painting, snacks, reusable cutlery and free succulents.

Earth Fest 2024 saw participation from the Humber Arboretum, Smart Commute and Metrolinx representatives.

There were activities for students to experience and learn about sustainability.

Gabi Hentschke, Sustainability Communications and Engagement Coordinator and Co-organizer of Earth Fest 2024, said the event partners with many other partners to gain knowledge in Humber communities.

Hentschke said the event was successfully organized based on student interaction.

“The success of an event is not only the number of participants we have, especially compared to the number of people who have registered, but also the high participation by showing up,” she said. “It’s about the quality of interaction and conversation with attendees.”

Hemanshi Vadaliya, a cloud computing student at Humber, said she was excited about the pot drawing activity.

“The event is very good,” Vadaliya said. “I have always loved to draw different kinds of things, and today, I have the opportunity to do it here.”

Hentschke said activities at The Earth Fest event connect Humber students effectively.

“Today, we have seen people interested in our activities,” Hentschke said. “From Smart Commute, they have the connection where you get a little basketball game. Also, the pot painting that they can bring home and the sustainability survey are really popular.

“A lot of people took that and shared their thoughts about sustainability on campus,” Hentschke said.

She said Smart Commute connects people with numerous events including a little basketball game and painting plant pots they can take home. Hentschke said many share their thoughts about sustainability on campus.

Various attendees especially embraced the pottery painting and sustainability survey.

Praveen Kaur, a business and accounting student at Humber, said this activity recalls her hometown memories.

“I just attended some activities like painting,” Kaur said. “I enjoy it. Back in India, I used to have some plants and flowers, and I do stuff like a painting that reminds me of things I did in India.”

Hentschke said it would be an improvement that should be done to enlarge the engagement range of Earth Fest events in the future.

“Having more vendors gives more people the chance to be here, be seen and be heard. Different organizations and community groups participating in the event would be great to see,” Hentschke said.

“It is challenging to do that because it requires more outreach.”

Humber promotes social media platforms and sustainability communities to engage with students, staff, and faculty who care about sustainability.