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Past IRIS Research Projects

Archived Content
  • Adaptive Visions of Water in the Middle East (AVOW)
    IRIS is a supporting partner in Professors Eric Abitbol and Stuart Schoenfeld's research into water issues in the Middle East. Please visit the main project webpage, Eric's project profile at the University of Bradford, UK, and a letter that Eric and Stuart published in The Walrus, one of Canada's leading magazines.
  • Assessment of Invasive Alien Species in Ontario
    Post-doctoral fellow Andrea Smith is leading this initiative in close consultation with the Ontario Biodiversity Science Forum and the Ontario Biodiversity Council.
  • Business and Sustainable Livelihoods
    Innovative approaches by networks of entrepreneurs, companies, NGOs, governments and development agencies to create sustainable livelihoods in developing countries. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, IFC and the Maclean Foundation.
  • Campus Sustainability Blueprint
    IRIS has been doing research on campus sustainability since 2006. We have now published our report "IRIS: Campus Hub for Sustainability Research".
  • Design for Sustainability
    Case studies of innovative Canadian enterprises using sustainable design to improve environmental, economic and social performance while enhancing competitiveness. Funding by Natural Resources Canada, the Design Exchange, Pollution Probe, Five Winds International and York University.
  • Development of Capability Building Initiatives for and Energy Efficient Ontario Project
    The ultimate goal of this project was to provide capability-building program elements necessary for the OPA to reach the ambitious provincial conservation target of a 6,300-megawatt reduction in peak electricity demand by 2025.
  • Ecologies on the Edge
    IRIS joins the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), and York Centre for International and Security Studies (YCISS) in an interdisciplinary research effort to investigate the key processes affecting vulnerable ecologies in Asia, Africa, Latin America.
  • Gas, Arctic Peoples, and Security (GAPS) Initiative
    A fully endorsed International Polar Year (IPY) project, funded through the Canadian and Norwegian IPY programs, GAPS is looking at the impacts of oil and gas on arctic peoples using the human security framework.
  • Glendon Campus Project
    The Glendon Campus Project, supported by IRIS as part of its mandate for campus sustainability, is a website that contributes to the common culture of those who work and study there, to the York community and to the broader community who use the forest and the upper campus as recreational space. The project began in September 2010. The project documents and shares knowledge about the unique environmental features of the Glendon campus. The upper campus features a botanical garden and a heritage property.  Most of the lower campus is forest along the West Don river, integrated into the ravine system of the Toronto Parks. As well the project documents the history and current state of environmentalism at Glendon, with a focus on the campus conservation committee, student environmental activism and related initiatives. The Masters Program in Public and International Affairs provided two graduate assistants to the project.
  • Invasive Species in the Northwest Territories
    IRIS was contracted by the Government of the Northwest Territories Environment and Natural Resources Department to recommend a strategy for the monitoring of invasive alien species.
  • London Deer Project
    IRIS has been engaged by the City of London to conduct the following study "The Effects of White-tailed Deer Browsing on different Vegetation Community Types in Three Environmentally Significant Areas in the City of London".
  • Novel & Transformative Institutional Forms
    Exploration of Public/Private Sector Partnerships and Water (in)Security in South Africa with the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.
  • Promoting Community Sustainability: Linking Research and Action
    Promoting linkages between communities and universities for sustainable development. Funded by SSHRC.
  • Role of the Private Sector in Development
    Identifying the current state of activities and research on the role of business in poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
  • Socio-Economic Considerations for Climate Change Adaptation in the Lake Simcoe Watershed
    This report roughly outlines a socio-economic perspective on climate change adaptation planning in the Lake Simcoe watershed.  It adopts a simple planning framework to discuss where socio-economic considerations enter into an analysis of climate change adaptation.  Examples are used throughout to explain concepts as discussed in the context of the Lake Simcoe watershed.  Recommendations are provided.
  • Sustainable Canada
    How Canadian firms can adapt and perform more effectively and sustainably on an international basis with an all-Canada 'brand'. Funded by SSHRC.
  • Sustainable Water in Mongolia (SWiM)
    A Students for Development project of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
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