The following appeared in the Thursday, October 27th edition of YFile.

The sixth annual Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) Awards Gala marked an evening of firsts as FES Dean Barbara Rahder welcomed award recipients, presenters and friends to a packed Gladstone Hotel ballroom last Thursday night, Oct. 20.

A new certificate program and several inaugural awards were just some of the items on the evening’s agenda. Rob Tiffin, vice-president students, extended his congratulations to all of the award recipients, saying he was happy to have the opportunity to recognize and honour “some of the best and brightest students in FES, and…some of Canada’s future leaders.”

Tiffin applauded the Faculty in its efforts to position itself as a major centre for teaching and research, specifically recognizing FES’ recent developments in sustainable energy education. He said he was excited about the upcoming Certificate in Sustainable Energy, to which he remarked, “It will be a unique qualification for York graduates, in a very high-demand field.”

Left: From left, councillor Mike Layton, Ian Rice, who received the Jack Layton Prize for Environmental Research & Action, and Barbara Rahder

The first of the evening’s new awards was the Charles Caccia Award in Sustainable Development, spearheaded by Caccia’s wife Iva and friend Jim MacNeill. The award was financially established by dozens of individuals who wanted to commemorate Caccia in a way that would make him proud, by supporting student achievement and education in environmental sustainability. The inaugural recipient, PhD student Jennifer Mills, was amazed by Caccia’s contributions and dedication to environmental and social justice causes, noting that his example teaches us, “As Canadians, we cannot rest on our laurels. We must always strive to improve environmental policy and the quality of life for everyone.”

Right: From left, Robert Sirman presents the Molson Prize to Peter Victor with Brent Herbert-Copley and Barbara Rahder

Another award inaugurated with anticipation was the Jack Layton Prize for Environmental Research & Action. Layton’s son, Toronto Councillor Mike Layton, presented the award and shared the personal connection that he and his father had to the Faculty. Mike attributed his decision to come to York ultimately to his father, soliciting advice from him to help decide his graduate school. Jack had advised Mike to “talk to policymakers… to find out how they got to where they wanted to be.” Mike noted a recurring theme as he approached “top minds in the field, and influential players”; they pointed him to the Master in Environmental Studies (MES) program at York. The inaugural recipient of the Jack Layton Prize was Ian Rice, who recently completed his MES degree and now works on climate change policy for the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. When asked about his aspirational ties to the prize’s namesake, Rice responded, “I’m definitely a politically engaged person. I could see myself getting into politics. It would be a good profession to have where I could make a real difference.”

FES Professor Peter Victor was also recognized that evening with a special addition to the festivities. Victor was presented with the Molson Prize, an award administered annually by the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The award is bestowed upon two distinguished Canadians per year in recognition of not only past contributions, but to encourage continued contributions to Canada’s cultural and intellectual heritage.

Left: From left, Anita McBride, receipient of the Friend of the Faculty Award, with friends and donors Guy Burry and Susan and Ted Spence

Past recipients include Canadians such as Margaret Atwood, Marshall McLuhan and Glenn Gould. Robert Sirman, director of the CCA, was on hand to co-present the award to Victor alongside Brent Herbert-Copley, SSHRC’s vice-president research capacity. Sirman remarked that Victor was their ideal choice, particularly in light of his latest book, Managing Without Growth – Slower by Design, Not Disaster. The book had considerable resonance for the CCA, shadowing its own values which Sirman identified, “There needs to be a major paradigm shift in societal values, away from the concept of humankind as a ‘consumer,’ to something closer to humankind as an ‘expresser’… The existing paradigm has been very negligent in not recognizing the conflict and tension between expression and consumption.”

The final award of the night was not new to the FES Awards Gala, but it garnered possibly the most palpable emotion. The Friend of the Faculty Award, established in 2005, is awarded annually to recognize and celebrate the generous contributions and outstanding support provided to the Faculty in the pursuit of its vision. This year’s recipient was Anita McBride, former director of the FES student programs office.

As the first recipient of an honorary MES degree at her retirement in 1999, McBride’s involvement with the Faculty extended beyond her 25 years of service at York. She continues to be a devoted and generous supporter of the Faculty, keeping in touch with MES alumni to help them network with current students. “I just loved the students when I was working, and I still keep in touch with a lot of them… and with their children,” said McBride. Rahder offered a sincere and appreciative hug to McBride, noting that without FES’ generous supporters and donors, the successes celebrated that evening would not be possible.

Submitted by Alicia Brown, FES media/communications coordinator

The following appeared in the Wednesday, October 26, 2011 edition of YFile.

Glendon has a rich history, including a forest containing some rare trees – one of which was brought over from China and once thought to be extinct. Professor Stuart Schoenfeld and Helen Psathas, senior manager, Environmental Design & Sustainability, will talk campus sustainability tomorrow at the launch of the Glendon Campus Project website.

“Environmental History of the Glendon Campus & Forest: Challenges of Conservation & Sustainability in the 21st Century,” part of the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) Speaker Series, will take place Oct. 27, from noon to 1pm, in the Senate Chamber, Glendon campus. Light refreshments will be served.

Right: A path through the Glendon campus forest

Schoenfeld will provide an overview of the website, while Psathas, a senior fellow at IRIS, will provide an update on the forest.

“The project was designed with two goals. First, to share the knowledge about our campus more widely. Second, to document the history and current state of environmentalism at Glendon,” Schoenfeld writes in an introductory note on the website.

“The project is intended to be a contribution to the common culture of those who work and study here. We are the custodians of a remarkable place. Knowing more about it, we can better appreciate the gift we have been given of working and studying here. We can also appreciate that the Glendon campus has been taken care of, and that responsibility continues.”

One of the things the new website offers is an overview of how conservation issues and environmental issues have become part of the local culture and how Glendon is responding to the current challenge of sustainability. It has taken much work to keep the upper portion of the Glendon campus landscaped and to perverse the forest in the valley, as well as introduce new environmental practices.

For more information, visit the Glendon Campus Project website.

The following appeared in the Monday, October 24, 2011 edition of Y-File:

A growing number of people are experiencing the effects of climate change in their daily lives, but those effects are not distributed equally. An workshop at York on Wednesday will discuss the issue of climate change and who it affects and how, the role of governments and what should be done.

The Climate Justice and Politics Workshop is part of the Climate Justice II Workshop Series, “Bringing a Democratic Canadian Perspective to the Climate Change Conference in South Africa: Taking Action on Climate Change.” The event will take place Oct. 26, from 1 to 4pm, 305 York Lanes, Keele campus. It is hosted by York’s Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) and Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), and co-ordinated by Mihae Ahn, a student in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), and JP Sapinski, a PhD student at the University of Victoria.

The workshop will feature five student panelists with follow-up commentary by guest discussant York FES Professor Ellie Perkins. It will also be virtually available for those outside the University to participate. For instructions on how to connect, click here. The idea is to help spark discussion about people who are already marginalized – women, dispossessed classes, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities and citizens of poorer countries – and who are bearing the brunt of the consequences of a warming world.

The workshop is just one of the events being organized by IRIS and APECS in advance of the United Nations climate change conference, COP17, in Durban, South Africa, in November. It is an opportunity to meet and share ideas with like-minded climate justice activists and academics. It is also intended to solicit input from the audience to inform the work of the York University delegates, some of whom will participate in an exhibit booth intended to highlight Inuit experiences and perspectives of climate change. "We are also waiting to hear about the approval of our side event, 'Bridging Knowledges: Communicating on Climate Change Experiences to Build Resilient Communities'," says Rachel Hirsch, a FES post-doctoral fellow and IRIS executive member at York.

Two of the delegates are youth from Arviat, Nunavut. It is important to have the voice of the Arviat youth at COP17, says Hirsch, as they are one of the groups most affected by climate change. The whole idea is to create dialogue. The booth is a joint effort between York University, the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the Nanisiniq Project. “Bringing people to COP17 is one way to get people’s voices heard regarding climate change, but it has become a pan-Canadian initiative,” says Hirsch. The result is that “we all want this to be an ongoing network for continuing dialogue. It has become something so much bigger.”

The five panelists will discuss climate justice and politics from perspectives ranging from ethics and philosophy to critical discourse analysis to the political economy of global warming. FES student Aaron Saad will discuss, “Just and Unjust Solutions to Climate Change and Human Displacement,” Ahn will look at “Climate Change and Hybrid Ethics: A Review of Four Ethical Theories,” University of Toronto students Rachel York-Bridgers and Paul York will discuss “Animals and Climate Change,” Sapinski will talk about “Capitalism, Climate Change and the Discourse of Ecological Modernization” and Carelton University student Chris Bisson will look at “Resilient Cooperation – A (Re)new(ed) Alternative to Sustainable Development." Sapinski and Bisson will join the workshop virtually.

“Such a workshop is crucial because it challenges the way that climate change is currently addressed at the global level. The impacts of climate change on people force them to migrate to other countries or regions (climate refugees) or change their whole way of life (First Nations and Inuit people, especially in the North), among others,” says Sapinski. “However, the issue of climate justice is not limited to the impacts of climate change, as injustices and inequalities also come from the way governments deal with the issue.”

For more information on the workshop, its presenters and their abstracts, visit the Climate Justice and Politics Workshop website. For more information about the Arviat youth, visit the Nanisiniq: Arviat History Project website.