German atmospheric chemist will give this year’s Harold I. Schiff Lecture

Published October 28, 2013 by sabina93

The following appeared in the Friday, October 25, 2013 edition of Y-File:

kiendler-scharr-pflanzenkam

A German atmospheric chemist will give this year’s Harold I. Schiff LectureThursday.

Astrid Kiendler-Scharr (left) will discuss how a warming climate may be inducing changes in emissions of organic aerosols from vegetation and whether the changes are reducing or amplifying climate change.

The title of her talk is Chemistry Climate Interactions: Biogenic Emissions and their Contribution to Secondary Organic Aerosol. She is giving the talk Oct. 31 at 2:30pm in 103 Life Science Building.

Here is a summary of her talk:

Atmospheric aerosols impact climate directly by scattering and absorbing solar radiation and indirectly by acting as ice and cloud condensation nuclei. Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) comprise an important component of atmospheric aerosols. Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) emitted by vegetation are a major source of SOA. It is known that BVOC emissions depend on climate, specifically on temperature and light. Therefore it is to be expected that a chemistry-climate interaction exists, in which climate change induces changes in BVOC emissions and thereby SOA formation, which feeds back to climate. The presentation details the state of the art knowledge on biogenic SOA and its climate relevance. The question of whether climate-induced changes in biogenic SOA formation may attenuate or amplify climate change is addressed based on experiments conducted in the Jülich Plant Atmosphere Chamber.

Kiendler-Scharr is a professor at the University of Cologne, a director at the Institute of Energy and Climate Research of the Research Center Juelich, and head of a group researching Stable Isotopes in Aerosol. She did her doctoral work on “Development and application of a novel aircraft borne ion trap mass spectrometer apparatus for the analysis of trace gases and ions: measurements in a laboratory, in the plume of jet engines and atmospheric trace gas measurements with aircrafts.” Her Habilitation in 2010 was on “Formation of secondary organic aerosols from biogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds.”

This is the 23rd Harold I. Schiff Lecture. The series is organized by the Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry and was established in honour of York’s founding dean of science. Schiff was known for developing techniques to measure trace constituents in the upper atmosphere and for interpreting the physics and chemistry of the stratosphere.

DEATH OF EVIDENCE – OPEN ACCESS WEEK

Published October 28, 2013 by sabina93

The following appeared in the Thursday, October 17, 2010 edition of Y-File:

DeathofEvidence-V

In conjunction with International Open Access

Week (Oct. 21-27), York University Libraries will be mourning the “Death of Evidence,” and evidence-based research, on Oct. 22 at 1:30pm in the atrium of Scott Library. Those who would like to pay tribute to the long-form census, which has been cancelled; Library and Archives Canada, whose budget has been cut; or Canadian government scientists who have been silenced, are encouraged to join the Death of Evidence ceremony.

The ceremony will begin at 1:30pm in Central Square, as a procession accompanied by a bagpiper, which will lead guests to the Scott Library atrium (second floor). Three “eulogists,” Dawn Bazely, Janet Friskney and Valerie Preston will speak.

Bazely, professor of Biology at York and director of York University’s pan-university, senate-chartered research centre, the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS), will speak on behalf of silenced government researchers. As both a professor, and director of IRIS since 2006, Bazely has participated in conversations about research related to science policy. She is also a proponent for Open Access and has worked closely with York’s digital initiatives librarian to create the Digital Archive, Churchill Community of Knowledge, in Yorkspace.

Friskney, research officer in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies at York University, also spends time performing executive duties for the Bibliographical Society of Canada. It is on behalf of the Society that she’s been monitoring, for the past several years, the ongoing changes at Library and Archives Canada. She will be speaking on behalf of Library and Archives Canada.

Preston, professor of Geography at York and former York Director for CERIS — The Ontario Metropolis Centre, will speak on behalf of the long-form census and how its cancellation affects researchers. As a social geographer, Preston’s research examines migration trends and policies with particular attention to questions of exclusion and inclusion for immigrant men and women. She has also worked closely with community and government partners on research about immigrant integration in Canadian housing and labour markets.

Following the speakers’ eulogies, those in the audience will have the opportunity to speak on behalf of science, the census and Library and Archives Canada. More information about the Death of Evidence event can be found here.

Death of Evidence Twitter Contest

From Oct. 15 – 22, members of the York community can submit their own tributes to evidence-based research via Twitter, using the hashtag #RIPevidence. Telling the Libraries, in 140 characters or less, what you will miss most about the loss of evidence-based research, will enter you into a draw to win a copy of Chris Turner’s book, The War on Science: Muzzled Scientists and Wilful Blindness in Stephen Harper’s Canada. The randomly selected, winning entry, will be announced at the Death of Evidence event on Oct. 22. Full contest details can be found here.

Open Access Week Tabling

Those interested in speaking with York librarians about Open Access or the “death” of evidence-based research can stop by the awareness booths on Oct. 23 at the Steacie Science and Engineering Library from 11am – 12pm, Osgoode Law Library from 12:30-1:30pm, the Bronfman Business Library from 2:30-3:30pm, and the Frost Library from 10:30-11:30am on Oct. 24.

For more information about this event visit the y.file.news.yorku.ca and York University Library

Dawn Bazely Named Hotshot Prof by Globe and Mail

Published October 26, 2013 by hdrdla

The Globe and Mail‘s annual Canadian University Report was released earlier this week. The report highlights York’s highly rated programs in business, social work, fine arts, psychology and criminology, where students enjoy a vibrant, politically engaged culture and a strong commitment to social justice. This year’s report announced IRIS director Dawn Bazely as a Hotshot Prof. A “hotshot prof” is listed for each school in Canada – Dawn Bazely, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, is identified as York’s. Professor Bazely continues to make innovative changes to her courses, bringing her research and life experience into the classroom, and serving as a great and passionate mentor. A winner of York’s 2013 President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards, Bazely also spearheads research at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability.

York professors who are global thought leaders in their fields, as well as our accomplished alumni who are making a positive impact in the world. To formulate the report, information is gathered from professors, alumni and the universities themselves, as well as through interviews with current and former students about their university experiences. York University is described as an “intellectual oasis in the suburbs” also pointing out that the Lassonde School of Engineering’s new building, how the University has demonstrated exceptional dedication to sustainability and the “dynamic, comprehensive university York has become”. The report is used as a tool by prospective university students and their parents, and it plays an important role in creating an understanding of what each university offers. The report also recognized Janice Fukakusa, chief financial officer at Royal Bank of Canada, who was inducted into Canada’s Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame in 2007, as one of the York’s notable alumni.

Professor Gabrielle Slowey presents “Fracking in the Free World? Resource Extraction and Implications for Indigenous Peoples”

Published October 25, 2013 by hdrdla

As part of the Csillag Seminar Series, Dr. Gabrielle Slowey, Professor of the Department of Political Science at York University will be presenting her paper on social justice in the fracking industry. Join her at The University of Toronto Mississauga on Wednesday October 30^th from 12 to 1pm. “Fracking in the Free World? Resource Extraction and Implications for Indigenous Peoples” discusses the controversial politics of fracking- the differences between provinces and states in and between Canada and the United States. This paper seeks to understand the reasons for support or opposition of fracking in different regions. It also addresses how citizens are engaged, their responses and what the implications for relations between the state and First Nations? This paper builds on the path-breaking work of Simona Perry’s “Playing for Keeps along the Susquehanna: A Community-Integrated GIS of Land and Water Uses and Rights in Rural Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Play”, to represent a preliminary (and collaborative) effort to map out the terrain of fracking politics.

Department of Geography, University of Toronto Mississauga
Csillag Seminar Series
Where: DV 3130 Council Chambers
When: Wednesday, 30 October 2013, 12-1pm
Speaker: Dr. Gabrielle Slowey
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science York University (Toronto, ON) Title: Fracking in the Free World? Resource Extraction and Implications for Indigenous Peoples

For more of the Csillag Seminar Series see here.

Students help inform design of eight sustainable housing models

Published September 25, 2013 by asavatti

The following appeared in the July 22nd, 2013 edition of YFile. IRIS was one of the partners that created the course back in 2009.

What will the highly sustainable features of eight prototype homes at the Kortright Centre’s Living City Campus look like? That’s what about 41 students, mostly from York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, were exploring during a recent Design for Sustainability Workshop course.

The three-week intensive course wrapped up with a one-day Building Research Establishment (BRE) Innovation Park Design Charrette in which students worked with experts to develop recommendations based on five themes: First Nations housing, affordable sustainability, assisted living and health and the aging population, passive house and sustainable retrofits. DesignCharretteGroup

Students and experts come together to discuss recommendations

“We’re training the champions and decision makers of sustainability,” says Arlene Gould, who has taught the course for the past five years and is a part-time faculty member. “The charrette is a great teaching tool. The students love it and often tell me they found it transformative.”

About 20 experts – architects, landscape designers, Toronto & Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) staff – joined the charrette. Toronto is an important design hub, one of the biggest next to New York and Boston. “We’re also a hub for green building, but we’re ArleneGould not really using the talents of designers at a high level,” says Gould. She hopes to change that by helping students to become more aware of the sustainable design possibilities.

Arlene Gould

Each year, the design charrette looks at something different. It’s one of the design tools explored in the course to get students thinking about sustainable solutions and opportunities that will change people’s lives.

This year, it was the BRE Innovation Park Canada. BRE, a U.K. organization that does research on the built environment, joined with the TRCA to create the park to promote sustainable construction, bridge trial concepts to large-scale implementation, field test new and advanced technologies and get industry involved in more sustainability research.

DesignCharretteGroup2 The park will test and showcase best practices, new methods and materials suited to the Canadian built environment.

The various groups discussed five themes to inform the future design briefs for the housing prototypes

Participants had a first glimpse at the site plan and engaged in a series of breakout sessions. It was in those sessions that the students helped to develop the themes and outline the performance standards and targets that will inform the future design briefs. BRE has done similar projects in other parts of the world, including China and Scotland.

Industry will be asked to step forward and build the houses to showcase what’s new in design sustainability and green innovations. The park will then be open to industry and the public to see what’s possible.

In another course project, the students worked in groups to conduct a design audit of the Keele campus construction sites. They developed ideas for how to improve the current DesignCharretteIdea walking experience on campus and how to tell stories in public space about the transformation that each construction project will bring about.

A model by environmental studies student Jonathan Tavone illustrating one student group’s idea for telling the construction story on campus, part of the course design audit

The hands-on course takes students on several field trips. This year, those included a trip to the Kortright Centre to see first-hand where the eight houses for the BRE Innovation Park would be built and a guided tour and talk by the architect at St. Gabriel’s Passionist Parish – the first church in Canada to be awarded a gold certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Governor General medallist dedicated to sustainability and alleviating poverty

Published June 19, 2013 by afdubreu

The following appeared in the June 11th edition of YFile. Kevin McKague is a Core Faculty member of IRIS.

Kevin McKague (PhD ’12), a graduate of the Schulich School of Business, is this year’s recipient of a gold Governor General’s Academic Medal. He is dedicated to finding a way to alleviate global poverty and increase sustainability.

Kevin McKague

In his PhD thesis, Making Markets Work for the Poor, McKague investigated how low-income countries can maximize the objectives of all individuals in value chains, including improving the social and financial benefits for low-income participants and private sector organizations. His research site examined the work to strengthen the dairy value chain by CARE Bangladesh. It focused on improving incomes among 35,000 small and landless dairy producers in northwest Bangladesh.

McKague credits his family and growing up on a farm as being important in his focus on entrepreneurship, sustainability and alleviation of poverty. “My family have always be interested in public service,” says McKague. “I travelled to India and Africa in my early 20s to work in international development. I did my Masters of Business Administration at the Schulich School of Business and ever since then I have been putting entrepreneurship together with development.”

When he thinks about advice for future graduates, McKague is quick to quote the Greek philosopher, Aristotle. “Where your talents and the needs of the world cross; there lies your vocation,” says McKague, “I think it is important to combine what it is that is needed with what it is you can do to overlap your skills and passion with the needs of he world.”

The Governor General’s gold medal is awarded for outstanding academic achievement at the graduate level of study. It is the most prestigious award that can be bestowed on a Canadian graduate student. McKague will be presented with the medal on behalf of the Governor General by York University. Accompanying the medal is a personalized certificate that is signed by Governor General David Johnston.

While at York University, McKague was active as an adjunct professor at the Schulich School of Business. He was a senior research fellow with the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability. He was also a research fellow with the Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. He was a member of the Board of Governors at York University and was the founding board member and president of the Foundation for Sustainable Enterprise and Development.

McKague has more than 10 years of experience as a leader in managing innovative research, education and consulting projects involving sustainable enterprise and international development. Most recently, he worked on major projects with the International Finance Corporation, the United Nations Development Program’s Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative, the International Development Research Centre and the Canadian International Development Agency on issues of sustainable business approaches and pro-poor private sector development.

The co-author of Creating Sustainable Enterprise Networks and author of a number of award-winning MBA teaching cases as well as author or supervisor for the development of more than 70 case studies of inclusive and sustainable business models.

McKague has an undergraduate degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, which focused on international development, and an MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business, with a specialization in Business and Sustainability. He has worked in Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and South Africa, as well as in India and Bangladesh.

Now a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Strategy Department in the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, McKague is continuing his research and teaching with an emphasis on issues at the intersection of poverty alleviation, entrepreneurship, sustainability and international business.

Director Dawn Bazely Recipient of President’s University-Wide Teaching Award for Senior Full-Time Faculty

Published May 28, 2013 by afdubreu

This year’s recipients of the annual President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards (UWTA) are being honoured for their innovation and commitment, as well as for having significantly enhanced the quality of learning by York students.

“Teaching excellence is the foundation of York’s reputation as one of the leading Canadian universities,” said York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “These recipients are outstanding individuals who are to be commended for their commitment and dedication to creating a stimulating and rich learning environment for our students.”

The recipients are chosen from four categories: full-time faculty with 10 or more years of teaching experience, full-time faculty with less than 10 years of experience, contract and adjunct faculty, and teaching assistants. They are selected by the Senate Committee on Awards. The goal of the awards is to provide significant recognition for excellence in teaching, to encourage its pursuit, to publicize such excellence when achieved across the University and in the wider community, and to promote informed discussion of teaching and its improvement.

Each award winner will have their names engraved on the President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards plaques in Vari Hall. They will also be recognized during Spring Convocation ceremonies.

The recipients of the 2013 awards are:

Professor Dawn Bazely of the Department of Biology in the Faculty of Science will receive the award in the Senior Full-Time Faculty category. The Senate Committee on Awards was impressed with the evident time and effort Bazely puts into thinking and writing about teaching, and making innovative changes to her courses. Students praised her ability to bring her research and life experience into the classroom, noting that she is a great mentor and wonderful role model whose passion inspires.

“It is a great honour to receive this award, especially because I have spent five of the last six years being the director of a research institute. To my mind, teaching and research go hand in hand and are completely intertwined,” says Bazely. “Those teachers who most inspired me during my undergraduate and graduate student times are (were) also outstanding and quite famous researchers. Not only were they my role models, but I also consider the wonderful students that I have had the privilege of teaching at York to be important role models for learning, teaching and research.”

Professor Peter Tsasis, jointly appointed to the School of Health Policy & Management in the Faculty of Health and the School of Administrative Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, will be awarded in the Full-Time Faculty category. Students clearly value Tsasis’ inclusive classroom environment where he uses multiple innovative and challenging learning strategies to engage all learners, wrote the Senate Committee on Awards. Letters in support of the nomination speak to his leadership in the use of diverse forms of experiential learning, as well as to his outstanding mentorship and commitment to students’ success.

“It is a tremendous honour that I am to receive this award,” says Tsasis. “I would like to thank my colleagues for their support, and the students, for whom I am given the privileged opportunity to help impact their learning journey.” In 2010, Tsasis received recognition for outstanding leadership as an undergraduate program director at the School of Health Policy & Management, and in 2011 he received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, in the Established Career Category, also at the Faculty of Health.

Annette Louise Bickford (PhD ’02) of the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) will receive the award in the Contract and Adjunct Faculty category. The nomination notes Bickford’s integration of student experiences into her teaching to increase understanding of complex theoretical debates. Those writing in support of the nomination speak of Bickford’s knowledge and her passion for sharing it, as well as her ability to encourage and challenge students to re-examine their views. Committee members noted not only her success as a hard-working, caring and respectful teacher, but also her commitment to continual improvement and contributions to the scholarship of teaching.

“I’m inspired by critical pedagogy and convinced that education is politically charged around issues of power and identity. I strive to foster egalitarian, collaborative educational spaces that challenge us to analyze and act upon social injustices, and to envision alternative, transformative conditions. My goal is to support students in their intellectual growth as people who think for themselves,” says Bickford. “It is a great honour to receive this award, and a privilege to work with York University students and colleagues whose intellectual curiosity, courage, perseverance and willingness to consider new ideas and diverse perspectives – all hallmarks of critical consciousness – are exemplary.”

Janet Melo-Thaiss of the Departments of English and Humanities in LA&PS won the award in the Teaching Assistant category. Melo-Thaiss brings a good deal of experience as a course director at other universities to her recent work at York as a teaching assistant. She has an impressive breadth and versatility in her teaching and shares her experience when mentoring other teaching assistants. Committee members noted that students appreciate her ability to help them see and achieve their potential; ensuring that they learn, but making it fun at the same time.

“My teaching practice is based upon my firm belief that while imparting knowledge is one of my roles, encouraging students to draw on their own knowledge and experience is as important. My goal is to help students to access ‘what they already know’ and build confidence in their own voices,” says Melo-Thaiss. “So, for me, the classroom is not just about teaching my students about literature or writing, it is also about raising their awareness and sensitivity towards knowledge and wisdom. By encouraging students to approach knowledge from multiple perspectives, they benefit because they begin to ‘think about thinking’. In my experience, the positive ripple effects of the latter are quite profound.”

York University named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers

Published April 22, 2013 by afdubreu

The following appeared in the April 22 edition of YFile.

York University has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers in an announcement released today by Mediacorp Canada Inc.

The University was named along with 54 other organizations in a competition organized by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers project.

“This award recognizes the incredible efforts of York students, faculty and staff who take action every day to raise awareness and reduce our impact on the environment,” says York President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “We have made significant strides to date and will continue to lead by example in achieving results that make a meaningful difference.”

The green roofs on the Petrie Science & Engineering Building and the Lassonde Building are a big part of sustainability initiatives underway at York University

Employers were evaluated and ranked on their unique environmental initiatives and programs, success in reducing environmental footprints and employee involvement in sustainability efforts. The Canada’s Greenest Employers distinction specifically recognizes York University for creating the President’s Sustainability Council, its Green Office and Sustainability Ambassador programs, and the “Res Race to Zero” competition in which student residences across campus attempt to reduce energy consumption.

Other notable accomplishments include the following:

York University has invested $40 million in its Energy Management Program reducing energy usage by 25 per cent. In real terms, the energy savings over the course of the program equal 100 million kilowatt hours of electricity, which is enough energy to power the University’s Keele and Glendon campuses for almost an entire year.

York University’s ZeroWaste initiative has been successful in diverting 65 per cent of the University’s waste from landfill

The University’s ZeroWaste initiative provides a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to waste management that encourages faculty, staff and students to divert waste from landfills through recycling and composting. “‘Tri-bins”, with designated containers for recycling and garbage, are located across both campuses, along with organic digesters and several battery recycling bins. For 2012, the waste diversion rate surpassed 60 per cent, with the University achieving its target diversion rate of 65 per cent by 2013.

Staff in York’s Transportation Services department actively encourages commuting to the University through alternative transportation such as public transit, carpools, bicycling or walking. More than 75 per cent of York University students, faculty and staff use alternative means of transportation to campus according to a survey done in 2012 by Smart Commute North Toronto Vaughan. These results have been achieved through expanded and enhanced bus service (including the creation of the priority busway), improved cycling infrastructure such as bike lanes and secure lock-up areas, carpool programs (in cooperation with Smart Commute) and car share programs (in cooperation with Zipcar). The University also offers a shuttle service between the Glendon and Keele campuses, between the Keele campus and the GO Station, and from the Keele campus to the Village residential community south of the University.

On the academic front, the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) at York University was the first of its kind in North America. It was founded in 1968, and remains the largest environmental studies program on the continent with nearly 1,300 graduate and undergraduate students. Through FES and other Faculties, the University offers approximately 350 courses that focus on sustainability and the environment, including the Erivan K. Haub Program in Business and Sustainability at the Schulich School of Business (also one of the first programs of its kind in North America).

The University community uses tri-bins to sort recycling

The University actively encourages research into sustainability and environmental initiatives. The Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) was established by York University in 2004 to create an interdisciplinary University-wide research institute that is a focal point for the sustainability-related activities of all 10 Faculties at York. IRIS supports the sustainability related research of York faculty and brings academics together, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration.

Community involvement in the York University Sustainability Ambassadors Program empowers volunteer leaders (staff, faculty or students) to act as role models, change agents and committed friends of the environment. They assist with the Green Office program, Campus Clean-up Days and other outreach opportunities, and are champions of sustainability within their departments.

The Green Office program at York makes it easy for faculty, staff and students (with office space) to incorporate a wide variety of sustainable practices into the day-to-day operations of work spaces across the University.

Now in its seventh year, employers who make the Canada’s Greenest Employers list have developed exceptional, earth-friendly initiatives and are actively attracting people to their organizations because of their environmental leadership.

York U community members can now include the Canada’s Greenest Employer logo in their e-mail signatures. To do so, save the Canada’s Greenest Employers logo ( English left, French right) to your desktop and then in Lotus Notes, click “more” in the top navigation bar. Select “preferences”, click “signature” and place the computer cursor on the line immediately following your contact information. Click on the “T” icon at the end of your signature and choose “graphic”. Click again to select the image and then click “import”. Click “OK” to save and close the window.

To learn more about York University’s initiatives in sustainability, visit the Sustainability @ YorkU website.

Work in a Warming World at York receives vast research archive on environment

Published March 28, 2013 by afdubreu

The following was published on March 27, 2013 by YFile. W3 is a project affiliated with IRIS.

Work in a Warming World (W3) at York will be one of the recipients of the vast archive of publications and consultants’ reports by the soon-to-be defunct National Round Table on the Environment & the Economy (NRTEE). What Carla Lipsig-Mummé, director of the W3, calls a “treasure trove” of resources that will now survive the NRTEE’s demise.

The federal government is closing the NRTEE March 31 after 25 years of research on the environment and the economy. It was set up as an independent, non-partisan research body reporting to the federal minister of the environment, but also providing advice to the CarlaLipsigMumme prime minister. Its closure was announced in the spring of 2012.

Carla Lipsig-Mummé

The NRTEE conducted rigorous research and analysis on issues of sustainable development, convening opinion leaders and experts from across the country to share knowledge and diverse perspectives, stimulate debate, generate ideas and provide solutions.

Its more than 600 reports, policies and consultations will go to W3 – a Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded research program based at York – as well as to 12 universities, six libraries and government agencies.

“It’s an extraordinary donation,” says Lipsig-Mummé. “There’s no parallel with the work it’s done. It’s simply the best data in the REalityCheck country, and we are both proud and excited to receive it.”

The archive will provide W3 with a rich resource to further its work. It will allow researchers and grad students to track the changes in the government’s research concerns on climate change over more than two decades, analyze the changes in policy focus over the years, summarize the enduring priorities as well as the new priorities, and identify the silences in the archive.

In addition, the NRTEE’s reports over the past five years show a growing worry that Canada is not doing enough to slow the growth of greenhouse gases and that the country is relying on the United States when it is in strategic paralysis, says Lipsig-Mummé. NRTEE sees leadership for Canada within North America, and suggests how that can be made to happen.

The issues the NRTEE tackled had to do with climate, water, energy, biodiversity and governance, and its work included climate change plans, water sustainability and climate prosperity. Some of its most recent publications included “Framing the Future: ClimateProsperity Embracing the Low-Carbon Economy”, “Reality Check: The State of Climate Progress in Canada”, “Canada’s Opportunity: Adopting Life Cycle Approaches for Sustainable Development”, and “Facing the Elements: Building Business Resilience in a Changing Climate”. All of these publications will be included in the data received by W3.

The data will also include information on environmental fiscal reform, the challenges to creating sustainable cities, greening brownfields in private hands, dealing responsibly with waste and pushing private enterprise to adapt production processes.

The changing importance of environment policy and climate policy in provinces and territories over the past two decades is detailed in the data. The reports point to questions about what young environmentalists are doing, how the government stimulates environmental responsibility and how to measure moving forward.

“It’s the richest data source in the country in terms of historical and present research,” says Lipsig-Mummé.

W3 will soon make the archive accessible for research. To find out more, visit the Work in a Warming World website.

Film Fest Explores Law and Activism Around Food

Published March 25, 2013 by afdubreu

MICHAEL LONG - The following was originally published in the Obiter Dicta.

In the second running of the Focus on Sustainability Film Festival, an event co-created by the Osgoode Environmental Law Society (ELS) and co-produced by the Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF), the YorkU screenings welcomed not only the campus crowd, but attendees from the wider community. The theme of the festival (food), as well as the afternoon discussion panel attracted foodies interested in both the impressive film selection and even more inspiring panel.

The panel, moderated by YorkU MES Candidate Jessica Reeve, included three notable figures in the Toronto food scene: lawyer Carly Dunster, Harmony Organic’s Lawrence Andres, and food activist and Chef Michael Stadtlander. In the 90 minute panel, the audience was mesmerized to hear about the niche field of food law, the growth and success of the local organic milk industry, and the anti-GMO activism of a local hero Chef. However, the panellists were not the only honored guests; following the screening of Sushi: The Global Catch, Director Mark Hall participated in a Q&A period via Skype. The festival was further honored by the attendance of PIF Artistic Director Kathleen Mullen, who opened the festival and later raffled passes to PIF which returns this November.

An endless array of prizes were also raffled between the screening of the films, as well as before and after the panel, and at the beginning and close of the festival. The gifts were donated by local markets and restaurants, which included a $100 gift basket from Front Door Organics, a $100 gift card to the Big Carrot, a $60 gift pack from Fresh Restaurant, a $120 gift card to Mama Earth Organics, and brunches for two at the Farmhouse Tavern and Free Times Café.

Of course, we cannot forget to mention the five films screened throughout the day, which covered a range of food/system issues. Among the five was a short directed by award-winning Min Sook Lee, titled Teodoro in Toronto, which follows one of the featured workers from her film El Contrato as he speaks to locals in Toronto about poverty, food security, and labour rights. The full length films were: Bitter Seeds, which explores the plight of farmers in India who are forcefully tied to genetically modified seeds; Love Meat Ender, which examines global meat consumption and the (in)ability to keep up with the demand; Urban Roots, which examines reclamation gardening projects in the inner city of Detroit, and Sushi: The Global Catch, which questions whether the growth rate of this popular food can be maintained ethically.

The festival, which will return in winter 2014, was organized by the Osgoode Environmental Law Society (ELS), the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS), and with help from the Centre for Human Rights (CHR).