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Racism in Environmentalism Part 2

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A Seminar

Presented by the Accessibility Community Equity Committee (ACE) and The Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES)

January 25th, 2011

12:30 – 2:30pm

Health Nursing & Environmental Studies building Room 140

What is environmental racism?

Can the environmental movement in Canada continue to organize on an agenda of primarily green politics, devoid of any critical engagement with issues of colonialism and race?

How are racialized communities mobilizing around environmental issues?

Taking from their lived experiences and professional work, panelists will critically discuss Canada's longstanding history of colonialism and racism, with a focus on Canada's claim of multiculturalism.

Moderator: Dr. Ellie Perkins, FES, York University

Panelists:

Cheryl Teelucksingh, Sociology, Ryerson University

Ann Phillips, PhD, Faculty of Environmental Studies

Robin Cavanagh, FES, York University

Beenash Jafra, PhD candidate, Women Studies, York University

For more information please visit:

https://sites.google.com/site/raceseminarseries/homeor contact ciann.wilson@gmail.com

Movie Screening: The Economics Of Happiness

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Date: Monday, January 24th - Toronto, Ontario

When: 5:30 pm - 9:00/9:30 pm,

5:30 - 7:00 pm - Animating Good Food Ideas, Exhibit and Reception

7:00 - Introduction to the film and screening

8:30 - Panel discussion

Where:   New College,  William Doo Auditorium, University of Toronto; 45 Willcocks Street, in the basement of the New College Residence (Enter the William Doo Auditorium through the door at the Southeast corner of Willcocks Street & Spadina Avenue).

Movie Topic: illuminates the worldwide movement for economic localization including the small scale and urban farming movement, i.e. Food Security, Local Food, Local Economies, Ecological Economics, No-Growth

Recommended By: Profs Peter Victor and Brian Milani

Website: http://www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org.

Presentation: The film will be preceded by a reception and exhibit of artwork by Sheridan College students entitled 'Animating Good Food Ideas'. It will be followed by a panel discussion with producer Helena Norberg-Hodge, activist chef Joshna Maharaj and urban farmer Eric Rosenkrantz, moderated by author Wayne Roberts.

Presentation partners: Sustain Ontario; New College (University of Toronto); Equity Studies (New College, University of Toronto); Office of Residence and Student Life (New College, University of Toronto); Hart House (University of Toronto); Hart House Social Justice Committee; FoodShare Toronto; Local Food Plus; Toronto Food Policy Council; The Stop Community Food Centre; Meal Exchange; and Sheridan College.

The Waste Revolution

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On January 11, 2011 IRIS released a comprehensive report on its 2010 annual survey on waste. This was celebrated with the screening of the documentary: Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home by Andrew Nisker, a York University graduate. Nisker’s film has been shown to more than 1,000 communities worldwide, at more than 200 schools and has been selected for various film festivals.

The inspiration for this film came from the 2002 garbage strike in Toronto. In order to deal with the abundance of garbage, people were throwing their waste into Nisker’s neighbourhood park. This led him to inquire: what happens to our garbage when we leave it on the curb, and what impact does this have on our environment?

Nisker, who suffers with asthma, became particularly interested in the effect that pollution has on our emotional and physical health. “Garbage is a common theme around the world,” said Nisker. This documentary explores the average family’s creation of waste and offers commentary from experts on the impacts that commonly used chemicals have on our bodies and the environment. The documentary focuses on family of five, who according to Nisker, have drastically changed their consumption patterns since the documentary. The family has sold their SUV and purchased a smaller car and eliminated their bottled water consumption.

Following the film, Meagan Heath Waste Management Supervisor at York University’s Waste Management Services, spoke about some of the waste initiatives that are being taken at York. For Heath’s PowerPoint presentation, please click here.

Are you too concerned about the environment, your waste and a sustainable future? For some great tips on how to ‘go green’ this year, read Dawn Bazely’s latest blog: Happy New Year... How to make good intentions sustainable.

IRIS Speaker Series Presents… COP16 Debrief Panel

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When: Monday, January 17, 1 pm

Where: Student Centre Room 313


The event will explore the findings from this year’s COP, while critically analyzing the value of the annual conference.

York PhD candidate, Jacqueline Medalye, attended COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, this past December, and will provide firsthand insight into what went on at the global forum. The panel will also draw from other key researchers, including Kaz Higuchi, Brett Rhyno, Jose Etcheverry and Anders Sandberg. Open discussion, with contribution from the audience, will be encouraged.

The event is free and open to everyone. Light refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!

Let’s Get Wasted!

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When: Tuesday, January 11, 12-2pm

Where: 305 Founders College, Senior Common Room

Join the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) for a screening of Garbage: the Revolution Starts at Home (http://www.garbagerevolution.com/). Following the film there will be a Q&A with the filmmaker Andrew Nisker, a York Alum.

The event will also include:
-FREE food!
-The release of the 2010 IRIS Campus Sustainability Survey: Waste on Campus Report
-Campus Services and Business Operations (CSBO) presenting York’s newest initiatives to tackle campus waste! For the presentation, please click here: Waste Management at York U

We hope to see you there!

Latest Issue of Canada Watch Available

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The latest issue of Canada Watch, "A Remarkable Turning Point: Post-neoloberal Latin America and the Shadow of Obama" is now available. The issue is edited by Daniel Drache, Associate Director, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and Diana Tussie, head of the Latin American Trade Network at the Latin American School of Social Sciences (FLACSO), Argentina.

The issue features:

Editorial

Daniel Drache: The remarkable turning point: Out from under Washington’s long shadow

The Risks and Opportunities of Fundamental Political Change

John W. Foster: Obama, Canada and civil society: South and North

Jorge Heine: A historic electoral triumph: Why now?

Jean Daudelin: U.S. policy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Where have all the Yankees gone?

Post-Neoliberal, Macro Economic Fundamentals and New State Practices

Ed Dosman: Raoul Prebisch: A man of our times

Kathryn Hochstetler: Brazil’s GINI coefficient: Can it be beaten?

Pía Riggirozzi: Regionalism in Post-neoliberal Latin America

The New Framework: Beyond Pragmatism and Realism

Sean Burges: The odd couple? Lula and Obama

Laura Macdonald and Arne Ruckert: The post neoliberal mix: New state practices in Latin America’s big three

Pablo Heidrich: Short on vision: Canada’s foreign policy for the new Latin America

Public Policy Pitfalls and Other Disasters

Albert Berry: The natural resource curse in 21st century Latin America

Eduardo Bianchi: Income distribution, export patterns and poverty alleviation

Marcelo Saguier: Natural disasters: A fresh look at corporate accountability

New Security Threats and the Military

Rut Diamint: Defence is a civil matter first and foremost

Francisco Rojas Aravena: Impunity and Violence in Central America

The Regional Imperative for Political Co-operation

Josette Altmann: The Bolivarian Chavez effect: Worth a second look

Doris Osterlof: A tepid partnership: Free trade and labour rights in Central America

Teresa Gutiérrez Haces: New barriers to investor state relations post-NAFTA

Beyond Traditional Ideas About Macro Economic Stability and Political Change

Celso Amorim: A new world map and Brazil’s foreign policy

Federico Merke: Argentina’s turnaround

Pablo Trucco and Diana Tussie: When the IMF is not longer the epicenter the hemisphere breathes a little easier

Check it out at:

http://www.yorku.ca/robarts/projects/canada-watch/pdf/Canada_Watch_Fall_2010.pdf

York ranks third in University of Indonesia’s global survey of green campuses

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After conducting a seven-month online survey, on Thursday the University of Indonesia (UI) announced the first environmental-based universities rankings, hoping the benchmark would be adopted by every campus worldwide, wrote The Jakarta Post Dec. 12.

The survey, conducted between May and November, ranked participating universities based on several factors, including the percentage of green space on their campus, electricity consumption, waste and water management, and the application of eco-sustainability policies and efforts. As many as 94 universities from 35 countries participated in the survey, which is called “UI Green Metric Ranking of World Universities 2010”.

Seven US-based universities entered the ranking's top 10, including the University of California, Berkeley, which topped the list, and Northeastern University, which came fourth.

"We hope there will be more universities participating in the survey next year," UI rector Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri said.

UI GreenMetric Ranking:

University of California, Berkeley, US (8,213 points)
University of Nottingham, UK (8,201.55 points)
York University, Canada (7,909.14 points)

Women, Environment and Labour

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DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Women and Environments International Magazine (WEI) is seeking submissions for its upcoming issue on Women, Environment and Labour for publication in Spring/Summer 2011. The objective of this issue is to critically examine women’s labour (paid and unpaid) in the context of the environment - natural, built, social. Contributors are invited to explore gender perspectives including, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Climate and environmental change and its impact on women’s labour
• Changes in women’s labour resulting from natural disasters, environmental degradation and other major environmental events
• Intersections of gender, labour, and environments in particular marginalized communities, such as indigenous communities
• Local, national, or regional level perspectives on economic recovery policies and fiscal austerity measures in relation to women, labour, and environments
• Industrialization and economic change in developing country contexts and its impacts on women, labour and environments
• Social and environmental determinants of women’s health related to labour or workplace environments
• Labour activism (e.g. labour unions, transnational labour movements etc.) on women and environmental issues
• Labour unions and/or organizing on women’s health in the workplace
• Migration – urban, rural, economic, conflict-related, other – and its impact on women’s labour
• Women’s labour in the context of refugee or internally-displaced persons (IDP) environments
• Impact of environmental factors on women’s unpaid labour
• Labour laws and practices relating to women and environments
• Environmental laws and practices relating to women and labour
WEI aims to gather content from both the North and the South. Submissions may be in the form of critical studies,
essays, case studies, book or film reviews, poetry, photography, and or visual art. While we appreciate every submission to WEI, only contributors whose work has been selected will be contacted.

Submissions: Send submission(s) electronically to weimag@yorku.ca using “Women, Environment and Labour”
as your subject heading. Please refer to the Editorial guidelines at http://www.weimag.com

General Information: WEI is a magazine that examines women's relations to their natural, built, and social
environments from feminist and anti-racist perspectives. It has provided a forum for academic research and
theory, professional practice and community experience since 1976. Like most scholarly publications, WEI does
not pay for contributions but retains a high-quality wide readership so your contribution will reach a wide
audience. Upon publication, WEI assumes a non-exclusive, worldwide, and perpetual right to publish and
reproduce contributions in any format in and outside the magazine context. This does not preclude contributors
from granting permission to publish their materials after publication in WEI provided WEI is acknowledged as the
original publisher.

Women & Environments International Magazine - Faculty of Environmental Studies -York University
4700 Keele Street, Toronto ON Canada M3J 1P3 Email: weimag@yorku.ca Website: www.weimag.com

DocUnites

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***DocUnites is a joint initiative between GYN (Global Youth Network), JHR (Journalists for Human Rights) and ECO (Ecologically Conscious Organization)***

HEY YORK STUDENTS

GYN, ECO and JHR are excited to present a great new initiative called DOCUNITES. Every month we will be screening a social/environmental justice documentary that will allow students to 1) Gain an insight into current world issues 2) Meet like minded individuals in a fun and interactive environment and 3) Learn about each others interests and articulate ideas that will allow us to develop as responsible future leaders

Why should YOU want to come out to this event ???

- The documentary is FREE for your viewing pleasure
- There will be REFRESHMENTS
- Its a cheap and fun ON-CAMPUS outing
- The documentaries screened are STUDENT FOCUSED meaning that they are directed to reflect the interests of York Students

Upcoming Event:

A REMIX MANIFESTO:
Date: December 7, 2010
Time: 5.30pm - 7.30pm
Location: 1004 TEL building

Is remixing music a RIGHT or a COPYRIGHT?
As University students many of us are guilty of downloading movies/music/TV shows and even books. In a world where we can share information in the matter of seconds however, this documentary addresses the very relevant changing concept of copyright. Created over a period of six years, the documentary film features the collaborative remix work of hundreds of people who have contributed to the Open Source Cinema website, helping to create the "world's first open source documentary"

  • Click here to view the movie trailer
  • Join the group for more details
  • Follow us on facebook for information on documentary screenings in
    the new year

    • Unplug: Don’t forget to turn off computers and small appliances

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    York community members are reminded to switch off and unplug before leaving for the weekend.

    It is also an important time to remind others in your area about the importance of shutting down computers, lights, small office or kitchen appliances and other personal electronics before leaving the office. This simple gesture can yield tremendous results given that staff and faculty operate more than 8,000 computers, and together the Keele and Glendon campuses have more than 140,000 internal lights.

    The ability to shut down certain electrical devices will vary depending on departmental requirements. Click here to review Yorkw!se's list of recommendations on what to unplug, or visit the Yorkw!se website and look for the Unplug icon.
    For information on reducing your own carbon footprint, visit the Zerofootprint website, which offers a free and easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator.

    Click here to view the YFile article

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