Published October 4, 2012
by iris_author
Posted in: Events
Green Building Festival
Published October 4, 2012
by iris_author
The Green Building Festival is Canada’s most comprehensive conference on green building design, operations, technologies, and materials.
Since 2005, the Festival has brought together industry leaders from across the country and around the world to transform the building industry through educational presentations, technical training, and interactive workshop.
Since its inception in 2005, the Green Building Festival has featured both the finest examples of and the leading practitioners within the green building movement. With a blend of national and international speakers, the Festival has always been Canada’s leading technical conference for the design, construction, and operation of sustainable buildings and communities.
Each year, our Planning Committee selects Festival speakers and featured projects according to an overarching theme. These themes are intended to be part of a ‘continuum of sustainability’ – building each year towards bigger ideas and a larger scope. For 2012, our theme acknowledges the inter-connection between building codes and building performance.
Green Building Festival Schedule
For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Jeffery
GBF@sbcanada.org
647.746.4844
Posted in: Events
Engaging Citizens, Fostering Innovation and Realizing Social Change in the era of Crowdsourcing and Social Media
Published October 4, 2012
by iris_author
Never has both the desire and opportunity for citizens to engage with their cities, provincial or national governments and fellow citizens to shape what they look like and how they care for their residents. There are many examples of how citizens are engaging with their cities through social media, crowdsourcing, etc. to make change happen on the street, at the program and at the policy levels. This workshop will look at these examples and discuss the building blocks of leading effective community engagement and open innovation online and offline.
Speaking at the workshop will be Laura Graham-Prentice, VP, Communications & Marketing of theYMCA of Toronto, Tamara Balan, Project Director of the Civic Action Alliance, and Paul Dombowsky ofIdeavibes and Fundchange.
We will also open the floor to the participants to talk about what has worked for them and to discuss challenges in reaching those whose voice is often left unheard due to the so-called digital divide, or apathy.
Participants will benefit from learning these building blocks, best practices, understanding the tools available and where they do and don’t work, and hearing of success stories in their community.
This workshop will attract grassroots organizations, community groups, and charities, as well as civic, municipal and provincial government staff.
Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:
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Continental breakfast and refreshments will be provided.
Click here to RSVP for the Engaging Citizens, Fostering Innovation and Realizing Social Change in the era of Crowdsourcing and Social Media event.
Posted in: Events
She Speaks: Indigenous Women Speak out against the Tar Sands
Published October 4, 2012
by iris_author
Date and Time: Wednesday, October 3rd, 6:30 pm
Location: United Steelworker's Hall, 25 Cecil Street.
Indigenous communities are taking the lead to stop the largest industrial project on Earth and Northern Alberta is ground zero with over 20 corporations operating in the tar sands sacrifice zone, with expanded developments being planned. The cultural heritage, land, ecosystems and health of Indigenous communities including those in the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake regions of Alberta are being sacrificed for oil money in what has been termed a “slow industrial genocide”. Infrastructure projects linked to the tar sands expansion such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, Kinder Morgan pipeline, Enbridge Line 9 reversal, and the Keystone XL pipeline threaten Indigenous communities across Turtle Island particularly Aamjiwnaang First Nation and the Haudenausaunee Confederacy here in Southern Ontario. To build ties of solidarity and resistance, and to create a broad base on informed support, a speakers’ series is being organized in Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver) and in Ontario. **Wheelchair accessible, childcare & refreshments will be provided* Speakers: CRYSTAL LAMEMAN is a Beaver Lake Cree First Nation activist and the Peace River tar sands campaigner for the Indigenous Environmental Network in Alberta. Crystal is committed to restoring Native treaty rights and stopping the exploitation of the tar sands. MELISSA ELLIOTT is co-founder of Young Onkwehonwe United, and a youth activist from the Haudenosaunee Territory of Six Nations. Known to most as Missy, she has organized to defend Kanonhstaton (the former Douglas Creek Estates), and to stop development projects on Six Nations territory being pushed through without their consent such as the Line 9 reversal project. VANESSA GRAY is a youth organizer from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, a community that has been named the most polluted place in North America by the National Geographic Society. She founded Green Teens, a environmental justice organization of Native youth to resist the impact of the 63 petrochemical refineries in her hometown and is an active campaigner for the rights of Indigenous people across these lands. SUZANNE DHALIWAL is the co-founder of the UK Tar Sands Network, which works in solidarity with the Indigenous Environmental network to campaign against UK corporations and financial institutions invested in the Alberta Tar Sands. Moderated by Heather Milton-Lightning from the Pasqua First Nation, Ruckus Society and the Indigenous Environmental Network. This event is organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network. IEN is an alliance of grassroots Indigenous Peoples whose mission is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth from contamination and exploitation by strengthening, maintaining, and respecting traditional teachings and natural laws. It is supported by No One Is Illegal - Toronto, Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, Toronto Bolivia Solidarity, OPIRG York and others. For more information, to endorse or to support, please write to firstnationswomenspeakingtour@gmail.com
Posted in: Events
Mark Jacobson: Power the World with Renewable
Published October 4, 2012
by iris_author
For more information, please visit Jacobson's event web page.
Here is a link to the Ted Talk with Jacobson.
Posted in: Events
Vaughn – October 4th – Public Consultation Meeting #2 for the Natural Heritage Network Study – Phase 1
Kevin McKague defends his PhD – Making Markets Work for the Poor
Published October 2, 2012
by dbazely
Congratulations to long-time IRIS Senior Research Fellow, now Dr. Kevin McKague, on a successful defence of his dissertation last week.
Kevin's research has focused on micro finance and farmers in Bangladesh. Some of Kevin's research will be published in the journal, California Management Review (McKague and Oliver, 2012 vol 55 no 1. pp. 98-129. Enhanced Market Practices: Poverty Alleviation for Poor Producers in Developing Countries)
Over the years, Kevin has been active in the IRIS community and has brought in excellent seminar speakers including a wonderful talk on microfinance by speakers from MEDA, the Mennonite Economic Development Association.
Here is his dissertation title and abstract.
Kevin's PhD. is titled, Making Markets Work for the Poor: Market-Based Approaches to Poverty Alleviation as Institutional Leveraging and Redistribution of Social Control
Interest in market-based approaches to reduce poverty has grown substantially in the last decade. To date, however, explanations in the management literature of how this can be achieved have focused on viewing the poor as consumers at the base of the economic pyramid, as microentrepreneurs in need of microfinance loans, and as potential employees of local small and medium-sized enterprises. Missing from the core of the management conversation has been an adequate understanding of the poor as primary producers and an explanation that situates them within their broader market and institutional context. Drawing on an in-depth study of market-based poverty alleviation initiatives for smallholder farmers by a non-governmental organization in a least developed economy, this dissertation offers the first theoretical model to explain the process by which a non-state organization can strategically enhance market practices in ways that reduce poverty for poor producers and improve overall market functioning. Findings suggest that meaningful improvements in income can be explained by the enhancement of market practices that redistribute social control toward poor producers in ways that reduce market and government failures. In addition, data revealed that the effectiveness of market development and poverty alleviation strategies is moderated by the extent of institutional leveraging to incentivize market changes in alignment with existing norms and logics. The model offers an integrated explanation of how market-based approaches can alleviate poverty and grow inclusive markets for poor producers. Findings suggest a number of business implications, including the importance of rebalancing power relations and enhancing productivity throughout an entire value chain. In addition, findings contribute to the literatures on business and poverty alleviation and the literatures on institutional change.
Green Development Law in Canada: New Forms of Property or the Same Old Dirt?
VOTE NOW for the Aviva Community Fund – York needs your votes!
Published October 2, 2012
by iris_author
Today voting begins on Aviva Community Fund projects. The project York has submitted is the creation of sustainable furniture for the future Centre for Green Change at 2999 Jane Street. This is a grassroots community-university project to design and build sustainable furniture for this great initiative in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood of Toronto.
In order to receive funding for our project, York University (led by IRIS) and the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre's Centre for Green Change need you to cast your votes!
From noon October 1st until October 15th please visit the following page daily to vote:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Centre-for-Green-Change/210017432462935 and click the yellow VOTE NOW button!
The new Centre for Green Change will house the growing environmental education and green employment programs of the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre’s Green Change Project, serving one of Toronto’s most ethno-racially diverse and marginalized communities.
- The Centre’s furniture will be designed and created by community members with help from York University students and faculty, as well as local artists, craftworkers, and furniture makers.
- Using sustainable design principles and recovered or recycled materials, community members will both furnish their new Centre and acquire valuable skills.
- We also hope to develop this community-engaged design process into a more regular program wherein local designers are hired to mentor residents in sustainable design and help produce additional pieces for the Centre for Green Change.
VOTE NOW!
Posted in: IRIS News
President’s Sustainability Council Annual Report – IRIS recognized as one of the key campus partners in sustainability
Published October 2, 2012
by iris_author
The following article appeared on the October 2nd, 2012 edition of YFile. Items in bold are IRIS additions to the YFile text.
Today marks the release of the third annual President’s Sustainability Council Annual Report.
The report, which covers the period from May 2011 to April 2012, summarizes progress York University has made towards implementing the 59 recommendations the President’s Sustainability Council (PSC) has made to the University over the past three years. It also includes 12 new recommendations that were advanced by the working groups of the council over the past year. (Click on the graphic to download a PDF of the report.)
The PSC recognizes and promotes the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) as one of the key campus partners in sustainability and showcases the importance of its regular events such as speaker series and film screenings, many of which are open to the university and broader community. The sub-committee participated in the annual Earth Hour Day (March 28, 2012) event in coordination with the IRIS to encourage community engagement.
“I am very proud of the work being done by the President’s Sustainability Council,” said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “York University is committed to being one of the leading institutions in Canada on sustainability and the new Annual Report highlights the significant progress we have made in that regard over the past year. We are particularly pleased with the creation of two new staff positions in sustainability, the launch of new programs like the Sustainability Ambassadors and Green Office programs, and the announcement earlier this year of the phase out of the sale of bottled water on campus by September 2015.”
The report also highlights a number of new recommendations that will be advanced in the coming year. Some of the recommendations include: the development of new performance measurement targets and policies relating to sustainability; new co-curricular opportunities in sustainability; enhancing the incorporation of social justice and human rights considerations into sustainability initiatives; and the creation of a multi-stakeholder committee on responsible investing.
“We are very encouraged by the accomplishments of the President’s Sustainability Council over the past year,” said President’s Sustainability Council Chair Ilan Kapoor, a professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. “The new Annual Report will help us communicate these accomplishments to the broader York community and we also hope it will encourage others to get involved in sustainability initiatives at York.”
Consisting of students, faculty and staff, the PSC is an advisory body to the president with responsibility for providing input and recommendations on how to advance York University’s sustainability initiatives, projects and practices, and to provide oversight of the required actions from approved recommendations.
To view the infographic (above) click on the image to produce a full size PDF. To view the full report and executive summary, and for more information on the PSC and sustainability initiatives at York, visit the Sustainability website and click on the Annual Report link.
Posted in: IRIS News
