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Stewardship conference to explore species at risk

Published by

Published April 24, 2012

by iris_author

Stewardship conference to explore species at risk

 

SPECIES AT RISK. The Massasauga rattlesnake is just one of the 34 species at risk found in Muskoka that participants will learn about at the 2012 Muskoka Stewardship Conference on April 28. Photo by Jan McDonnell

BRACEBRIDGE - Parry Sound-Muskoka is home to 34 species at risk, some of which, while plentiful here, are found nowhere else in the world. That is why stewardship of these imperilled species is critical to their survival.

Would you know if one of these species was on your property? Do you know what to do if you find one?

Species at risk will feature prominently at the 2012 Muskoka Stewardship Conference in April with a number of speakers scheduled to provide information about many of the turtles, snakes, and birds found in our area.

Species at Risk was one of four stewardship guides developed by the Muskoka Watershed Council (MWC) and Muskoka Heritage Foundation (MHF) over the past year and a half. All four stewardship guides provide the inspiration for presentations at the 2012 conference, also including living with beavers, building a trail in your woodlands and restoring your shoreline.

The Muskoka Stewardship Conference is organized by Muskoka Watershed Council, Muskoka Heritage Foundation and the District Municipality of Muskoka as a way to bring together local land and water stewards to learn and network.

In addition to the stewardship guide topics, the conference will feature keynote speaker Andrew Watson, a York University PhD candidate from the department of history and the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability.

Watson will be discussing the ways in which the human footprint along the shoreline has changed over the last 100 years by focussing on what the pressures and concerns were a century ago. His presentation will illustrate the importance of the past in making responsible choices for the present and future.

The 2012 Muskoka Stewardship Conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 28 at Nipissing University, Muskoka Campus, 125 Wellington Street in Bracebridge. The cost is $30.

To register visit muskokaheritage.org/mwc.

Posted in: IRIS News

Seven Nations and More than 15 Cities in 4 Continents Organize Global Teach-In

Published by

Published April 17, 2012

by iris_author

On April 25th, 2012, activists, policy makers, and scholars from around the world will assemble for a global teach-in, commencing with a kick off event at 10AM Eastern Daylight Time and continuing until 4 pm EDT.  On April 25th, the first day of the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, cities around the world will address concrete solutions to the economic, environmental and energy crises.

 

Seven months ago, on September 17, 2011 the Occupy Movement was launched in Zuccotti Park in Wall Street.  With a change in weather and a renewed cycle of activism around the corner, Occupy, environmental, labor, peace and other activists around the world will address the question: “What’s next for the Occupy Movement?”  They will do this through a live, interactive broadcast involving lectures, face-to-face discussion groups and action plans showcasing how to promote democracy movements, green jobs and planning, and  an alternative financial system.  The teach-in will also explore possibilities of North-South cooperation.  How, for example, can different regions cooperate on pressing issues like outsourcing of jobs, fighting austerity attacks on public sector trade unions, and solidarity on various environmental issues in common?

 

This event will showcase the alternative policies needed globally, nationally and locally to constitute a concrete plan of action.  Speakers will address the need for not only new tax and budgetary policies, but also the necessity to build new economic institutions from the ground up.  These include: alternative banks, utilities, cooperatives and other new economic forms to promote needed economic and ecological changes.

 

This event has a strong labour component with the Ontario Federation of Labour organzing the local teach in being held in Toronto and participation as well from Chris Townsend, the Washington, D.C. representative of the United Electrical Workers.

 

The world’s leading thinkers and activists will be involved in this event, including: Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org (US); Gar Alperovitz, founding Principal of The Democracy Collaborative (US); Colin Hines, Convenor of the Green new Deal (UK); Bruce Nixon, environmental author and activist (UK); Ellen Hodgson Brown, Chairman and President, Public Banking Institute (US); Alice Slater, noted peace and anti-nuclear activist (US); Robert Pollin, a leading economist on green economic transformations (US); Pamela Brown, a leader of the movement against student debt (US); Joel Rogers, a leading green activist (US); Oscar Kejllberg, Former President of Sweden’s leading cooperative bank (Sweden); and Dada Maheshvarananda, a leader of the PROUT movement for economic democracy (Venezuela).

 

Jonathan M. Feldman (Sweden), principal convenor, organized the televised national Green New Deal Conference in Sweden in March 2009 and was a principal organizer of the May 2, 1990 National Town Meeting on the Peace Dividend held in Washington, D.C.

 

Promotional video: http://vimeo.com/39371903;

Webpage:  http://www.globalteachin.com/

Toronto Event: http://www.globalteachin.com/global-teach-in-toronto

 

Contact information: globalteachin@gmail.com; Jonathan Feldman +46707981634

 

Posted in: Events

Annual Morris Katz Memorial Lecture in Environmental Research

Published by

Published April 17, 2012

by iris_author

This year's Annual Morris Katz Memorial Lecture in Environmental Research will be held on

Monday, May 28, 2012
2:30 PM

Senate Chamber
N940 Ross Bldg.
York University

Prof. Warwick F. Vincent
Director, Centre for Northern Studies
(CEN: Centre d'Etudes Nordiques)
Professor & Canada Research Chair
Dept de Biologie
Laval University

He will present his work on Arctic ecology and its sensitivity to future environmental changes.  

More information will be distributed in due course.

Mark your calendar.  

Posted in: Events

Pro Tem Guest Editorial, By David V.J. Bell

Published by

Published April 16, 2012

by afdubreu

The following appeared in the February 2012 issue of Pro Tem. David V.J. Bell is an IRIS Executive Board member, as well as the YCAS Director emeritus; BA'65 (York/UofT) AM '67, PhD'69 (Harvard University) is Chair of Learning for a Sustainable Future (www.lsf-lst.ca) and is Professor Emeritus and Former Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University.

I’m honored to be invited to serve as co-editor for this issue of Pro Tem, a position I last held in 1964-65! It’s gratifying that the name Pro Tem (adopted with tongue in cheek) has survived despite its obvious ephemeral quality. The student founders of the paper were fairly confident that a more enduring moniker would emerge within a few months of the original publication in February 1962. But then the name caught on – and I’m glad it continues.

A bit of personal background. I began my undergraduate life here at Glendon, as a member of the third entering class of York students, 50 years ago this Fall. The total student body numbered around 300 spread over first, second and third year programs of the 3 year “general” Bachelor of Arts program. At that time the
Keele campus had not even been conceived, so we constituted the total student enrolment of York University. There were about 40 faculty members. York was smaller than nearly everyone’s high school.

Despite its tiny student body York was an intellectually exciting place. The vibrant sense of community among students, faculty, and staff extended far beyond the classroom. There were academic clubs and guest lectures and musical performances and foreign films and lively common room discussions. Traditions were emerging. We defined a “tradition” as anything that had been done the year before. The place was alive with pranks and practical jokes and endless amounts of literary humour (including the occasional writings of a fictitious student named Chuck Brayfield, who even managed to get outrageously satirical letters to the
editor published in the Toronto Star).

A distinct intellectual identity had already emerged, inspired by foundingPresident Murray Ross’s writings about The New University. York embraced ideals of interdisciplinarity, the integrity of all knowledge, and a quest for wellroundedness,balance and wholeness. Ross had written “…when specialization requires or implies that knowledge be limited to one narrow area of life, and that an individual’s view of mankind be lacking in perspective and that he be insensitive to the problems of the modern world, then certainly there is need to question the adequacy of an educational system that produces such specialists.” York would strike a new path, true to its motto Tentanda Via – the way must be tried. The sculpture of the “whole Man” reminded us daily that even as undergraduates we were embarked on an intellectual journey that was new and different and wonderful – and a bit scary.

York’s ideals have served the institution well through its first half century. York has innovated in a number of key areas: General education at the undergraduate level; interdisciplinary graduate programs in both the Social Sciences/Humanities and the Natural Sciences; the world’s first Faculty of Environmental Studies (itself highly interdisciplinary); a unique Faculty of Fine Arts, and so on.

But looking ahead 50 years I believe that York’s founding ideals need to be reinterpreted and expanded. It is abundantly clear that in the wealthy countries like Canada and the US; the emerging economies like China and India; and the poorest countries like Haiti, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan: the current trajectory of development is environmentally, socially and economically unsustainable. Although my perspective on the key to a more sustainable future has evolved over the past 2 decades I am now absolutely convinced that education is the sine qua non of a successful transition. I believe that as a species we face an “educational challenge for humankind” – can we learn to live differently on this planet?

Consider this formulation. In the 19th century some people were “pupils”; in the 20th century most of us became “students’; in the 21st century all of us must become “learners.” We must learn to live sustainably on this planet. Educators become less the omniscient imparters of knowledge (access to which is expanding
exponentially through the internet and social networks) than coaches and mentors in the learning process; themselves life-long learners.

If Murray Ross were writing today about the educational underpinnings of a new university he would surely describe sustainability education as required general knowledge for the 21st century.

How does all of this relate to Glendon in the year 2012 and to this issue of Pro Tem? To begin with, the theme of this issue, anticipation, reflects a central tenet of sustainability: “it is better to anticipate and prevent than to clean up after the fact.” (ORTEE - Ontario Round Table on Environment and the Economy 1992.) We need to think ahead and anticipate the future consequences of present day actions such as our wasteful use of energy and our growing reliance on fossil fuels (despite the irrefutable evidence of anthropogenic climate change). We
need to consider the future implications of growing inequality in our society, and of a world population greater than 9 billion half of whom (if today’s situation is replicated in 2050) will be living on less than $2 US per day.

Glendon has the potential to become a living laboratory of sustainable practices and behaviours. Thanks to a group of current students mentored by Sociology professor Stuart Schoenfeld (and assisted by one of Glendon’s first undergraduates John Court), a new website (http://glendon.irisyorku.ca/) situates Glendon in its natural and historical context and discusses “Conservation, Preservation and Sustainability” of the campus. Current students can find out about the immediate environment as a step toward enhancing their sustainability literacy. They can “connect the dots” (one of my favorite definitions of sustainability) between the past and the present, and between the environmental, social and economic aspects of Glendon. They can start “conversations about the future” (my other favorite definition) that they envision for their own and
subsequent generations, expanding their focus from the very local to the global. In short, they can learn and practice attitudes, values, and actions that will help bend the curve toward a more sustainable future.

Merci beaucoup. À l’avenir durable!

Posted in: Blogs | IRIS Director Blog

Osgoode makes mooting history

Published by

Published April 16, 2012

by iris_author

York’s Osgoode Hall Law School recently made Canadian mooting history when it staged the first and only national moot court competition devoted to environmental law.

Two months later, the law school is still receiving kudos about the inaugural Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot. “Long overdue!” and “A tremendous success!” are just two of many very positive comments participating lawyers, judges and students have made about this distinctive moot.

For more details go to:

http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/index.asp?Article=16832

Posted in: IRIS News | News

The Town of Huntsville Bursary Program (Health and Environmental Research)

Published by

Published April 6, 2012

by iris_author

Town of Huntsville has funded two bursaries for students in the field of environmental and/or health research.  Each bursary is in the amount of $1250.00 annually, and applicants may be eligible for up to three years.  Detailed information can be found online at
http://huntsville.ca/en/living/CommunityFundingOpportunities.asp

Preference will be given to applications which link to the Town of Huntsville’s Unity Plan

unityplan_finaldraft

The deadline for applications is April 16th at 12 midnight, 2012.
Applications may be submitted by e?mail to rebecca.francis@huntsville.ca or submitted to Rebecca Francis, Town of
Huntsville Sustainability Coordinator, 37 Main St. E. 2nd flr. between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:30 pm.

Details:
EnvironmentalResearchBursary2012

 

For more info please contact:

Rebecca Francis | Sustainability Coordinator
(705) 789-1751 ext 2366
www.huntsville.ca

 

Posted in: Events | Funding | Opportunities | Research

The 2012 Federal and Ontario Budgets and the Environment

Published by

Published April 5, 2012

by iris_author

This blog was originally published in Professor Mark Winfield’s blog.

The following summary of the environmental implications of the 2012 Federal and Ontario Budgets draws on the work of Chris Winter of the Conservation Council of Ontario ( http://www.weconserve.ca/cco/) as well as environmental lawyer Diane Saxe

More commentary from me to follow soon.

The Ontario 2012 Budget

2012 Deficit: $16 billion
Provincial Debt: $242 billion

Ontario actions:

  • Environment and Natural Resources budgets are two of only three ministries to be cut (p.195).
  •  the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit, a $1 billion electricity consumption incentive, is being phased out for major consumers over 3,000 kWh per month for a savings of around $100 million per year (p. 48)
  •  transportation and environmental fees may be increased (p.103 ff)
  •  many environmentally significant laws that are administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources are proposed to be amended, including the Endangered Species Act, the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, the Public Lands Act, the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, and the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act.
  • Moving what remains of the Drive Clean program to a Delegated Administrative Agency similar to the TSSA .
  • Eliminating the funding to municipalities for household hazardous waste management that was covering the funding lost as a result of the government’s cancellation of the Stewardship Ontario ‘eco-fee’ program in 2009
  • Funding for municipal sustainable water planning under the Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act, 2010 is being cancelled as the regulations requiring the development of plans have yet to be adopted.

It is what is not in the budget that is most important:

  • no detail on investments in refurbishing or new builds for nuclear power plants and their impact on stranded debt
  •  little detail on conservation programs within the electricity sector
  •  little detail on green infrastructure, including urban renewal
  •  little detail on incentives for local and green economic development.

With files from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.

The Federal 2012 Budget

2012 Deficit: $25 billion

National Debt: $580 billion

Federal actions:

  • further cuts to core Canadian environmental programs, including Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada
  • environmental assessments are to be streamlined to two years max, including for the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.
  •  the National Round Table on Environment and Economy is axed. The NRTEE was recently asked to review all provincial climate change strategies.
  • $8 million in new funding to audit charities to ensure they are not “politically active,” i.e. that they do not speak out against the government’s mismanagement of the environment.
  •  failed to renew the federal ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program, which provided much-needed incentives for home energy conservation.

More positively, it looks like the budget does not include rumoured amendments to the Fisheries Act to weaken its fish habitat protection provisions (s.35). The Conservatives may have realized that the proposal, floated a few weeks ago, not only outraged environmentalists, but also sport hunters and fishers, who are also often Conserative voters in rural Canada.

Posted in: Blogs

CBERN Annual Conference 2012- Leadership, Ethics and Energy

Published by

Published March 27, 2012

by iris_author
CBERN 2012
CBERN 5th Annual Conference

"Leadership, Ethics and Energy"
May 9-12, 2012

University of Calgary
Calgary, AB

 

Registration now open for the CBERN Annual Conference 2012

The CBERN Annual Conference 2012 will be held over four days at the University of Calgary from Wednesday, May 9 to Saturday, May 12. Events and activities include: NGO and PhD student workshops on Wednesday and a public address on the theme of "Leadership and Ethics" on Wednesday evening; a one and a half day conference on "Leadership, Ethics and Energy" on Thursday, and Friday morning with private, public, voluntary and academic sector leadership and participation; a Friday afternoon PhD student research meeting and incubator; and Saturday morning, CBERN's Annual General Meeting and research conversations.

 

Register

Conference Accommodations: April 4 Booking Deadline

Conference accommodations have been arranged at the Hotel Alma at University of Calgary at a rate of $109 plus tax per night. To make a reservation, call 1-(877)-498-3203 and identify yourself as a participant of the CBERN Annual Conference. The deadline to make reservations at the Hotel Alma is April 4th, 2012.

   

Program Description  

Wednesday, May 9

 Workshop: "Ethics and the Nonprofit Sector" (All Day) 

Planned jointly the Institute for Non-Profit Studies at Mount Royal University in Calgary and the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership.

 

Workshop Objectives:

  • To stimulate an ongoing concern for ethics and a focus on implications
  • To challenge sector leaders to follow an ethical route consistently, even under risk
  • To impact both the issues that the sector takes on and the way the work is done
  • To stimulate and justify ethics as a legitimate topic for research in the sector


PhD Student Professional Development Workshop (Afternoon)

The PhD Cluster program begins with an afternoon professional development session. Approximately 25 PhD students from Calgary and across the country writing dissertations in the field of business ethics, broadly defined, will participate in the conference program.

  

Conference Keynote Address (7:30pm to 9:30pm)

The Key Note Address will be delivered by Mac Van Wielingen, Founder, Co-Chairman and Director of  ARC Financial Corp., Member of the Board of Directors of Alberta Investment Management Corporation, and President and Director of Viewpoint Charitable Foundation. 

 

Thursday, May 10 - Friday, May 11 (Morning)

 

Main Conference: "Leadership, Ethics and Energy"

On May 10 and 11, CBERN will explore what is required for dialogue around energy and leadership to happen. The conference will be organized around three themes:

  1. Leadership and ethics (Thursday morning)
  2. Ethics and energy (Thursday afternoon)
  3. Leadership, ethics and energy (Friday morning)
Dialogue will be initiated by panels and speakers sharing insights on the ethical dimensions of leadership and energy acquired through work and research in the private, public, not-for- profit and voluntary sectors.

Expected attendance: Participants from across Canada and across economic sectors and academic disciplines.

Friday, May 11 (Afternoon):

A PhD Research Meeting and Incubator will close out Friday and will draw on the expertise of Annual Conference participants and the local Calgary community across academic, business, NGO and government sectors. The Incubator aims to support student research and to provide opportunities for all participants to share and discuss current trends in industry-based research on business ethics topics and issues in Canada.

Saturday, May 12

CBERN Annual General Meeting,Research Conversations, and PhD Administrative Meeting.

  

Posted in: Events

Sustainability Learning Centre offering amazing Programs!

Published by

Published March 27, 2012

by iris_author

1.    Employee Engagement for Sustainability (ON-LINE Interactive)

When: ON-Line, April 5, 12, 19 & 26, 2012

Where: ON-LINE , Sessions recorded so you can’t attend one – listen to the recording later.

Description:

In this live, ON-LINE interactive workshop you will understand the research and science behind successful principles and practices for employee engagement for sustainability.  Design a program for your company or Green Team and assess your current program against best practices while learning from peers.

Guest Speakers from: WWF-Canada, ThinkSustain Sustainability Marketing and Realized Worth on Employee Engagement for Social Sustainability.

TWEET:  Increase authentic engagement & reinvigorate Green Teams. Attend Employee Engagement for Sustainability Crs. Starts Apr5. http://ow.ly/9AHxe

Link:http://www.sustainabilitylearningcentre.com/Public-Sustainability-Courses/on-line-employee-engagement.html

 Students: $ 122. 5 plus tax (Early Registration), $157.50 plus tax (Late registration)

 

2.    Conducting your Green Office Gap Assessment (LUNCH & LEARN- 1 registration for the entire team)

When:  1.0  hours/week for 4 weeks (April 3, 10, 17 & 24, 2012 ). 12 – 1 pm EST. 

Where: ON-LINE (All sessions are recorded so you never miss a session).

Description:

In this program conduct a “green” office gap assessment by completing an energy, water, waste, healthy workspaces and transportation checklist. Learn about strategies for understanding your Office baseline. And examine the best practice steps for Green Office implementation.

Link: http://www.sustainabilitylearningcentre.com/Public-Sustainability-Courses/conducting-your-green-office-gap-assessment.html

Tweet: Green Teams reduce op costs of an average office building by as much as $ 40,000/yr through no-cost and low-cost actions. http://ow.ly/9AIwg

Students: $ 157.5 plus tax (Early Registration), $192.50 plus tax (Late registration)

 

3.      Facilitating Transformational Change toward Sustainability (Part II of II)

WHEN:  May 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31.

WHERE: ON-LINE (sessions recorded so you never miss a session)

"What is the interior condition of a successful facilitator in sustainability?" A Swedish research team studied over 33 internationally recognized change agents to find out.  They identified the 9 key leadership capacities are that were essential in their work and examined how to develop these capacities through practice.

In this session In this program, Facilitating Transformational Change towards Sustainability (Part II), we share the last 5 of these 9 personal capacities,  create a space for personal and collective practice and commence a dialogue on integrated and holistic practice.  These capacities include: Whole System Awareness, Whole Self Awareness, Compassion, Personal Power, and Sense of Humour.

LINK:  http://www.sustainabilitylearningcentre.com/Public-Sustainability-Courses/facilitating-transformational-change-partii.html

Tweet: What is the interior condition of a successful facilitator in sustainability?  http://ow.ly/9S48T

Students: $ 150 plus HST (until April 19, 2012) then $ 180 plus HST

 

4.    On-Demand ON-LINE Course Measuring & Reporting your Carbon (GHG) Footprint

WHEN:  Available Any Time ON-LINE

WHERE: ON-LINE

Description: 

In this previously recorded course you will:

•           Follow a 9 Step GHG Measurement and Reporting Process.

•           Understand the Definition of GHGs and sources of GHGs, GHG Inventory Boundaries, Scopes of Emissions and apply  GHG Standards and Protocols (ISO 14064-1 and GHG Protocol).

•           Apply direct GHG emission accounting to your operations and do GHG calculations using your electricity bill, relevant Emission Factors and understanding Sources of Error.

•           Understand exclusions, de-minimus, "base year" and recalculation concepts.

•           Discover elements of the GHG Report and Identify steps to ISO 14064 GHG verification and validation processes.

Link:  http://www.sustainabilitylearningcentre.com/Public-Courses/carbon-footprint-a-ghg-inventories-a-guided-tour-of-greenhouse-gas-planning-and-management.html

Students: Call for a student rate.

 

For questions please contact:

Kathryn A. Cooper, B.Sc., MBA, M.Ed. (Sustainability & Environment)

President & Chief Learning Officer

Tel: 519-855-9491

Cell: 905-586-0254

Web: www.sustainabilitylearningcentre.com

 

Check out our Blog

Attend Our Upcoming Sustainability Courses

Facilitating Transformational Change toward Sustainability (Part I of II), Feb. 16 - March 15, 2012 (1:30 pm - 2:30 pm EST

Life Cycle Assessment for Products, Processes and Services, March 28 & 29, 2012

 

New – Green Education ON-LINE E-Learning Modules (check it out!)

Posted in: Events

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