Program

Bio

Gregory Cajete is a Native American educator whose work is dedicated to honoring the foundations of Indigenous knowledge in education. He is a Tewa Indian from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. He has pioneered reconciling indigenous perspectives in sciences with a Western academic setting. His focus is teaching “culturally based science, with its emphasis on health and wellness. He has served as a New Mexico Humanities scholar and as a member of the New Mexico Arts Commission. He worked at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for twenty-one years, and is a is a practicing ceramic, pastel, and metal artist. He is the former Director of Native American Studies and currently a Professor in the College of Education at the University of New Mexico.

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Title: Foundations for Sustainable Indigenous Education and Community Re-Vitalization in Response to Global Climate Change

Abstract

There is a crisis of “sustainability” which has evolved as a result of the global application of the Western development paradigm of “progress” through unfettered growth with little thought for social, cultural and ecological consequences. The Western development paradigm and its focus on material economic indicators as the sole measure of development perpetuates a distorted vision of what is in fact a multi-dimensional and multi-contextual socio – cultural process. This is especially problematic when attempting to create strategies to address the effects of global climate change on Indigenous communities.

The key goals of this search have been efforts to find sustainable, culturally responsive, and community based models which help to “build Indigenous communities” rather than continue to perpetuate their long standing social or cultural issues.

Bio

Ersilia Serafini has been President of Summerhill since 2009. Ersilia leads a team of over 100 individuals across Canada and focuses Summerhill’s commitment to deliver impactful, results-oriented programs that achieve measureable reductions in energy use.

At the community level, Ersilia acts as the President for the Clean Economy Fund; is a former Director of the Board of Ontario’s Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO); is an active member and Regional Forum Officer for the Young Presidents Organization. She also volunteers her time with the Parent Council at St. Cecilia Catholic School and the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research Canada.

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Title: Sustainability – From Theory to Action!

Abstract

As a proud alumna of UTM’s Environment program, Ersilia will share her story of how multi-disciplinary coursework in sustainability shaped her career path and lead her to becoming CEO of Summerhill. She will share examples from her business that demonstrate the value of approaching sustainability in what some may consider non-traditional ways. Ersilia will be provocative and engage the audience to consider if they want results or if they want to be right? She will highlight her experience in taking action to achieve impactful results rather than spending time making sure everyone agrees with her philosophy.

Moderator: Josée Johnston, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto

Panelists

• Shyon Baumann, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
• Emily Huddart Kennedy, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of British Colombia
• Norah MacKendrick, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University
• Dietling Stolle, Professor, Department of Political Science, McGill University

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Abstract

This session will address the theme of sustainability from the perspective of consumers, consumer culture, and consumer politics. The practice of green consumption has significantly expanded over the past decades, leading some activists to wonder if it has become a meaningless form of greenwashing. Panelists in this session will avoid pat responses to green consumption that either simplistically praise, or straightforwardly condemn these practices. Instead, they will struggle with questions like the following: how can green consumption lead to political engagement or awareness on environmental issues? How does the presence of green consumption options obfuscate the need for state regulation on environmental issues? How are green consumer practices linked to class inequality? The panel will demonstrate how social science works to study green consumption in a way that a) appreciates everyday forms of political engagement and environmentalism that occur through consumption tasks, often assigned to women, while b) considering larger structural reforms required to address pressing sustainability challenges.

Moderator: Wesley Gee, Director of Sustainability, The Work Design Communications Ltd.

Panelists

• Tim Faveri, Vice President, Sustainability and Shared Value, Maple Leaf Foods
• Wesley Gee, Director, Sustainability, The Works Design Communications Ltd.
• Whitney McWade, Senior Advisor, Sustainability Strategy, Disclosure and Impact Measurement, BMO Financial Group

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Abstract

Now entering our eighth year, The Works has conducted annual research on sustainability communications and reporting. Our research involves reviewing reporting (e.g., PDF, website, social media) from over 100 companies headquartered across the globe, and covers eleven, topics, ranging from materiality and global frameworks, to storytelling and digital strategy. For frameworks, for instance, our research covers trends and best practice relating to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Recommendations, GRI Standards, and the Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework.

Moderator: Neda Maki

Panelists

• Mike Balkwill, Campaign Director, Wellington Water
• Robert Case, Associate Professor, Department of Social Development Studies, University of Waterloo
• Susan Glasauer, Associate Professor, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph
• James Gordon, Canadian Songwriter, Playwright, Musician, Producer, and Community Activists
• Makasa Looking Horse, Youth Leader and Indigenous Activist, Six Nations

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Abstract

This panel discussion features representatives from Six Nations of the Grand River, the Wellington Water Watchers, and Guelph City Council who have been involved in the contentious debate surrounding Nestlé’s water extraction from wells situated around Guelph, Ontario. The inadequate federal and provincial regulation regarding groundwater extraction in Ontario has led to corporations like Nestlé extracting clean groundwater and bottling it for sale all over North America.

This roundtable brings together academics, activists, and First Nations leaders to discuss a series of urgent questions across disciplines and across the narrow bounds of the university: Whose water is it, anyway? How can it be sustainably managed? How is Nestlé dealing with First Nations’ inherent right to land and water? How is groundwater currently regulated in Ontario and what legal and political avenues are activists and corporate actors pursuing in this contentious struggle over groundwater? What is the science of groundwater, and to what degree can aquifers be measured? What are the ways forward?

Moderator: Brent Smiley, Director of IT Asset Disposition, Compugen Finance Inc.

Panelists

• Willa Black, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Cisco
• Frances Edmonds, Head of Sustainability at HP
• Robert Santin, Director, OEM Development (Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher Program), Microsoft Canada

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Abstract

2019 is being hailed as “The Year of Sustainability”. Compugen’s IT Asset Disposition program, Green4Good would be pleased to host a panel of industry experts to discuss how Sustainability and IT-eWaste are becoming inseparable.

We will use real life examples to show how requirements around sustainability have pushed the IT industry to take action to positively impact the Environment, while advances in IT help further sustainability progress and initiatives.

Moderator: Gavin Hilson, Professor, Surrey Business School

Panelists

• Martin J. Clifford, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware
• Suleman Dauda, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
• Yanfei Hu, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, Guildford
• Cynthia Kumah, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University
• Joshua Sandin, School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey
• Titus Sauerwein, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, United Kingdom

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Abstract

In sub-Saharan Africa, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral processing and extraction – provides direct employment to an estimated 25-30 million people and has created many millions of other income-earning opportunities in the downstream and upstream industries it has spawned. Research conducted over the past two decades has captured in considerable detail the sector’s economic importance in sub-Saharan Africa, including how it dovetails subsistence agriculture; is largely poverty-driven, employing people who have few, if any, alternative income-earning opportunities; and how, it has fast become the region’s most important rural nonfarm activity. Most ASM activities found in sub-Saharan Africa, however, are found in the informal economy, which makes it challenging to make the sector a centrepiece of policies and programs implemented in the region in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The presentations delivered on this panel will both showcase ASM’s importance in sub-Saharan Africa, and underscore how, if formalized and properly supported, the sector could alleviate significant poverty and catalyze economic development region-wide, in the process, helping to fulfill a number of lofty targets linked to the SDGs.

Understanding the Opportunity and State of Sustainable Procurement in Canada’s Public Sector | Monica DaPonte

Understanding the Future of Canada-UK Trade Relationships in a Circular Economy Context | Deborah de Lange

Business for the SDGs: Corporate Social Responsibility 2.0 at HP Canada | Frances Edmonds

Supporting Health Through Sustainable Health Care Procurement:Opportunities and Challenges | Fiona Miller

Value Creation Models and the Six Capitals | Petra Dilling

Ranking Turkish Manufacturing Companies Based on Sustainable Practices. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Approach | Damla Rurak Usar

Science-Based Carbon Emissions Targets | Jody Grewal

Actions and Words: Disclosure is a Big Step for Corporate Sustainability, but Does it Necessarily Translate to Action? | Caitlin McHose

Decolonization, Sacred Reciprocity, and Creating from the Quantum Field: A 3-Point Plan for Reinventing Environmentalism that Sources Our Doing From a Different Quality of Being | Blake Poland

Sacred Time and Sacred Place: Sabbath and Sabbatical as Vehicles of Restraint | Tanhum Yoreh

An Animal Among Animals | Sara Kay Maston

Rebordering Sanctuary: Multispecies Communities and the Sacred | Hilary Cunningham and Stephen Scharper

Sustainability: The Transformation of Human Evolution | Ian Lipton

Let’s Get Real: Societal Transformation and Ecosystem Renewal into the Anthropocene | Robert MacNeil Christie

Transdisciplinary Culture - Responsive Reactions and Plans within Place | Susan Aaron

Conservation of Canada’s Natural Landscapes | Robert Wilson

Insect Farms in Your Neighborhood: Transforming Organic Waste Into High Quality Food | Greg Wegner

Evaluating the Efficacy of Sustainability Initiatives in Port Sector of Canada | Jennifer MacNeil

Sustainability in Healthcare Field | Lisa James

Facilitated by: Brad Zarnett, Eco-Opportunity Consulting and Raz Godelnik, School of Design Strategies

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Abstract

Where has corporate Sustainability and its cousins; CSR, Impact Investing, Profit with Purpose, and Social Innovation actually taken us? Some may argue that it’s delivering a cultural shift in how we conduct business and some might argue that it’s a slow process and that we just need more time. But the harsh truth is that despite all of the positive inputs that are being added to the capitalist recipe, the end product is becoming more brutal and difficult to swallow.

Every major ecosystem on the planet is in decline and the positive feedback loops around climate change are getting close. Socially, the impacts are equally worrisome; we’re experiencing the worst inequality in 100 years and almost 80% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

We need to stop pretending that the “greening” of business is working. We’ve reached a point where the very notion that business is in some way working hard to address our environmental and social challenges is at best misleading and at worst fraudulent; the evidence strongly suggests that the greatest efforts of corporations is to maintain the status quo.

In this workshop we will explore how we got to this point, who or what is blocking progress and how can we move forward in a way that ensures that we are able to pass along a functioning planet to the next generation.

Facilitated by: ClearBlue Markets

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Abstract

In October 2016, Canada announced the Pan-Canadian Approach to Pricing Carbon Pollution in order to meet its commitments for the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. As of January 1, 2019 every Canadian province and territory has a carbon pricing program. ClearBlue Markers in partnership with its MScSM Co-op students will provide an in-depth look at carbon pricing across the country and the risks and opportunities of putting a price on pollution.

Facilitated by: Marcatus QED

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Abstract

How much do we know about the lives behind the food we consume? Who produces our beloved chocolate, processes our cup of java, or carefully pollinates the vanilla for our birthday cake? The food we eat daily comes from a diversity of geographies and is touched by a diversity of lives.
Smallholder farmers produce over 70% of the world’s food and women play a key yet under-valued role.

This session will explore challenges and barriers women face in the global agri-food sector, highlight the benefits of uplifting women farmers, and will showcase key roles businesses can play to create change.

Featuring presentations by:

An Initial Survey of Canadian Charitable Agricultural Donation Tax Credit Filings | William Coney

Northern Air Transportation Challenges and Effects on Indigenous Communities | Pia Dimayuga

Obesity Prevalence and Quantitative Estimates of Dietary Intakes of Households in Butaritari, Kiribati Islands | Paul Eme

Time for Business: Best Practices for Improving Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) Waste Diversion in the Alberta Capital Region | Megan Ann Hardman

Public Perception of Urban Stormwater Ponds as Environmental Amenities | Charlotte Heller

Defining 'Flushability' for Sewer Use | Anum Khan

Does Land Use Drive Temperature Change? A Remote Sensing Perspective into the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority's Watershed | Matthew Senyshen

The Curriculum Development of Global Sustainability Education (GSE) for Climate Change | Arushi Sood

Improving Community Natural Resource Governance | Yiwen Zhang

Operationalizing Responsible Innovation in IS Innovation Projects | Sarah Cherki El Idrissi

as well as:

MScSM Class of 2020

Bio

Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is Companion to the Order of Canada and a recipient of UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for science, the United Nations Environment Program medal, the 2012 Inamori Ethics Prize, the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, and UNEP’s Global 500. Dr. Suzuki is Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and holds 29 honorary degrees from universities around the world. He is familiar to television audiences as host of the CBC science and natural history television series The Nature of Things, and to radio audiences as the original host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks, as well as the acclaimed series It’s a Matter of Survival and From Naked Ape to Superspecies. In 1990 he co-founded with Dr. Tara Cullis, The David Suzuki Foundation to “collaborate with Canadians from all walks of life including government and business, to conserve our environment and find solutions that will create a sustainable Canada through science-based research, education and policy work.” His written work includes more than 55 books, 19 of them for children. Dr. Suzuki lives with his wife and family in Vancouver, B.C.

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Title: The Challenge of the 21st Century: Setting the Bottom Line in the Anthropocene

Bio

>Scott Frickel is Professor of Sociology at the Institute for the Study of Environment and Society. He holds a Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000). Before coming to Brown he held faculty appointments at Tulane University and Washington State University, where he was the Boeing Distinguished Professor of Environmental Sociology. His research and teaching interests center on the intersections of nature, knowledge, and politics. A growing feature of his current research involves developing new approaches for identifying and measuring socio-environmental change and developing theories to explain those patterns. He also studies inequality in science and technology and chemical residues as cultural, material, and political objects – both subjects of current book projects.

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Title: Sites Unseen: Uncovering Hidden Hazards and Hidden Lessons for Sustainable Urban Futures

Abstract

This talk examines the interplay of urban demography, industrialization and risk management to identify local mechanisms driving the socio-environmental change. The study is informed by spatial and historical comparison of hazardous waste site accumulation in four major U.S. cities (Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Portland, OR) over five decades, from 1955 to 2008. Data for the analysis include detailed site-, tract-, and city-level information gathered for thousands of current and former industrial sites – most of which remain unacknowledged in government reports and hazardous site lists. Results show how industrial churning, residential churning, and risk containment intersect to produce cumulative socio-environmental transformations of urban lands. The study holds important lessons for sustainable urban futures.

Bio

John Cartwright is the President of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council, representing 200,000 union members in every sector of the economy. A carpenter by trade, he has led numerous campaigns for social, economic and climate justice. He is Chair of the Council of Canadians, Vice-Chair of the United Way of Greater Toronto and co-chairs the Toronto Community Benefits Network.

Read more about John's work in Greenprint for Greater Toronto.

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Title: Respect People, Work, Communities – Climate and Transition

Abstract

The global climate crisis is real. The 2015 Paris Accord demands that we use all of our skills and knowledge to plan for a sustainable and equitable low-carbon economy. The goal of resilience is not just for physical spaces but also social infrastructure, which will be tested by storms, droughts, and wildfires, as well as the migration of millions of climate refugees.

It is possible to make effective choices if learn from past economic and social change. Long-term planning, focused investment, and deep respect for workers and their communities are the only way that justice will be assured in this global transition.

Moderator: Dr. Mimi Marrocco, Faculty Leader for the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto

Panelists

Dr. James Ginther, Dean, Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto School of Theology

Dr. Robert Logan, Fellow, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto

Dr. Moira McQueen, Executive Director, Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, Member, Vatican Theological Commission

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Abstract

The focus of the panel could be a discussion and a dialogue among scientists and theologians of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si with its focus on global warming and climate change. In the encyclical Pope Francis calls for such a dialogue. In Paragraph 13 and 14 of Laudato Si he wrote: “Here I want to recognize, encourage and thank all those striving in countless ways to guarantee the protection of the home which we share. Particular appreciation is owed to those who tirelessly seek to resolve the tragic effects of environmental degradation on the lives of the world’s poorest. Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded. I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.” The purpose of this panel is to enter into the dialogue between science and religion that Pope Francis has called for.

Sustainability of Mass Timber Construction: Case Studies from Global Cities | Nadine Ibrahim

Food for mega-cities using electric vehicles? A comparison of Hong Kong, Vancouver B.C., and Toronto | Graeme Lang

"Water Issues and Urban Sustainable Development in Changing Climate: An Action Plan for Quezon City, Philippines | Tabassam Raza

Framework for Evaluating Water Security in Megacities from an Environmental and Socioeconomic Perspective | Tatiana Trindade

A Food Charter as a Critical Food Guidance Tool in Rural Areas: The Case of Bruce & Grey Counties in Southwestern Ontario | Donald Cole

Food Donation Tax Credits: Investigating Usage Among Farmers | Tara Immell

The Role of Institutions at Multiple Scales | Chaiti Seth

When A Conspiracy Theory Comes to Town: The Policy Impacts of the Right-Wing Populist Movement against Sustainability Planning | Ellen Berrey, Fatima Al Saadie, Kristen Bass, Matthew Halsall, Ariel Minott, and Henry Rhyu

Rural Refractions of Ecological Instability: What the Original Redneck Fishing Tournament Illustrates About Rural Ecological Change | Jordan Besek

Ontario’s Left to Right Conservation Pendulum Swing and its Impacts on Environmental Conservation | Tom Hilditch

The Political Economy of Media Streaming: An Analysis of Environmental and Economic Sustainability | Vincent Manzerolle and Leslie Meier

Cleaning Up the Commons for a Profit: Insights from the History of By-Product Development in Early Cotton & Petroleum Industry | Pierre Desrochers and Joanna Szurmak

Lake Chad’s households: Capital growth or stagnation? | Jake Organ

Transitions to Sustainability inPeri-urban India: UsingAdaptive Pathways to cope with vulnerability and build resilience | Sharlene L. Gomes

Urban and Municipal Sustainability Science, Multidisciplinary, Urban Dev of Contaminated Industrial Sites | Mark Hegan

West Bolton Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan (SNAP) – An Example of a Collaborative Approach to Urban Renewal at the Neighbourhood Scale | Justyna Braithwaite and Victor Perez-Amado

A transdisciplinary approach for livable and sustainable cities: towards a compromise between air quality and climate change | Camille Payre

Migrants' Labour Market Integration Through Online Discussion Forums | Daniel Gulanowski

Reward Management in International Non-Government Organizations: A Values-Based Approach | Ishbel McWha-Hermann

China’s Migrant Workers: The Blind Spot on its Sustainability Policy Agenda | Marina Schmitz

Cultivating Place: A Socio-historical Analysis of Community Garden Planning in Seattle | Charlotte Glennie

A Policy Mix Analysis on Energy Efficiency Policies Pertaining to Buildings in Toronto and Calgary | John Lau

Decisions on Energy Supply and Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges for Existing Urban Areas | Jennifer McKellar

The Stocks and Flows of Construction Materials in the Region of Waterloo | Aida Mollaei

Growing Green and Eating Clean? Tensions Between Producer and Consumer Perspectives in the Creation of a Climate-friendly Food System | Bryan Dale

Green and Healthy | Sarah Elton

Can Dietary Guidelines Advance Ecological Sustainability? | Barbara Seed

Critical Food Guidance: Eating Toward Meaningful Change | Jennifer Sumner

Exposure, Impacts and Coping with Flood Events in Western Amazonia: Lessons from the2011 Flood Along the Ucayali River, Peru | Christian Abizaid

Deliver of State and Non-state Social Protection Instruments and Services Post Tropical Storm Erika in Dominica – A Spatial Analysis | Esther Lambert

The Four-Pillar Approach towards Sustainable Water Management | Romila Verma

Mind Under Matter: Analogous Ultimate Methodology of Psychology uncovers Microcosmic Metaphysical Foundations of Physical Sustainability in Macrocosm | Attila Lendvai

The Scientific, Social, Political and Ethical Dimensions of Global Warming and Climate Change | Robert K. Logan

Forest Conservation for Climate Resilience in Greater Angkor, Cambodia | Leah Marajh

Go Forth and Multiply” – Population, Contraception and Sustainable Development in Roman Catholic Teaching and Laudato Si | Michael Ross

Impervious to Sustainability: Social change and land cover change in Greater Houston, USA | Kevin Smiley

Land-Use Tools, Development Paths, and Local Strategies: The Role of Policy in Developing Local Resiliency | Leith Deacon

What Does the Farmer Bring to the Market? Exploring Farmers' Market Offerings by Geographic and Social Location | Justin Schupp

Review of Methodological Choices and Their Consistency with Principles of Sustainability Assessment of Farm-Level Decisions | Vivek Arulnathan

Learning Our Way Out of Global Challenges: How Might Social Learning Strengthen Transdisciplinary Collaboration Towards the SDGs | Elaine Huang

Identifying Forest Road Construction Year by Integrating Change Detection from Historical Remotely Sensed Images and Knowledge-Based Connectivity Rules | Dongmei Chen

Examination of Soft Power (Diplomacy) in Inter-Basin Water Transfer Project Aimed at Connecting Lake Chad and the Congo River | Caner Sayan

Sustainable Fishing for Small-Scaled Circular Economy: “Diverse economies” in Exploration for the Wetland National Parks in Vietnam | Phan Loan

The Myth of Atlantis and the Deforestation of Classical Athens | Ben Akrigg

Energy Heritage: Narrative Inheritances in the Albertan Oil Public | Judith Ellen Brunton

The Art of Sounding Sustainable | Sherry Lee

Catastrophe and Sustainability in the Technosphere | Ryan Hagen

Disasters As Suffering Out of Place | Jacob Remes

Boots on the ground. Tech in the cloud | Colin Campbell

Estimation of Static corporate sustainability interactions | Damla Rurak Usar

Human Sustainability, Relational Coordination,and Worker Outcomes: A Conceptual Framework | Elli Meleti

Disaster Risk Reduction and Business Continuity Planning for Microfinance Institutions | Rolando Victoria

Interrogating Amazon’s Sustainability Innovation | Brett Caraway

A Consumer Centric Approach for Ecological Viability | Radha Maharaj

Communities Lead the Way Toward a Circular Future: Will New Policies Keep Up? | Kiara Winans

A Review Of Solar Energy Policy And Applications In Ghana Towards Sustainable Development Goal 7 And 13 | Araba Amo-Aidoo

Media Framing of Alternative Energies in Saskatchewan and North Dakota | Patrick Braszak

How to Transition the Urban Freight Industry in Canada to a Low-Carbon Economy | Anureet Kaur

Innovation and Transfer of Clean Technologies in the Post-Paris International Climate Regime | Mahatab Uddin

Facilitated by: AIESEC

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Abstract

AIESEC is the world’s largest youth organization that facilities international volunteer and professional development opportunities for university students. Each and every international project that AIESEC facilities aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through this workshop, student speakers from AIESEC at the University of Toronto Chapter will share their exchange stories. More importantly, they will outline how these experiences have impacted their understanding of SDGs, possible hands-on opportunities to engage with SDGs as students, and how going on exchanges have impacted their future goals both professionally and personally.
This workshop offers an introduction to potential possibilities that university students could consider as they wish to make actionable solutions in addressing Sustainability. The workshop will also consider the benefits and limitations of current solutions, particularly with volunteerism, in achieving sustainable development.