Four green announcements highlight York U’s expertise in sustainability

Earth Day Featured image for YFile homepage

The term “4G” may be synonymous with super connectivity in the wired age. At York University, 4G also refers to the four green accolades announced last week.

At a special event on Friday, April 24 at the Keele campus to mark worldwide Earth Day and Earth Week events, York President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri substituted “sustainability” for “super connectivity” when he announced four major accomplishments that advanced the University’s focus on sustainability.

An audience of more than 100 community members heard from Shoukri that for the third year in a row York University has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers. The award, which was announced last week by Mediacorp Canada Inc., is given to employers who lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness. First conceived nine years ago, it was given to only 60 organizations across Canada this year, including half a dozen universities.

York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri announces the winners of the President's Leadership in Sustainability Awards. The book he is holding features images from the Las Nubes Rainforest, home of York University's expertise in neotropical research.
York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri announces the winners of the President’s Leadership in Sustainability Awards. The book he is holding features images from the Las Nubes Rainforest, home of York University’s expertise in neotropical research.

“As a university committed to leadership in sustainability research, education and action, we are especially proud that our early efforts were recognized, and as this ongoing recognition affirms, we have continued to build on those efforts to innovate,” said Shoukri.  “We are not only reducing our ecological footprint, but conserving resources that can be invested in academic programming for our students.”

York University’s sustainability accomplishments to date include:

  • a 30 per cent reduction in energy use since 2007
  • a 66 per cent waste diversion rate since the university introduced a formal waste reduction program in 1990
  • 80 per cent of York community members commuting by alternative transportation including public transit, carpooling, on foot or by bicycle
  • a Farmers’ Market, introduced in 2013-14 and held weekly in 2014-15
  • one of the first green buildings constructed on a university campus, in 2001, followed by seven new construction projects or renovations since then, including the LEED Silver certified Kaneff Tower

York also has an employee “Green Team” that includes Sustainability Ambassadors – students, faculty, staff and alumni who champion sustainability in their departments and help with campus-wide sustainability events, and the President’s Sustainability Council, which advises the president on how to advance sustainability. Recommendations for improving sustainability are detailed in annual reports.

In addition to this honour, Shoukri announced that York University has again been ranked second by Corporate Knights magazine on its Future 40 Responsible Corporate Leaders list for 2015.

Corporate Knights considers the Future 40 as a kind of farm team that feeds future sustainability leaders into the big leagues of our Best 50 ranking. In this respect, the Future 40 offers us insights into how performance on the Best 50 might change over time,” wrote the publication’s editor-in-chief, Tyler Hamilton in an editorial about the announcement.

The good news continued with a third announcement to reveal the five recipients of the second annual President’s Sustainability Leadership Awards. Shoukri turned the podium over to Faculty of Environmental Studies Professor Martin Bunch, chair of the President’s Sustainability Council, to make the announcement of the winners.

“The York University President’s Sustainability Leadership Awards recognize individuals and groups on our campuses who are contributing to making York a leading university on sustainability in Canada,” said Bunch. “The awards are designed to help us raise awareness on the important work that sustainability champions are doing at York, and to provide much deserved recognition of their work. This is the second year of the awards, and we are very pleased to have an excellent group of award winners again this year.”

The recipients of the 2015 President’s Sustainability Leadership Awards are:

The Bonfire Implementation Team

Above: From left, Dexter King, head of Procurement Services, (home of the Bonfire team) with York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri
Above: From left, Dexter King, director of Procurement Services, (home of the Bonfire implementation team) with York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

During the spring of 2014, a team in Procurement Services implemented an electronic-bid submission and evaluation software for all of its Requests for Proposals. This initiative had two objectives: to implement increased efficiencies for York’s vendors and employees, as well as providing an opportunity to significantly reduce the amount of paper required for this process. The staff involved in implementing this project took this on over and above their normal workload with no extra resources. The results of this initiative speak for themselves: to date, 29 projects with a total of 107 proposals have been submitted using Bonfire, resulting in 39,400 pages of printing saved.  As the University’s Procurement Services department converts the remaining proposals to Bonfire, the paper usage savings will continue to grow.

York University’s Food Services Department

Above: From left, Anthony Barbisan, director of Food Services, with York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri
Above: From left, Anthony Barbisan, director of Food Services, with York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

York’s Food Services Department has been greening food operations here at the University for several years.  Approximately 32 per cent of food purchases made by the department are local, certified Sustainable or Fair Trade through third party certification. The department’s Lug a Mug and Eco-Container programs, York community members are able to reduce the waste associated with their food purchases.  And this past year, Food Services installed an Urban Cultivator, which is a kitchen greenhouse that allows them to grow herbs and vegetables in house, greatly reducing the carbon footprint associated with these operations. Much of this success is also due to an ongoing, productive relationship with Aramark Canada.

Glendon Roots and Shoots

Above: Members of Glendon's Roots and Shoots sustainability team with Professor Martin Bunch (fifth from the right) and York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri (far right) .
Above: Members of Glendon’s Roots and Shoots student environment club with Professor Martin Bunch (fifth from the right) and York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri (far right)

Glendon Roots and Shoots is a student environmental club that has been active on sustainability issues at Glendon College for several years. Each year, Glendon Roots and Shoots organizes a wide variety of sustainability themed events, including: campus clean up days, clothing swaps, urban gardening and nature walks on the Glendon campus, and the annual Halloween Trick or Eat Food Drive, which this year collected 570 pounds of non-perishable goods which were donated to North York Harvest Food Bank. Recently, Glendon Roots and Shoots have also been providing reusable water bottles to Glendon Students in support of the University’s phase out of bottled water this year.

Meagan Heath

Above: From left, Professor Martin Bunch, Megan Heath and York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri
Above: From left, Professor Martin Bunch, Megan Heath, waste management supervisor,  and York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

An alumna and employee of York University, Heath graduated with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies, specializing in waste management. She is the Waste Management Supervisor with the Grounds, Fleet & Waste Management Department in Campus Services & Business Operations (CSBO). Since joining Grounds, Fleet and Waste Management Department, Heath has led many waste initiatives, including the implementation of York’s Zero Waste Program. As part of this program, she has performed several waste audits, which provide valuable information that enables the University to focus on new methods to improve waste collection, diversion and reduction. And she has spent countless hours training grounds staff, as well as facilities staff throughout both campuses, on waste diversion and the three R’s (Reduce/Reuse/Recycle).  All of these efforts have helped York University to achieve a waste diversion rate of 66 per cent.

Regenesis York

Above: Members of the Regenesis York team with York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri
Above: Members of the Regenesis York team with York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

Regenesis York is a community, environmental and social justice organization empowering students as initiators of change at York University since 2007. The Regenesis team has conducted research and outreach that has led to positive, tangible changes on campus and in our local community. Recently, Regenesis York has led two major initiatives: Cycle York, which uses both advocacy and service resulting in bike repair, bike clinics and group rides that promote active living, equitable access and a four seasons biking culture at York and in the local community. And, in partnership with the Food Services Department, Regenesis organized the York University Market, a weekly produce and artisan market that provides healthy, local and organic food goods to the York community.

Above: From left, Bud Purves, president of the York University Development Corporation, and York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri
Above: From left, Bud Purves, president of the York University Development Corporation, unveils a certificate announcing the LEED Silver Status of the Kaneff Tower on the Keele campus

Shoukri thanked the award recipients, students, staff, faculty members and researchers for their ongoing commitment to make York University a global leader in sustainability practice and research. He issued special appreciation to York Vice-President Finance and Administration Gary Brewer, York University Development Corporation (YUDC) President Bud Purves, Richard Francki, assistant vice-president, CSBO and the CSBO team, for their work in sustainability. He thanked members of the President’s Sustainability Council for their volunteer work and paid special tribute to Bunch, who is the council’s new chair. He thanked the University’s deans for their commitment to sustainability leadership in academic programming, teaching and research.

The event ended with a special presentation by Purves to Shoukri of a framed certificate marking the successful LEED Silver Certification of the Kaneff Tower, which is home to York University’s senior administration and researchers. The tower sits on top of the Archives of Ontario Building and was built in 2010.

“York University showed early leadership in sustainability,” said Purves, noting that the new Pan Am/Para Pan Am Stadium, the Life Sciences Building and the new Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, were all being built to LEED standards.

To cap off the day, groups of York University employees volunteered their time as part of a pan-University 20-minute Cleanup of the campus woodlots and roadways.

For more information on York University’s commitment to sustainability and the environment, visit the Sustainability website and the CSBO website.

 

Ontario environmental commissioner discusses new report

Gord Miller environment commissioner

Serving the Public reportThe next talk in the Sustainable Energy Initiative Seminar Series will feature Gord Miller, environmental commissioner of Ontario, discussing the newly released annual report, Serving the Public.

The talk will take place Friday, Dec. 6, from 11:30am to 1:30pm, at 140 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event sponsored by the Faculty of Environmental Studies. Light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served. A Q&A will follow the presentation. RSVP to tarob@yorku.ca.

Miller was first sworn in as environmental commissioner of Ontario in 2000 to oversee the continued implementation of the Environmental Gord MillerBill of Rights. He was reappointed to his third five-year term in 2010.

Gord Miller

As an independent officer appointed by the Legislative Assembly, he oversees 14 ministries and monitors and reports annually on a three key areas, as follows:

  • government compliance with the provisions of the Environmental Bill of Rights;
  • government progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and
  • activities in Ontario to reduce the use or make more efficient use of electricity, natural gas, propane, oil and transportation fuels.

For more information, visit the Faculty of Environmental Studies website.

Fill out survey to have your say in restoration of green space at York

Groundhog at York

Have a greater say in the development of York University’s green spaces.

A survey created by University of Toronto masters of forest conservation student Janise Herridge and resident biologist Dawn Bazely, in association with the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability, gives the A groundhog at the east side of Lumbers Buildingcommunity at York University a chance to do just that, but only until Nov. 27.

York has many great green spaces that have been documented in this fall’s successful #yorkufall tagging campaign.

Friendly groundhog at the east side of Lumbers Building

The qualitative five and 10 minute survey will help determine which naturalized areas of campus the community uses, how it uses them and why. In addition, the survey includes questions about wildlife sightings, such as migratory birds on campus, and what kind of changes, if any, the community would like to see with regards to the naturalized spaces on campus. Answers will be incorporated into Herridge’s final project – an urban forest restoration plan for Keele campus.

The goal of the restoration plan is to meet the needs of the planning and grounds departments with consideration of the community’s perspective. To create new enjoyable green spaces for students, staff and faculty, their input is absolutely necessary.

The comments collected from this survey have the potential to impact the development of more than green spaces for the entire campus.

Fill out the survey to have your say.

MES alumni offer sage advice at annual McBride luncheon

Panel of speakers at McBride Luncheon

Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) students and alumni celebrated their Faculty of Environmental Studies pride at the eighth annual Anita McBride Luncheon.

The event was named in honour of former director of the Faculty’s Office of Student & Academic Services, and was moderated by Peter Homenuck, who has taught in the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) since the 1970s.

The luncheon featured a panel of four MES graduates who offered their insights, networking opportunities and Panel of speakers at McBride Luncheonhighlighted their post-grad experience in transitioning from MES into their respective careers.

From left, Bill Mocsan, Chris Ouelette, Miranda Persaud, David Donnelly and Peter Homenuck

David Donnelly (MES ’95), environmental lawyer and founder of Donnelly Law, was first to share his experiences. He led the panel with a presentation showcasing the work he was most passionate about. He discussed his experiences of working in Labrador and the commitment he made to stop the low-level flying over Goosebay.

He spoke fondly about his experience at FES, saying, “I am extremely grateful to the Faculty of Environmental Studies. It allowed me to get my education, which gave me the credibility to put me in the room to fight the big battles”.

Miranda Persaud (MES ’07), senior associate at DPRA, spoke about how she came to be a consultant at DPRA. After her work experience in Japan drew her towards business, and away from environmental studies, her work as a Group shot of panellists at McBride Lunchconsultant encouraged her to continue her education.

From left, Peter Homenuck, Anita McBride, Bill Mocsan, Noël Sturgeon, Chris Ouelette, Miranda Persaud and David Donnelly

“I chose York because I found that I had a lot more control over what it was I was going to do,” said Persaud. The highly interdisciplinary format of the MES program allows students to create their own plan of study and pursue their research under the guidance and support of expert faculty.

Persauds explained that “as an environmental student, who was studying in Schulich as well, [she] had the opportunity to meet professors from different backgrounds”, exposing her to numerous avenues of knowledge.  After stepping into DPRA as an intern, she has worked her way up to the position of senior associate, where she Anita McBrideleads multiple consulting ventures in sustainable business, both nationally and internationally.

Anita McBride

The most recent graduate Chris Ouelette (MES ’10), head of corporate citizenship at Manulife Financial, had three clear messages to share with the students. First, “get enlightened”, because the Faculty is exceptional and has a broad breadth and depth of knowledge. He encouraged students to take a course that they would not normally take, and benefit from the knowledge of the professors.

Second, “meet your peers”, both on a professional and personal level. He suggested that students ask their peers what they are working on and to take advantage of networking opportunities. Finally, “enjoy your time here”, although it will be stressful, and challenging, try to find the fun in learning.

Ouelette concluded his discussion with the following statement: “I also, at least weekly, work with a ‘MESer’ in one sort of professional capacity or another. We end up being the best at what we do in our fields.”

The final panellist, Bill Mocsan (MES ’84), VP and managing director for Knowles Consulting Services Inc., offered students insights about the soft skills the program equipped him with to succeed professionally. Mocsan prefaced his discussion by stating that his “experience at York was fantastic” and that he “loved it here”. Since graduating, he has acquired over 30 years of experience in public administration, private consulting, policy development, management, finance, and has worked four provincial ministries.

He recalled being asked whether, after seven years at university, he was using what he learned. Mocsan said “My answer was yes. [I learned] not just about the relationship between urban design and energy consumption. I learned a lot about organization skills, I learned a lot about time management, problem solving, team playing, leadership, writing skills, project management, problem solving and research skills.” He encouraged the students not to underestimate those valuable skills as “they will make your transition much easier, they will help you fit in, and succeed throughout your career”.

FES Dean Noël Sturgeon closed the Oct. 15  event, by thanking the panellists and moderator Peter Homenuck, and offering her sincere gratitude to Anita McBride for her dedication and commitment to keeping alumni active and involved with the Faculty. The panel session concluded with a networking luncheon where current MES students had the opportunity to meet the fourteen alumni who were in attendance.

New book about battles waged over Oak Ridges Moraine launches

The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles Book Cover

The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles Book CoverAfter more than a decade of research, reflection and writing, Professors L. Anders Sandberg, Gerda R. Wekerle and Liette Gilbert of the Faculty of Environmental Studies have produced the book The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles: Development, Sprawl, and Nature Conservation in the Toronto Region, published by the University of Toronto Press.

The Oak Ridges Moraine is a unique landform that generated heated battles over the future of nature conservation, sprawl and development at the turn of the 21st century. The book provides a careful, multifaceted history and policy analysis of planning issues and citizen activism on the Anders SandbergMoraine’s future in the face of rapid urban expansion.

L. Anders Sandberg

The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles captures the hidden aspects of a story that received a great deal of attention in the local and national news, and that ultimately led to provincial legislation aimed at protecting the Moraine and Ontario’s Greenbelt.

Liette GilbertLiette Gilbert

By giving voice to a range of residents, activists, civil servants, scientists, developers and aggregate and other resource users, the book demonstrates how space on the urban periphery was reshaped in the Toronto region. The authors ask hard questions about who is included and excluded when the preservation of nature challenges the relentless process of urbanization.

The book will be celebrated and launched Monday, Dec. 2, from 6 to 8pm, at Ben McNally Books, 366 Bay St. (walking distance from the Osgoode and Queen Gerda R. Wekerlesubway stations). Everyone is welcome to attend. RSVP by Nov. 25 at fes.yorku.ca\book-launch

Gerda R. Wekerle, photo by John Vainstein

The following are some assessments of the book:

The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles is the definitive book on this important chapter in Ontario environmental politics. The authors provide a wealth of detail and analysis of an interesting story that is significant not only locally and regionally, but also nationally, and to a certain extent, internationally. As an examination of the politics of suburban and exurban development in the Greater Toronto Region, this book is unlikely to be surpassed for some time.”
André Sorensen, chair, Department of Human Geography, University of Toronto, Scarborough

The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles is a rare and superb model of the application of a critical political ecology approach to the analysis of land use conflict – work of such depth and temporal breadth is unusual, particularly in Canadian environmental studies. The authors do a wonderful job of mining the riches of this case study and grounding it in solid empirical research.”
Laurie E. Adkin, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta

“The book is a rigorously detailed and conceptually nimble work that asks challenging questions about how to think about nature in order to defend it.”
Nate Prier, Alternatives Journal, vol 39, 5 (2013), 58

“Forget everything you thought you knew about the Oak Ridges Moraine. [The authors] deconstruct the Oak Ridges Moraine, questioning not only its coherence as a landscape, but critically examining the very legislation and planning processes that shape its use today. . . . This is a book not just for those who are interested in environmental conservation and geology, but for planners, policy makers, politicians and residents who are hoping to gain a deeper understanding of how concepts shift, evolve and even work against each other over time.”
Jake Tobin Garrett, Novae Res Urbis, vol 16, 25 (June 2013), 2, 5

Survey gives York U community voice in restoration of green space

Groundhog at York

Do you want a greater say in the development of York University’s green spaces that you use every day? York has many great green spaces that have been documented in this fall’s successful #yorkufall tagging campaign.

A survey created by University of Toronto masters of forest conservation student Janise Herridge and resident biologist Dawn Bazely, in association with the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability, gives the Groundhog at the east side of Lumbers Buildingcommunity at York University a chance to do just that, but only until Nov. 27.

Friendly groundhog at the east side of Lumbers Building

The qualitative survey questions will help determine which naturalized areas of campus the community uses, how it uses them and why. In addition, the survey includes questions about wildlife sightings, such as migratory birds on campus, and what kind of changes, if any, the community would like to see with regards to the naturalized spaces on campus. Answers will be incorporated into Herridge’s final project – an urban forest restoration plan for Keele campus.

Janise Herridge with a large Elm tree at York UThe goal of the restoration plan is to meet the needs of the planning and grounds departments with consideration of the community’s perspective. To create new enjoyable green spaces for students, staff and faculty, their input is absolutely necessary.

Janise Herridge with a large elm tree at the northwest section of Keele campus

The comments collected from this survey have the potential to impact the development of more than green spaces for the entire campus.

Interested? The survey takes between five and 10 minutes and is being run until Nov. 27.

Fill out the survey to have your say.

Author looks at reality behind pipeline’s gleaming facade

James Marriott of Platform London, co-author of the book The Oil Road: A Journey from the Caspian Sea to the City of London, will be at York Wednesday to discuss some of the issues raised in the book.

Marriott’s talk will take place Sept. 18 at 3:30pm at 140 Health, Nursing & TheOilRoadEnvironmental Studies Building, Keele campus.

Platform is a London-based arts, human rights and environmental justice organization that uses art, literature, activism and education to achieve long-term systemic change.

In a journey from the oil fields of the Caspian to the refineries and financial centres of Northern Europe, Platform tracks the concealed routes along which the lifeblood of the economy is pumped – the pipeline, running from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.

In The Oil Road, Marriott, an artist, naturalist and activist, looks at the reality behind the pipeline’s gleaming façade. The human scale of village life in the Caucasus Mountains and the plains of Anatolia is suddenly, and sometimes fatally, confronted by the vast strangeness of the oil corporation BP. Pipelines and tanker routes tie the fraying social democracies of Italy, Austria and Germany to the repressive regimes of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. A web of financial and political institutions in London stitches together the lives of metropolis and village.

Building on a decade of study with Platform, the authors guide their readers through a previously obscure landscape of energy, resistance and profit that has marked Europe for over a century. They blend the empathy travel writing with the precision of investigative journalism in a book that mixes the best of several genres.

Marriott is also the co-author of The Next Gulf: London, Washington and the Oil Conflict in Nigeria (Robinson Publishing, 2005). As part of Platform he has co-created a wide range of initiatives from the Delta micro-hydro engineering project to the opera, And While London Burns.

The talk is sponsored by the Centre for Research on Latin America & the Caribbean, the Faculty of Environmental Studies, the Law & Society Program and the York Centre for International & Security Studies.

New deadline: York members interested in attending COP 19, apply by Aug. 31

The 19th United Nations climate change conference and the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) will be held from Nov. 11 to 22 in Warsaw, Poland.

York community members interested in attending COP 19 should e-mail Annette Dubreuil, coordinator of York’s Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS), by Aug. 31, at noon at afdubreu@yorku.ca.

Please note that delegates will be responsible for their own funding.

For more information about COP 19, visit the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website.

New deadline: York members interested in attending COP 19 need apply by Aug. 31

The 19th United Nations climate change conference and the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) will be held from Nov. 11 to 22 in Warsaw, Poland.

York community members interested in attending COP 19 should e-mail Annette Dubreuil, coordinator of York’s Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS), by Aug. 31, at noon at afdubreu@yorku.ca.

Please note that delegates will be responsible for their own funding.

For more information about COP 19, visit the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website.

York community members interested in attending COP 19 must apply by Sept. 30

The 19th United Nations climate change conference and the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) will be held from Nov. 11 to 22 in Warsaw, Poland.

York community members interested in attending COP 19 should e-mail Annette Dubreuil, coordinator of York’s Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS), by Monday, Sept. 30 at noon at afdubreu@yorku.ca.

Please note that delegates will be responsible for their own funding.

For more information about COP 19, visit the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website.