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Join the May 17 Fireside Chat to learn about York’s DEDI Strategy 

diverse group of people talking

The York University community is invited to join Taking Action, Making Impact: A Fireside Chat on York’s DEDI Strategy on  Wednesday, May 17 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Hosted by York President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton and York Interim Vice-President Equity, People and Culture (EP&C) Alice Pitt, the kick-off event will feature four York community members exploring how they can take up the Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) Strategy in their work and discussing ways the community can apply the work in their areas. 

DEDI flower graphic from centre outward represents the York campus Community, the five strategic directions (red), the four University strategies and plans that are connected to the DEDI strategy (blue) and the 12 principles (grey)
DEDI flower graphic from centre outward represents the York campus Community, the five strategic directions (red), the four University strategies and plans that are connected to the DEDI strategy (blue) and the 12 principles (grey)

“Now that the DEDI strategy has been launched, we must start to infuse it into the fabric of our community where it will continue to take shape on our campuses,” said Pitt. “The fireside chat is one way that we will continue to foster the University values of equity, diversity and inclusion and the ongoing commitment to advancing decolonization and Indigenous teaching, research and scholarship.” 

The panellists for the fireside chat include:

Susan D. Dion, PhD, associate vice-president, Indigenous Initiatives and professor, Faculty of Education; Gin Marshall, PhD student in the Social Work Program; Lisa Cole, MEd, director of programming, K2i Academy, Lassonde School of Engineering; and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, PhD, instructor and special advisor to the Office of the Dean, Schulich School of Business. 

The discussion will touch on the creation of the strategy and the significance of incorporating decolonization into the strategy.  

The process of adding decolonizing was a collaborative effort, said Dion. “Working with a team of committed people who asked good questions that provided opportunities to understand the relationship between equity, diversity, inclusion and colonialism. Together we pushed each other to hear differing perspectives and think deeply about colonialism, and decolonization.”  

Marion MacGregor, executive director, Center for Human Rights, Equity, and Inclusion (CHREI), who was involved from the start of the DEDI Strategy, recalls that once the strategy was presented as a draft, some of the first comments were about decolonization. 

“It was obvious that it would benefit from ensuring that decolonization become central to the development of the document,” MacGregor said. “What resonates for me the most was the involvement of so many community members to make this happen. The strategy reflects the York community because it comes from the community. It is ambitious but I think transformational.” 

Visit this website to learn more about the panellists. Register to attend this event in person or virtually.

Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation hosts garden party for World Bee Day

Macro photo of green metallic sweat bee perched on a yellow flower

The Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (BEEc) will once again mark the annual United Nations World Bee Day with new events designed to promote the health of local pollinators.

This year, for the first time, BEEc and the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC) welcome all members of the University community to the EUC Native Plant Garden party on May 16 from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

World Bee Day, led internationally by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is dedicated to acknowledging and spreading awareness of the plethora of vital environmental processes that depend on the often underappreciated work of Earth’s busy bees.

“Bees are one of the most important groups of pollinators in the world, yet most people are unaware that we have at least 350 species in the GTA alone,” explains BEEc Coordinator Victoria MacPhail. “The EUC Native Plant Garden is an oasis for them on a campus full of concrete and buildings, providing food, shelter and nesting sites throughout the year.”

Observed around the world on Saturday, May 20, this year World Bee Day will arrive early at York in order to allow for the participation of as many interested community members as possible.

“We’re excited to celebrate World Bee Day a few days early with the whole York University community, to take this opportunity to share our love and knowledge of bees with others,” MacPhail says. “We have a wealth of free resources and are happy to chat with people about what they can do to help pollinators, from planting native flowers to advocating for increased protections.”

A lush planter box full of a variety of species of wild flowers
One of the EUC native species planter boxes to be maintained for World Bee Day

The featured garden party event is sponsored in part by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada and is open to all staff, students and faculty, as well as members of the public from outside of the University. Attendees will learn from York’s expert mellitologists, as well as free handouts, pinned insect displays, example bee nests and more, about the highly diverse bee species indigenous to Toronto and Southern Ontario at large, as well as the local flora that they depend on for sustenance. As a part of this hands-on learning experience, guests will be able to contribute to the University’s floral biodiversity by planting new native species in the EUC garden and removing invasive species that are less conducive to the health of local pollinators.

“We’re so thrilled to invigorate our relationship and stewardship of this wonderful garden started by [Professors] Gerde Werkerle and Leesa Fawcett, among others, with the partnership of BEEc. Hundreds of students pass by or attend summer classes in this rooftop garden sitting atop lecture halls and we want them to come to know this lively oasis of over 40 species – some of them edible. May 16 will be a great start to what we anticipate will be an amazing season,” says Phyllis Novak, director of the EUC Maloca Community and Native Plant Gardens.

York community members who intend to join in the gardening are asked to RSVP here by Friday, May 12. Members of the public are encouraged to drop in to this event and are not required to register. No prior experience or personal equipment is required to join in the gardening. Participants are encouraged to dress for the elements as this event will run rain or shine.

MacPhail says gardening volunteers can expect to “see examples of bee species – from tiny, smooth, black solitary bees that are only a few millimeters long and can be mistaken for flies or ants, to the large, fuzzy bumblebees that can be up to a couple centimeters in size, and whose queens are easily seen this time of year.

“Toronto’s official bee, the green metallic sweat bee – or Agapostemon virescens – has already been seen nesting in the garden, and we are confident that the upcoming garden party will help to improve the habitat for it and many other wildlife species,” she adds.

Additional BEEc-hosted events will run following the garden party and in the lead up to the official World Bee Day, including a cocktail fundraiser to help endow a fund for EUC graduate students studying bees on May 17 in Markham, as well as a Scholars’ Hub virtual seminar on May 18 detailing the leading-edge research on bees being carried out at York.

For more information on these supplemental Bee Day events, contact beec@yorku.ca or see the BEEc news and social media page.

New resources support community learning during Emergency Preparedness Week

Go safe team

Do you know what to do in the case of an emergency? Resources developed by the Community Safety Department at York provide information, helpful tips and guided learning to help keep the University community safe.

For the last 25 years, Public Safety Canada has supported a National Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) to educate Canadians about how to protect themselves, their families and their community during an emergency. At York, the Community Safety Department is encouraging community members to utilize new and existing resources for learning during EP Week to assist in prevention, planning, response and mitigation of emergencies. While emergency planning is done institutionally, preparedness requires a degree of individual responsibility to ensure collective success.

Safety app
York’s Safety App is available for the University community

In partnership with Organizational Learning and People Excellence (OLPE), the Community Safety Department has developed a self-paced course on local emergency preparedness that is available through YU Learn. The Local Emergency Preparedness Course helps York community members understand how to respond to potential local emergencies. This includes information about potential hazards, how to avoid emergencies by being proactive and how to respond to specific hazards and local emergencies, including evacuation procedures, shelter-in-place and lockdown drills. The course material also includes the vast resources that York’s community safety team has developed to ensure students, faculty, staff and guests are safe on York’s campuses, including the Safety App and the campus fire safety systems.

“In recent years, we’ve seen the importance of emergency planning and preparedness rise to the forefront, especially as we navigated new waters with the COVID-19 pandemic and developed new strategies to keep each other safe,” said Orville Wallace, York’s new executive director, Community Safety. “I encourage all members of the community to take the time to review the emergency preparedness resources available and ensure they understand what responsibility they have in both individual and institutional safety.”

In addition to the local emergency preparedness course, there is a variety of materials available on the community safety website, such as information about the emergency notification system, emergency assembly points and an emergency response guide. For those seeking emergency preparedness information while physically on campus, there are over 8,000 posters with safety information, emergency procedures and contact information across both Keele and Glendon campuses. Community members who do not have an emergency poster in their workplace, or who would like to add an additional poster, can contact the Office of Emergency Management.

Beyond preparation, EP Week is an opportunity to put learning into action. All departments are currently seeking full-time University employees to join their Emergency Response Warden Program to help ensure the safety of the community. Wardens assist in the evacuation of buildings in the case of an emergency, provide valuable information to building occupants and first responders and support staff by promoting a culture of emergency preparedness at York.

All information related to emergency planning and preparedness at York can be found here.

York launches new Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

DEDI three diverse adults in conversations

La version française suit la version anglaise. 

Dear York community,

We are excited to share York University’s first Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) Strategy. York is among the first Canadian universities to incorporate decolonization in a meaningful and substantial way throughout a document of this kind, and this strategy will formalize and coordinate DEDI efforts across the institution.

The DEDI Strategy acknowledges York University’s colonial structures and recognizes that many forms of discrimination and oppression exist both in society and in higher education. It provides a lens on the University’s past, present and future, allowing it to focus clearly on the efforts and resources needed to drive positive change. The strategy includes five strategic directions – teaching and learning, research and innovation, representation and success, campus climate and environment, and leadership and capacity building.

The strategy is rooted in the University’s Academic Plan 2020-2025, which outlines York’s commitment to championing diversity and inclusivity, embracing differing perspectives, peoples, and ways of knowing, and fostering global fluencies and cross-cultural knowledges. DEDI values are also infused into other key planning documents, and the strategy augments existing frameworks, including the Framework and Action Plan on Black Inclusion and the Indigenous Framework.

A collaborative effort

This is important work requiring time and care. The launch of the new DEDI Strategy is the result of the efforts of many individuals and units over the last two-and-a-half years. This includes the 50-member President’s Advisory Council on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, which provided advice on the development of this new strategy – and the York community, who provided feedback on the Draft Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, released in March 2022. We are grateful to everyone who participated in this process including the inaugural Vice-President of Equity, People and Culture, Sheila Cote-Meek.

Taking action

While the DEDI Strategy will build on the collective efforts of many in our community, it is important to recognize that much remains to be done if we are to realize our goals. It is also a living document that will undoubtedly continue to evolve as we evaluate our progress each year. Success depends on the combined efforts of the entire York community.

We encourage everyone to read and explore the strategy on its dynamic new website.

We also invite you to join us at the launch event, Taking Action, Making Impact: A Fireside Chat on York’s DEDI Strategy, on Wednesday, May 17 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. There, you will learn how key community members are taking up the strategy in their work, explore how each of us can engage in DEDI work and imagine together how we can transform this institution to right the future for everyone.

Visit this website to learn more about the panelists and register to attend this event, in person or virtually.

Along with other key equity initiatives, this strategy and its underlying principles will empower everyone at the University to respectfully have the uncomfortable conversations that will drive collective understanding, and lead to a greater sense of inclusion and belonging  by facilitating a decolonizing, inclusive, diverse and collaborative ecosystem that promotes well-being for all.

Thank you. Merci.

Rhonda Lenton
President and Vice-Chancellor

Alice Pitt
Interim Vice-President Equity, People and Culture

York lance sa Stratégie de décolonisation, d’équité, de diversité et d’inclusion  

Chers membres de la communauté de York,

Nous nous réjouissons de diffuser la première Stratégie de décolonisation, d’équité, de diversité et d’inclusion (DEDI) de l’Université York. York est l’une des premières universités canadiennes à intégrer la décolonisation de manière substantielle dans un document de ce type, et cette stratégie formalisera et coordonnera les efforts de DEDI dans l’ensemble de l’établissement.

La Stratégie DEDI reconnaît les structures coloniales de York et admet que de nombreuses formes de discrimination et d’oppression existent tant dans la société que dans l’enseignement supérieur. Elle offre une perspective sur le passé de l’Université, sur notre présent et sur notre avenir, ce qui permet de cibler précisément les efforts et les ressources nécessaires pour susciter des changements. La stratégie comprend cinq orientations stratégiques : enseignement et apprentissage, recherche et innovation, représentation et succès, climat et environnement des campus, ainsi que leadership et renforcement des capacités.

La stratégie est ancrée dans le Plan académique de l’Université 2020-2025, qui souligne l’engagement de York à défendre la diversité et l’inclusion, à accueillir des perspectives, des personnes et des modes de connaissance différents, et à encourager des savoirs mondiaux et des connaissances interculturelles. Les valeurs de DEDI sont également intégrées dans d’autres documents de planification, et la stratégie les complète, notamment le Plan d’action sur l’inclusion des personnes noires et le Cadre stratégique autochtone.

Un effort de collaboration

Il s’agit d’un travail primordial qui demande du temps et de l’attention. Le lancement de la nouvelle Stratégie DEDI est le résultat des efforts déployés par de nombreuses personnes et unités au cours des deux dernières années et demie. Il s’agit notamment du Conseil consultatif de la présidente sur l’équité, la diversité et l’inclusion, composé de 50 membres, qui a fourni des conseils sur l’élaboration de cette nouvelle stratégie, et de la communauté de York, qui a donné son avis sur le projet de stratégie sur l’équité, la diversité et l’inclusion, publié en mars 2022. Nous remercions toutes les personnes qui ont participé à ce processus, notamment la vice-présidente inaugurale de l’équité, des personnes et de la culture, Sheila Cote-Meek.

Passer à l’action

Si la stratégie DEDI s’appuie sur les efforts collectifs de nombreux membres de notre communauté, il est important de reconnaître qu’il reste encore beaucoup à faire pour atteindre nos objectifs. Il s’agit également d’un document évolutif qui continuera sans aucun doute à se développer au fur et à mesure que nous évaluerons nos progrès chaque année. Le succès dépend des efforts combinés de l’ensemble de la communauté de York.

Nous vous encourageons à lire et à explorer la stratégie, affichée sur ce nouveau site Web dynamique.

Nous vous invitons également à vous joindre à nous lors de l’événement de lancement, « Taking Action, Making Impact: A Fireside Chat on York’s DEDI Strategy » le mercredi 17 mai, de 13 h à 14 h 30. Vous y découvrirez comment des membres clés de la communauté intègrent la stratégie dans leur travail, explorerez comment chacun d’entre nous peut s’engager dans le travail de DEDI et imaginerez comment nous pouvons transformer ensemble cette institution afin d’être présents pour l’avenir.

Visitez ce site Web pour en savoir plus sur les panélistes et inscrivez-vous pour participer à cet événement, en personne ou virtuellement.

En lien avec d’autres initiatives clés en matière d’équité, cette stratégie et ses principes sous-jacents permettront à tous les membres de l’Université d’avoir, dans le respect, les conversations difficiles qui augmenteront la compréhension collective et conduiront à un plus grand sentiment d’inclusion et d’appartenance en facilitant un écosystème décolonisant, inclusif, diversifié et collaboratif qui promeut le bien-être de toute la communauté.

Sincères salutations,  

Rhonda Lenton
Présidente et vice-chancelière

Alice Pitt
Vice-présidente intérimaire de l’équité, des personnes et de la culture

Student-led waste diversion project celebrates first compost harvest

Hands holding seeds and soil

By Alexander Huls, deputy editor, YFile

The Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom (C4) student-led project to create a full-cycle composing system at York University will soon distribute a metric ton of compost across the Keele campus, fulfilling its goal to divert organic waste from selected vendors at York.

The project creates a closed-loop system by turning the waste that would otherwise go to landfill into useful compost that can be used on campus.

Danielle Robinson
Danielle Robinson

The upcoming harvest, which began with the 2019 revitalization of the decaying three-tier composting systems in the Maloca Community Garden, is the result of woodchips received from the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, fruit and food from Grocery Checkout in York Lanes, as well as coffee grounds and more from the two Starbucks locations on campus. Partnerships with the businesses, and transportation of the waste to the Maloca composting system with a push cart, was all hands-on experience initiated by the students themselves – a significant objective for C4.

“Our approach to experiential education keeps students in the driver’s seat,” says Danielle Robinson, co-lead of C4. “The more that we let them take the lead, the more it shows them that we believe in them, that we think they have valuable skills and knowledges, and that they can do things in the world that matter.”

Ronan Smith
Ronan Smith

Changing the world, and righting the future, is especially important to the C4 initiative, which aligns its offerings with York’s dedication to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). “We organize all of our projects by SDGs at C4 because it helps students channel their efforts directly towards specific kinds of impacts outside the classroom,” says Robinson.

The C4 students’ composting system will also have a significant impact on campus. “Our whole idea is to keep this closed loop system where we’re getting our waste from campus and then we’re giving it back to campus in one way or another,” says Ronan Smith, a student who has been with the project since it started. Once the compost from the harvest is tested to see how nutrient rich it is, it will be distributed to several nearby recipients such as the community farmers at Maloca Community Gardens and Many Green Hand, a student club. Smith also hopes to have a seed a drive to get interested students set up with pots, plants and soil. Anything left over, would be distributed to different grounds across York, such as garden beds like those outside the Health, Nursing and Environmental Studies building.

From there, the group’s ambitions turn towards the future, Smith says. They want to scale up by exploring row composting or worm bins to create a greater diversity of compost sources, as well as processing more waste with composting hubs around the University in high density spots – like Central Square – to streamline the process. Generating more awareness will also be a goal, not only to draw in new students and volunteers, but illustrate the composting system’s success. “Our goal is showing that this can work, like how in just under a year we can process over a metric ton of waste,” Smith says.

They don’t need to show it can work to Robinson, however, who has been impressed by the efforts of Smith and his fellow compost collaborators. “I am constantly blown away by what our students can do, what they dream up, and the drive they have to create change in the world,” she says.

York Circle Lecture explores pandemic’s impact on health care

The pandemic has brought to the fore inequities in health care, labour, mental health access and global health

Two York University researchers will share their expertise during the May 6 instalment of the York Circle Lecture series, which will explore how health care has been impacted by the pandemic.

Jennifer Steeves
Jennifer Steeves

The in-person Lunch & Lecture event, hosted by York University’s Division of Advancement, Alumni and Friends, welcomes Jennifer Steeves, academic Chair for the 2022-23 lecture series and associate vice-president research, to host and moderate this event. Steeves is set to lead poignant discussions with York University expert faculty members as they deliver keynotes on an array of topics related to this season’s overarching theme: “The Pandemic: COVID’s Impact on Canada’s health care system.”

The Saturday session will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and features topics that examine virtual reality and its practical applications in medicine and therapy, as well as managing obesity through COVID-19 lockdowns and beyond.

The speakers and their presentations:

Lora Appel, assistant professor at York’s School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health
“Not just virtual, but virtuous reality: Therapeutic uses of VR for people with cognitive, sensory and mobility impairments”

Virtual reality technology is increasingly being relied upon as a valuable tool in healthcare, for skills training as well as screening, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The pandemic has emphasized and called attention to the unmet needs of our growing aging population; at the same time, it ensured that digital and virtual care are here to stay. This talk presents some of the emerging research in therapeutic VR interventions across the spectrum of care from acute to community settings.

Jennifer Kuk, associate professor at York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health
“Obesity management during COVID and beyond – how to tip the scales in your favour”

The COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges to our health. For some of us, this period was also associated with rapid weight gain, while others were more successful at managing their weight. Learn about the science behind why weight loss is so hard, and strategies that may help tip the scales in your favour.

To sign up for the May 6 event, and upcoming York Circle events, click here.

First launched in 2009, the York Circle events series has remained a platform for demonstrating the ideas and research generated by dedicated members of the York community. Presenters from each of the University’s Faculties are invited to speak on topics ranging from gender issues, brain function, mental health, international aid, sports injuries, financial policy and many more evolving subjects. To see summaries of past lectures, and bios on the speakers who delivered them, click here.

CJS event explores research gaps in study of Canadian Jewish life

orthodox Jewish men walking through a park

Questions, not answers, about the lives of contemporary Jewish Canadians will be the topic of conversation for an esteemed guest panel at “What We Don’t Know About Canadian Jewish Life,” hosted by York University’s Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies (CJS) on Wednesday, May 17.

What don’t we know about Jewish religious observance habits or changing attitudes toward ideological and political issues? What don’t we know about coast-to-coast-to-coast social and demographic detail or issues of aging, housing, marriage or leisure? What are the known-unknowns and what unknown-unknowns might we uncover for the benefit of deeper understanding and useful knowledge? These are some of the questions pondered by researchers at York’s CJS and beyond.

“Though Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish population in the world, there’s surprisingly little scholarly research on it. It’s a remarkably diverse, ever-changing and living community,” says David S. Koffman, J. Richard Shiff Chair for the Study of Canadian Jewry, acting director at the CJS and moderator of the upcoming event.

This event will examine how Jewish Canadians, their families, institutions and communities are changing: this sizeable and dynamic diaspora is constantly in flux, yet Jewish Canada remains glaringly understudied. The topics of this event consider the state of both academic and applied social research on contemporary Jewish life in Canada.

“Virtually all scholarly events focus on the things we’ve just learned – they’re about sharing new knowledge. This event is unusual in that it’ll try to map what we don’t yet know. The right questions are, in a sense, harder than the answers,” says Koffman.

What we don't know about Canadian Jewish life vector art poster

“Facilitating this sort of program and hosting the globe’s foremost leaders fits right into the sweet spot for me as the J. Richard Shiff Chair for the Study of Canadian Jewry,” he adds. “These aren’t the questions I normally focus on as a historian, so bringing together social scientists and community policy and planning leaders is really important.”

The panel of leading researchers of Canadian Jewry features: Robert Brym, S. D. Clark Chair in sociology at the University of Toronto; Daniel Held, York alum and chief program officer at the United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto; Randal Schnoor, author, researcher and lecturer at York University; and Morton Weinfeld, Chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies at McGill University’s department of sociology.

This roundtable discussion will be led by Koffman and introduced by fellow social researcher of Canada’s Jews, York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton.

Koffman says “The Centre for Jewish Studies is very pleased with our current standing as a true centre for meaningful intellectual engagement about Canada-wide Jewish life, literature, scholarship, culture and politics.

“There are some great academic Jewish studies programs in Canada,” he adds. “But I think we’re the only centre that is trying to curate a platform for the whole nation.”

To register for this free virtual event, click here.

Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion launches new REDDI series

Equity, diversity, inclusion

In view of the upcoming launch of York University’s Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) Strategy, the Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion (REI) is offering a curated list of summer REDDI sessions, covering a wide range of topics to ensure University community members are prepared to address systemic inequities.

In furthering the goals of the York University Academic Plan and the DEDI Strategy, the Rights, Equity, Diversity, Decolonization & Inclusion (REDDI) certificate workshop sessions are designed to provide opportunities for community members to learn, reflect upon and discuss ways to contribute to an equitable academic environment. Each session will run for approximately 90 minutes and will be offered virtually, to facilitate the attendance of participants on and off campus.

All students, staff and faculty are invited to attend REDDI workshops running from the beginning of June to mid-August. The series will kick off Pride month with a session on building positive spaces on campus and in the workplace. Sessions on bias, microaggressions, organizational change and employment equity will be offered for those interested in completing a full-length certificate, and the popular mini-series workshops will also be offered, which cover topics including challenging ableism, addressing racism and dialogues across difference. The series also features a new French session on ableism called “Démanteler le capacitisme : Briser les barrières à l’accès et l’inclusion.”

Participants who complete three full-length workshops will receive a REDDI series certificate. The 2023 summer workshops are also an opportunity for participants to attend and add on to their requirements for the REDDI mini-series certificates.

REDDI mini-series workshops also offer certificates of completion. For certificates to be awarded following a mini-series, three mini-series workshops plus one full-length workshop must be attended.

Registration for these workshops is required and can be accessed through the YULearn Learning Opportunities website. To learn more about York’s new DEDI strategy, click here.

Grounds treatments to prevent West Nile disease to start in late May

A mosquito bites a human arm

Between May 20 and Oct. 28, York University will be conducting a larviciding program under the authority of the local medical officer of health, to control larval mosquitoes and prevent their development into vectors of West Nile virus.

The pellet formulation of the larvicide methoprene will be placed into all University catch basins. The granular formulation of the larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis will be applied to selected bodies of surface water, including ditches or ponds, based on the presence of mosquito larvae.

Methoprene and Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis are both registered larvicides that are approved for use by the federal government. All larvicide will be applied by applicators who are licensed by the Ministry of the Environment or supervised technicians. Each larviciding application will be carried out under permit from the Ministry of the Environment.

For more information on the exact location and dates of treatment, contact Professional PCO Services at 416-520-7769. John Leva, manager of Grounds, Fleet & Waste Management, at ext. 33276, can provide more general information about the West Nile control treatments.

EUC professor’s book illustrates ‘power of nature to thrive’

Abandoned red brick building overtaken by plantlife

The Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC) will host a launch event for Associate Professor Jennifer Foster’s latest book, Post-Industrial Urban Greenspace: Ecology, Aesthetics and Justice (2022) on Friday, May 19 at 1 p.m. in HNES 142.

Jennifer Foster close-up portrait
Jennifer Foster

Inspired by “the power of nature to thrive – no matter the conditions – and the impressive ways that communities build restorative and reparative futures in these places,” Foster’s book examines the means through which urban environments become habitats. For the book’s launch, Foster will discuss her work with a guest panel featuring: Sean Kheraj, environmental historian, vice-provost at Toronto Metropolitan University and host of the Nature’s Past podcast; Loren March, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto; and David Miller, former mayor of Toronto and managing director of the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy.

To accommodate all potential viewers, this event will also broadcast via Zoom. To join the broadcast contact Denise McLeod.

In anticipation of the book launch, Foster met with graduate student researcher Danielle Legault to talk about urban habitat creation in old industrial sites, and their social and biological significance.

Q: Can you speak to how this book fits into the longer trajectory of your academic work?

A: My work explores urban habitat creation, including examining contemporary environmental orthodoxies, or received wisdoms about how nature works, in favour of more nuanced interpretations that incorporate concepts like novel ecologies, queer ecologies, anti-colonial ecologies and environmental justice.

Since the mid-2000s, my work has focused specifically on post-industrial urban greenspaces and their evolution in relation to environmental justice concerns. This involves a lot of field work, which I love. I get to explore some of the most fascinating urban spaces – for instance, old factories, dumps, rail lines – and talk to people who care deeply about these places.

This book is about old industrial sites that have been abandoned, or at least left to be without formal management. These sites are not conventionally beautiful, they are typically evaluated as unsafe and their ecologies are scorned as overgrown weeds. Yet, they offer some of the best opportunities for ecologically rich and socially inclusive greenspace. They are life-giving hotpots, nuclei of urban bounty. And they function as alternative public spaces that provide relief from surveillance and other stressors, as well as opportunities for pleasure that diverge from the mainstream.

Q: What drew you to Milwaukee, Paris and Toronto as sites of exploration in your book?

Post-Industrial Urban Greenspace book cover
Post-Industrial Urban Greenspace: Ecology, Aesthetics and Justice (2022) by Jennifer Foster

A: Each of these cities offers insight into possibilities for large-scale old industrial urban spaces, and together they demonstrate that nothing is predetermined. Milwaukee is my mother’s hometown, and it’s a place where people are very proud of their working-class manufacturing roots. It’s also an incredibly beautiful and ecologically rich city. After the industrial core of Milwaukee was devastated in the 1980s and ‘90s, and the large central valley became a putrid no-go zone, a local community health center led the charge in imagining a future for this valley that serves existing residents. Emphasizing the social determinants of health, the valley was cleaned up, made accessible and inviting, and re-industrialized with quality jobs for local residents.

I spent my youth on the edges of Paris, thanks to my father’s job. Paris is glamourous and picturesque, but up to the early 1990s the edges of the city were also heavily industrial. Friends and I loved trespassing to explore the rail line that connected the city’s factories, abattoirs and warehouses. When the trains stopped running along the tracks and the rail company let it all go wild, this 32-kilometer ring became one of the most stunning urban greenspaces. I had to return and get to know it once again.

Anyone who has spent time at Toronto’s Leslie Street Spit knows that it defies description. It is a former construction waste dump, it is a world-class birding site and it is an archive of the buildings and communities that have been destroyed. It is a place of refuge from the city, it is a landscape of astounding biodiversity and it is home for many people. I have been visiting the Spit since I came to Toronto in the mid-1990s and it is my favourite part of the city.

Q: What actionable steps for promoting equitable, sustainable development do you hope readers will discover?

A: Letting go of conventional conceptions of ecology is crucial, as is becoming curious about the incredible beauty and richness of so-called degraded urban lands. I am not a fan of hiding the scars of industrial development or sanitizing industrial legacies, and I hope that we can move away from the habit of “greening over” these spaces through park planning and design. Embracing novel ecosystems, including those comprised of ostensibly exotic or non-native species, allows us to support urban environments that are self-sustaining and richly biodiverse habitats. This means resisting conventional Western aesthetic conceptions of what is beautiful, appropriate and ecologically desirable. Whenever possible, the needs and preferences of marginalized communities must be prioritized, as well as those with historic connections to industrial labour and working-class experiences of these places.

Finally, I hope that we can become more comfortable with the ideas of vacancy and indeterminacy, that urban spaces don’t always have to fit into recognizable categories with functional identities in relation to neoliberal progress. I hope that we can leave these spaces to evolve in unexpected ways, with unplanned uses that respond to the needs of alternative lived experiences.

Q: Having completed this book, how do you see your work moving forward in the future?

A: I will continue exploring the core themes of this book, such as urban political ecology, environmental justice, novel ecologies and habitat creation. But my work going forward will focus even more on ecological repair and restorative urban landscapes. I am particularly interested in prison ecologies, based on the experiences of incarceration of many of my family members and friends. I am inspired by energy and leadership of Indigenous scholars, activists and communities, and plan to do a lot of close listening and thinking about how we invest in anti-colonial futures. Whatever happens, I know that I will be spending a lot of time in messy ecosystems.