The University & the Ecological Crisis: York U. Forum on Environmental Studies in a Changing Ontario
How Can Universities Help Put the Environment Back on the Public Agenda?

TORONTO, March 3, 2000 -- Despite increased global warming and deteriorating air and water quality -- evidenced by Ontario's milder-than-normal winters, chronic summer smog and bouts of foul drinking water -- environmentalists say governments have failed to properly fund or identify environmental priorities.

The Environmental Studies Association of Canada (ESAC), with the support of York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies, wants to change that. In aid of that objective, organizers are holding a one-day conference Sat., March 4, 2000, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., at York University that will focus on how to put the environment back on the public agenda, and how academics and students can help make that happen. The conference will be held in the Senate Chamber, 9th floor (North), Ross Building, York University, 4700 Keele Street.

The conference, entitled The University and the Ecological Crisis: A Forum on Environmental Studies in a Changing Ontario, will provide an opportunity for networking and information-sharing among environmental scholars and activists from across Ontario, and to discuss the past, present, and future of environmental studies in Ontario, especially in relation to changing public perceptions of the importance of environmental concerns.

York Faculty of Environmental Studies Dean Peter Victor, Prof. David Bell, Director of York's Centre for Applied Sustainability, ESAC President and York Environmental Studies Prof. Adrian Ivakhiv, and Rosalie Bertell of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health will be among the speakers at the event. A full agenda, including speakers, is attached.

-30-

Further information and conference updates can be obtained by visiting: http://www.yorku.ca/esac/forum1.htm, or contacting one of the people below:

Prof. Adrian Ivakhiv
President, ESAC/ACŠE
York University
(416) 736-2100 ext. 22625/(416) 248-4189
ai@yorku.ca

Sherilyn MacGregor
Liaison,ESAC/ACŠE
York University
(416) 653-2697
shermac@yorku.ca

Ken Turriff
Media Relations Officer
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/024/00

---

The University and the Ecological Crisis:
A Forum on Environmental Studies in a Changing Ontario

Saturday, March 4, 2000, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Senate Chamber, 9th floor (North), Ross Building, York University, Toronto

9:30 a.m. Opening/Welcome

Adrian Ivakhiv, ESAC President

Peter Victor, Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York

9:40 -10.20 a.m. Plenary: Environmental Studies -- a Historical Perspective
Where have we come from? How has environmental studies developed as a response to changing social and institutional environments?

Robert Paehlke, Environmental and Resource Studies, Trent University

Gerald Carrothers, Environmental Studies, York University

10.30 -12.30 p.m. Roundtable: Comparing Notes
Where are we now? What are the challenges faced today by environmental studies programs and how are we meeting them?

Representatives of Environmental Studies programs at universities across Ontario

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break

1:30 - 2.45 p.m. Roundtable: Environmental Scholarship & Public Culture
What is the responsibility of scholars to address public issues? What should we be doing?

Rosalie Bertell, International Institute of Concern for Public Health

Margrit Eichler, Director, Inst. of Women's & Gender Studies, University of Toronto

Robert Gibson, Editor, Alternatives Journal, University of Waterloo

3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Roundtable, Small Group Discussions & Closing Plenary: Putting the Environment Back on the Agenda
What can we do and how will we do it?

Lois Corbett, Toronto Environmental Alliance

Andrea Calver, Ontario Coalition for Social Justice

David V. J. Bell, York Centre for Applied Sustainability

Karen Kraft Sloan, MP, York North