York Task Force on Sustainability Research to host open forums

Jennifer Foster, chair of the York Task Force on Sustainability Research, will be leading open forum discussions to launch the consultation process on the draft report of the task force. The draft report of the Task Force on Sustainability Research highlights the suggestions and recommendations for the continued development of structures to support, integrate, cultivate […]

VPRI to sponsor task force on public engagement and sustainability research

The Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation (VPRI) will sponsor a task force during the 2014-15 academic year to examine options and develop ideas for highlighting and further building York University’s research strengths in the broad area of sustainability within "Public Engagement for a Just and Sustainable World" – one of the opportunity areas […]

York Senate approves the University's new strategic research plan

After eight months of consultation with the community, as well as internal and external research partners, the York Senate has unanimously approved the University’s new strategic research plan, "Building on Strength". “York’s new strategic research plan commits to building research on our strengths and provides a strong aspirational vision for the development and recognition of York’s […]

Get a jump on planet-friendly events with Sustainability at York

With Earth Hour and Earth Day on the horizon, York University is getting a jump on planet-friendly events by launching new sustainability initiatives. Sustainability at York has a new website and there are two new programs, the Sustainability Ambassadors Program and the Green Office Program. “I am proud that York University continues to implement initiatives that […]

Panel to examine peace-building and the environment in the Middle East

Is peace-building through environmental cooperation possible in the Middle East? Panellists will discuss this next week at an Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) Speakers’ Series event. The Environmental Cooperation and Israel-Palestinian Peace event will take place March 15 at 1pm at 280A York Lanes, Keele campus. Environmental cooperation has been much-lauded as […]

Researchers, presenters to explore how artists can reduce their carbon footprints April 20-22

Artists of all stripes from around the world are reducing their carbon footprint in creative ways. Many prominent ones – including the Cirque de Soleil’s Gil Favreau – are coming to York this month to share how at a conference on sustainability and the arts. Hosted by York’s Faculty of Fine Arts, Staging Sustainability: Arts, […]

Countdown to Earth Hour: IRIS' Old to Gold fashion show highlights sustainability

York University students, faculty and staff are getting a jump on Earth Hour 2011 with Earth Hour, Every Hour, a special event tomorrow evening, March 16, from 4:30 to 9pm in the Winters College Master's dining hall. Hosted by the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) in collaboration with the Ecologically Conscious Organization and Schulich […]

Work in a Warming World project to host discussion panel on green jobs January 20

‘Green jobs’ have been increasingly touted as the solution to job loss and environmental crisis. Will Canada transition to a cleaner economy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and employs a new generation of workers? Are green jobs the only link between environmental policy and employment policy? Defining green jobs raises further questions. What is a […]

Annual IRIS sustainability survey to examine volunteerism and engagement

Every year, graduate assistants working with the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) do a campus survey on a sustainability theme. The first survey in 2006, asked students what they knew about climate change and resulted in more environmentally friendly course kits (see YFile, April 2, 2008); the second assessed the value of urban […]

Professor Lewis Molot on why Canadian phosphorus ban will help our lakes

Excessive phosphorus dumps have become a major problem for Canada’s waterways, says Professor Lewis Molot, an environmental scientist in York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, wrote the National Post Jan. 6 in a story about a little-known move by the federal government banning the substance: The federal government brought in new regulations last July effectively […]