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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
‘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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
It's not enough to plant trees in exchange for carbon emissions in the fight to mitigate climate change, say York environmental studies Professor Anders Sandberg and York environmental studies master’s student Tor Sandberg in their new co-edited book Climate Change – Who’s Carrying the Burden?: The Chilly Climates of the Global Environmental Dilemma. Nor is […]
Originally the site of some of York’s most memorable hockey moments and reputed to have the best arena ice in the province, the former York University Ice Arena, known as the Ice Palace, is now home to a new kind of dream team. The Keele campus building's transformation from a hockey rink into an innovative new health science research centre […]
York University President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri is welcoming back students for another academic year a little differently than usual. This year, the president is providing an update through a new video on issues and initiatives that affect the entire York community: In the high-definition video, also available on the Office of the President website […]
Today, the shared experiences of those working in education and climate change is the central theme of a one-day symposium taking place at York University. Organized by the Faculty of Education, the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair for Reorienting Teacher Education Towards Sustainability, […]
Bee expert urges public to create bee-friendly gardens in their yards Breakfast may be toast if we don’t take action to save the bees, according to York biology Professor and bee expert Laurence Packer. “Consider breakfast. Eggs, maybe a slice of watermelon, toast with butter and jam, and a cup of coffee with a dash of […]
Peter Victor, an ecological economist who teaches at York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, rejects the idea that economic growth is essential to progress, wrote BC’s Grand Forks Gazette May 19 in an article about replacing the growth economy with a more sustainable model: To prove his point he created a computer model that duplicated […]
The York Research Tower, which was recently celebrated for the added research capacity it has brought to the Keele campus, is also a model of sustainability. The tower is the only building on campus to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification. The internationally recognized green building certification system provides third-party verification that […]
The morning serenades of nature in New Brunswick have quieted down over the years and a declining songbird population is to blame, according to a conservation biologist, wrote the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal May 14: “Both at the provincial level, and even at the national level, you have dozens of species of songbirds that are in […]
Peter Victor, a professor in York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, was featured in the Hamilton Mountain News April 22. His recent book, Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster, argues economic growth hurts the environment and has not eliminated poverty or provided full employment: “We need a new measure of success,” said Victor, […]
The South Simcoe Green Economy Transition Centre officially launched Mar. 26 in Bond Head, ON. The centre will include up-to-date virtual databases on best practices for reducing energy costs, education and training opportunities through online programs and videoconferencing, and access to government grants. York University announced its involvement, along with partner organizations Nottawasaga Futures and […]