over the past year and a half, the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 sustainability stewardship council (lussc), and its three working groups have developed a 5 year sustainability action plan for the university. this plan has three main sections: academics, operations, and engagement.

in the month of march, the office of sustainability, along with members of lussc, will conduct a number of consultations in thunder bay and orillia. feedback on the plan from 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , faculty, and staff are invited.

draft sustainability action plan 2018-2023

feedback can be made online via the following form, or in person.

the research centre for sustainable communities (rcsc) invites submissions to the sustainable communities workshops to be held saturday, march 24 at lakehead orillia.

the workshops are for the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 community from both campuses, including all faculty and graduate 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 . the rcsc focuses on three core areas: environmental sustainability, political economy and social justice.

environmental sustainability seeks to sustain global life-support systems by securing sufficient quality of natural resources, ecosystems and species diversity in all aspects of the natural and the human or built environment.

political economy refers to examining how political and economic forces taken together affect the development of government legislation and policy.

social justice refers to the belief that communities should be organized to allow for and promote equality, fairness, dignity and solidarity among community members such that all members of the community experience a just and fair society, experiencing equality not just in laws or on paper but also in social outcomes.

sample topics include:

social justice and the media
anti-capitalist and anti-austerity movements
social justice movements against fascism and racism e.g. black lives matter
decolonization movements
gender, feminist, queer, trans and non-binary theories and movements
traditional knowledge and community sustainability
political economy of image and text based media
politics of sustainability and planning
community sustainability
sustainable cities
sustainable urban development
environmental taxes and economic instruments towards sustainability
ecological footprint and/or sustainability measures
biological indicators and water quality
climate change and sustainability
forestry, ecology and sustainability
energy and green space
environmental health
local environmental knowledge and community sustainability
urban communities, sustainable communities and higher education
submissions: abstracts of 250 words should be submitted to dr nanda kanavillil nkanavil@lakeheadu.ca by february 1, 2018. please write ‘workshop proposal’ in the subject line of your email submission. all abstracts must be submitted in word doc or docx format as an e-mail attachment, in the following format: title, author list, 250-word abstract, up to four keywords, and finally a 75-word author bio(s).

dates and deadlines: abstracts must be received by thursday, feb. 1. accepted participants will be notified by thursday, feb. 15.

registration and admission: admission to the workshops is free but registration for both participants and attendees is requested so that we may finalize our program and plan for refreshments. lunch and coffee breaks will be provided.

date:saturday, march 24, 9 am - 5 pm

venue: 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 orillia, 500 university avenue, orillia on l3v 0b9.

organizing committee: nanda kanavallil, rosario turvey, sandra jeppesen, and serajul islam.

attention staff and faculty:

are you interested in strengthening sustainability at lakehead?

阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 is looking to fill two at large positions to act as a representative to the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 sustainability stewardship council (lussc). the term is for two years and the lussc will meet quarterly.

this notice serves as an open call for interest from staff and faculty to fulfill the role as an at large representative to the lussc for the year of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019. self-nominations are welcome.

please email your interest to serve to ledah mckellar, sustainability coordinator: coordinator.sustainability@lakeheadu.ca, by november 1, 2017.

details
sustainability is a diverse, global movement in society, economics, environment, and in higher education. at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 , sustainability is considered in a pluralistic and inclusive way, encompassing human and ecological health, social justice and equity, secure livelihoods, workplace well-being, and leadership for vibrant and resilient communities. 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 aspires to make sustainability a shared priority in all sectors of university life.

the sustainability stewardship council provides a forum for 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , faculty, administration, and community members to create 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s unique sustainability profile by examining key sustainability issues and developing and implementing a sustainability action plan impacting all sectors of the university at its thunder bay and orillia campuses.

thank you very much for your interest in participating in the sustainability stewardship council.

decades-long contamination of the wabigoon-english river system in the kenora area has been an ongoing environmental and medical concern for the nearby first nation communities, but high levels of mercury is an issue that impacts more than any one place, researchers say.

“it’s not just a local area or a local source that’s causing the contamination,” says dr. peggy smith, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s interim vice-provost (aboriginal initiatives) and an associate professor in natural resources management.

“it’s a universal problem.”

the impact of high levels of mercury will be the subject of a roundtable discussion on monday, march 6 as part of lakehead’s research and innovation week activities.

“it’s a persistent issue that we’ve known about since the 1960s,” explains dr. michael rennie, one of the speakers.

“we know there are issues with mercury poisoning — how it’s transported — yet we’re still in a situation where we can look around at different parts of the world, including lake superior, and see that mercury concentrations in fish are still on the rise. what do we need to do about that? should we be concerned and how much should we be concerned?”

rennie, an assistant professor in lakehead’s department of biology, is canada research chair in freshwater ecology and fisheries.

along with rennie, the roundtable speakers are:

• dr. peter lee, director of lakehead’s environmental laboratory and aquatic toxicity research centre. he specializes in wetlands ecology, plant nutrient requirements and aquatic toxicology. he’s been involved in the study of mercury contamination along the seine river.
• dr. brian branfireun, a canada research chair in environment and sustainability, holds posts in biology and earth sciences at london’s western university. he has conducted research at the experimental lakes area and is involved in discussions regarding clean-up of the wabigoon-english river system.
• judy da silva is an environmentalist and member of the grassy narrows first nation.

smith will serve as moderator.

grassy narrows, located 80 kilometres north of kenora, has suffered the effects of airborne emissions of mercury and effluent discharge into the wabigoon-english rivers dating to the 1960s from a dryden paper mill. one study says 90-per-cent of residents there and at nearby whitedog first nation show symptoms of mercury poisoning.

“it’s had bad health effects throughout the community,” da silva says. “we’re being diagnosed with different diseases, all mercury-related.”

she said about half the members of her community are afflicted in some obvious way, with the most extreme cases suffering from dementia, als and parkinson’s.

“the general feeling on the reserve is that of an underlying, slow sadness and hopelessness,” da silva says.

mercury contamination is also an ongoing issue with old iron ore mines, such as the open pits near atikokan, as well as coal-fired power plants. a u.s. study released last fall found mercury contamination is widespread across western north america in the air, soil, lake sediments, plants, fish and wildlife.

 “there is,” rennie says, “a human health issue here that people need to worry about.”

the sustainability roundtable discussion, titled what can we do about mercury in our water?, is set for monday, march 6, from 7-9 p.m., at the thunder bay art gallery.

the public is welcome. 

event information

date: monday, march 6
time: 7 to 9 pm
location: thunder bay art gallery

refreshments will be served at 6:30 pm. 

this event is made possible with generous support from:

aboriginal initiatives, research services, the faculty of science & environmental studies, the faculty of education, the faculty of natural resources management, the faculty of health & behavioural sciences, the faculty of social sciences and humanities, and the thunder bay art gallery.

in the fall 2015/winter 2016, dr. david greenwood (canada research chair in environmental education) and three graduate assistants (leanne bazdarick, muga miyakawa, gemma romano) in the education faculty conducted a research project around the theme of place. the project was funded by the centre for place and sustainability studies via the faculty of education and a sshrc grant. the research began with the three graduate assistants developing an “alternative” campus tour. their work has been inspired by dr. anders sandberg who runs a similar project at york university. this alternative tour engages participants (世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , staff, or faculty) to critically think about how various sites on campus relate to sustainability. it is designed to open space for discussion around how a particular place came to be, the multiple perspectives of that place, and different human and more-than-human experiences and stories of that place. in doing so, it enhances community engagement and encourages people to think critically in the role they play as place-makers.

in considering relationship to place, the research project was taken to a first and fourth-year undergraduate course. both classes were given assignments that explored questions around how the university community engages with the campus as a place, and what meaning the place has to them.

the first year undergraduate class (approx. 30 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 ) from the school of outdoor recreation, parks, and tourism (orpt), visited a site of their choice within campus and were instructed to reflect on their personal relationship to the place using 500 words and a photo. they did this twice to see how their experience changed.

the fourth year undergraduate class (approx.  20 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 ) also from orpt, came up with proposals to engage the student body around place and relationship to place. ideas included a geocaching activity, a database for sustainability events and activities, and a living mural in a high-traffic hallway of the history of lakehead.

the experiences with the two classes are being used to publish an academic paper.

the alternative campus tour is still being developed and will be further funded by the office of the provost and vp academic/office of sustainability. it will be offered as an orientation activity in fall 2016. the project acknowledges that ‘big picture’ sustainability requires a culture shift that goes beyond facts and figures, and rather calls on individuals to reflect on their personal connection to, and impact on, the places they inhabit.