茄子直播

茄子直播 brings city together for Toronto Sustainability Summit

鈥淭he university is a critical partner鈥
photo of panel
Panelists at the summit included (from left to right) city of Toronto's chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat, 茄子直播's John Robinson and Sara Hughes, Waterfront Toronto's William Fleissig and Ron Swail from university operations (all photos by Johnny Guatto)

As Toronto continues to grow, so does its carbon footprint.

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As part of 茄子直播's commitment to taking action on climate change, the university brought together 茄子直播鈥檚 green experts, government leaders and the city鈥檚 sustainability champions today for a summit that explored opportunities for collaboration and partnership, and highlighted the work 茄子直播 is already leading.

Guests included Glen Murray, Ontario minister of environment and climate change, Andrew Bowerbank, global director of sustainable building services at construction company EllisDon, Jennifer Keesmaat, the city of Toronto鈥檚 chief planner, and John Robinson, the university鈥檚 first-ever presidential adviser on the environment, climate change and sustainability. They were joined by leaders from some of the successful sustainability-focused startups that have come out of 茄子直播, such as green technology company Nanoleaf

鈥淭he University of Toronto is a global leader in research and innovation in fields related to climate change and sustainability, energy, environment, clean tech, biofuels and environmental policy, and law, just to name a few fields,鈥 茄子直播 President Meric Gertler told the full house at the MaRS Discovery District.

Keesmaat, who moderated a panel called Green City, Green Campus, agreed.

鈥淲hen we bring policies forward to City Council, we need to make an argument. We need data and evidence. We need analytics to ensure we are defining problems in a way that is based on a sound logic,鈥 said Keesmaat. 鈥淭he university is a critical partner in these kinds of projects.鈥

photo of Keesmat
The city of Toronto's Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat moderated a panel at 茄子直播's Sustainability Summit, titled Green City, Green Campus

The university is contributing to a number of sustainability projects around the city, including Waterfront Toronto鈥檚 large-scale development.

President Gertler鈥檚 appointment to the board of Waterfront Toronto brings the expertise of 鈥渙ne of the world's leading scholars around this idea of urban clusters and creating economic opportunity鈥 to the waterfront, as well as the university鈥檚 wealth of resources, said Waterfront Toronto CEO William Fleissig.

鈥淚t's just wonderful to have that kind of a partnership of opportunity and to have not only the mental acuity but also the intention,鈥 he said.

Robinson is among faculty members who are working with the city on a large-scale engagement strategy, with plans to reach out to communities across the city on climate change issues.

鈥淭he world is changing, and the university has a real responsibility and opportunity to deeply engage with that process of societal transformation,鈥 said Robinson. 鈥淲e're not talking about incremental change but transformative change, and the university can play a crucial role because we have characteristics unique to us.鈥

The biggest contribution 茄子直播 can make is its students, he said.

鈥淭hey are the most engaged, the most interested. They're already often the most creative. We have an opportunity to take our students and attach them to everything we do across the campus,鈥 said Robinson.

Sustainability can be applied to all aspects of the university, he said.

鈥淪ustainability is not a subject area we want to build at 茄子直播. Sustainability is a stance 鈥 it's a way of being in the world,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淚t permeates every single faculty, every single department. There is no component to the academic and operational side of the university that does not relate to sustainability.鈥

Through its own on-campus green building initiatives, 茄子直播 has seen the real, tangible impacts of change, said Ron Swail, 茄子直播鈥檚 chief operations officer of property services and sustainability.

鈥淥ver the last 10 years, we've been able to reduce the university's environmental footprint by over 50,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas and save the university approximately $40 million in utilities,鈥 Swail said.

And 茄子直播 is taking its commitment to sustainability to the neighbourhoods surrounding the downtown Toronto campus through ambitious initiatives like the laneway housing project, Swail said.

photo of President Gertler at lectern
茄子直播 President Meric Gertler told summit participants that 茄子直播 is a global leader in research and innovation in fields related to sustainability

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