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Centre for Ecocities

Helping build socially just cities in balance with nature

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June 21st marks National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada

June 21, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

This day, as part of National Indigenous Peoples Month, is a day to commemorate and celebrate the histories, cultures, traditions and contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in Canada. National Indigenous Peoples Day falls on the summer solstice – the longest day of the year and one of historical and cultural value to Indigenous peoples. Beyond the celebration, this day is also to serve as a reminder of the contemporary issues faced by Indigenous communities in Canada, and the need of working towards building a future through reconciliation.

Indigeneity is founded on truth and lessons of the past. It holds a deep appreciation for the land and environment, rooted in traditional knowledge on how to sustain it. Indigenization requires making decisions for generations to come, rather than seeking immediate benefits related to economic growth.

Similarly, sustainability is founded on the principle of meeting the needs of future generations in a way that does not compromise justice and our environment. It encompasses bringing all voices to light and leaving no one behind. To achieve this balance between people and planet, there are many lessons that may be taken from Indigenous culture. Today is just one of the many days that we can honour that privilege.

Historically, Indigenous peoples in Canada have been marginalized and faced with systemic barriers – blocking access to basic needs such as public services and education, to name a few. We acknowledge the role we have to play in altering this reality by means of honouring Indigenous people while preparing learners for success in a complex world.

Join the Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships team at BCIT to honour Indigenous stories, voices and lived experiences.

Filed Under: Indigenous Peoples

World Sustainable Gastronomy Day

June 18, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

June 18th is World Sustainable Gastronomy Day – A day that emphasizes the need to focus the world’s attention on the role that we play in reducing our carbon footprint by closing the Earth’s carrying capacity gap through healthy and sustainable food practices.

The UN originated this day to acknowledge how reducing food waste, increasing plant-based diets, and growing locally can achieve sustainable development by promoting:

  • agricultural development
  • food security
  • nutrition
  • sustainable food production
  • conservation of biodiversity

Nourishing Innovation Logo. BCIT, in partnership with Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver Island University (VIU), and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) launched the Nourishing Innovation: Campus Nutrition and Food Security Contest. This contest was open to all current students at SFU, BCIT, UNBC, and VIU to develop innovative solutions to enable equitable access to nutritious, sustainable, and culturally sensitive food for all students on campus.

Four teams from BCIT have advanced to the next phase of the contest where they will pitch their solutions online June 28th.

  • Fresh Food for All
  • Guardians of Ghrelin
  • Tatti Food Team
  • The Garden Buddies

Check out their video contest entries. The winning solution (or combination of the winning solution plus runner-ups) will be implemented at the partner institutions in Fall 2021.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Food, Greenhouse gas emissions, Waste

Jobs for Getting to Work on a Zero Emissions Future

June 17, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

BCIT Ecological Restoration Students restoring a wetland on the Burnaby Campus.

 

Image of Dr. Jennie Moore.

Dr. Jennie Moore

The Tyee asked Dr. Jennie Moore and other experts the question:

“What are some top jobs we can expect in a net-zero emissions economy in British Columbia and by extension Cascadia?”

They broke their list into three categories:

  • Hands: Technicians and carpenters, people able to roll up their sleeves and unafraid of getting their hands dirty.
  • Heads: Environmental accountants and engineers who can brainstorm non-traditional fuel sources — the numbers people.
  • Hearts: Those with a desire to improve how we live, farm or shop.

What are the key jobs? Read more at the Tyee.

Filed Under: Careers, Cascadia Innovation Corridor, Greenhouse gas emissions

World Green Roof Day 2021

June 7, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

 

Sunday, June 6, 2021 marked the second annual World Green Roof Day – a celebration of green roofs all over the world and the benefit they bring to society and nature.

BCIT has been researching green roof technology since 2002 and has made great strides in realizing its positive impact in relation to sustainability in the built environment. This all takes place at the Centre for Architectural Ecology, where vegetation-growing roofs are tested, demonstrated, taught about, and improved upon. The Elevated Lab is their research base on the Burnaby campus and is used to educate and train the next generation of students and local professionals in leading-edge green roof, living wall, and green façade technologies. Dr. Maureen Connelly shares an overview of her research on architectural acoustics at one of the study sites on the Elevated Lab in the video below.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Biodiversity, Ecological footprint, Green roofs

June 5th – World Environment Day and the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

June 4, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

REIMAGINE. RECREATE. RESTORE.

Join the Centre for Ecocities in celebration of World Environment Day, an initiative brought forth by the United Nations to bring awareness to the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems.

This year’s World Environment Day kicks off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global mission to restore and repair our damaged areas of forest, farmland, ocean and more.

Thanks to the brilliant leadership of Ken Ashley, Director of Rivers Institute, BCIT has been recognized for its exceptional commitment to ecological restoration. The City of Burnaby has awarded BCIT the 2021 Environmental Star award for the campus’ South Wetland Restoration Project. The three day project involved students from the Ecological Restoration programs removing invasive plant species, monitoring groundwater levels and planting native species to build a wetland on the South-end of BCIT’s campus. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Awards, Ecological Restoration

Virtual Forum: Modern Ecocities in the Cascadia Innovation Corridor

May 13, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

As the Cascadia region anticipates welcoming as many as 4 million more people in the coming decades, cities, businesses and post-secondary institutions across the Pacific Northwest are exploring how to work together to build more modern, sustainable communities. Through meaningful partnerships, municipalities, citizens and local industries can create more livable urban spaces and close their sustainability gaps. The Cascadia Corridor has already embarked on shared sustainability endeavours such as the Pacific Coast Collaborative and the Hydrogen Highway. How do we continue to advance partnerships and participation in the development of the future?

The Cascadia Innovation Corridor Community hosted a conversation on developing more sustainable cities and the training and educational tools available to support those efforts, including micro-credentialing on Tuesday, May 18th. Speakers included our Manager of Municipal Programs Cora Hallsworth and Dr. Tom Roemer, Vice President, Academic at BCIT. Cora introduced the concept of modern ecocities and bridge into a discussion among city sustainability leaders, industry and educators from B.C., Washington and Oregon on new approaches and ways to collaborate to achieve shared sustainability goals.

The webinar recording is now available online at: https://youtu.be/HJinI2w8pVQ.

 

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cascadia Innovation Corridor, Ecocities, Sustainability

Webinar: Engaging Stakeholders on Consumption-Based Sustainability Metrics

May 3, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

At the Centre for Ecocities we are focused on helping to create socially just cities that are in balance with nature. Key metrics that we use to help inform this transition are the ecological footprint and ‘consumption-based’ greenhouse gas emissions.

This webinar explored how local governments and their partners can meaningfully engage stakeholders with these important consumption-based sustainability metrics.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Ecological footprint, Greenhouse gas emissions, Sustainability

World Engineering Day

March 3, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

World Engineering Day 2021 Poster.Written by Cameron Ellis, BCIT Technical Writing student.

March 4th, 2021 is World Engineering Day – a recognition of the work done by engineers in a dynamic modern world, and a spotlight on the importance of engineering and technology as part of a sustainable future. This year’s theme is “Engineering for a Healthy Planet – Celebrating the UNESCO Engineering Report”. The event will be celebrating the launch of the 2nd UNESCO Engineering Report, titled “Engineering for Sustainable Development: Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals.” Published 10 years after UNESCO’s 1st Engineering Report, the latest features the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, looking to the future of engineering as it aims to close the sustainability gap through exciting innovation and global cooperation.

Engineering plays a significant role in the goals of the Centre for Ecocities. Engineers are often responsible for the technologies that cities can implement in their sustainability strategies, including green roofs, living walls, smart micro-grid technology. To help rationalize the need for these cutting-edge technologies, the Centre is gathering data with the ecoCity Footprint Tool, piloted in 10 cities throughout British Columbia. When used by city officials, the tool provides an assessment of the ecological footprint of their communities. From there, we can provide recommendations that put the communities on a path to sustainability. The Centre for Ecocities now also has four BCIT engineering students to assist with analysing these sets of data, as well as moving toward urban restructuring tailored to the communities’ needs.

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Ecocities, ecoCity Footprint Tool, Engineering, Green roofs, Living walls, Smart micro-grid technology, Students, Sustainability

Did you miss our Webinar on Embodied Emissions in Buildings?

February 26, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

We have good news – the webinar was recorded and you can watch it on our website.

Stay tuned for future webinars. We will host webinars on: engaging community action, carbon budgeting, understanding the urban metabolism and life cycle assessment.

Filed Under: ecoCity Footprint Tool, Emissions, Life Cycle Assessment, Lighter Footprint App

Webinar: Exploring Buildings’ Embodied Emissions

February 5, 2021 by Christine Pinkham Leave a Comment

Learn more about the importance of Life Cycle Assessment and the embodied emissions of buildings. We will be joined by Jeremy Caradonna from the Province of BC’s Office of Mass Timber Implementation and Patrick Enright, Senior Green Building Engineer at the City of Vancouver. They will discuss the significance of embodied emissions in our buildings, how they are measured and innovative policy responses that any local government can implement.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: ecoCity Footprint Tool, Emissions, Life Cycle Assessment, Lighter Footprint App

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