Past Events

In this webinar, Professor Vianey Leos-Barajas will deconstruct a complete analysis of data, from the scientific question that sparks an idea – to the completion of the analysis, and will  discuss how it can be used for positive change. You will learn to embrace and be open about the subjectivity and biases that are found in all data sets. An environmental data analysis is more than the statistics and mathematics behind it — it’s an opportunity to tell an environmental data story.

Register for this event.

Join us for this Webinar discussion, at which Professor Douglas Macdonald will present the findings from his analysis of all five national energy and climate programs to date, from Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program to Justin Trudeau’s Pan-Canadian Framework. Based on those findings, Professor Macdonald will present his recommendations for how all parts of the country can start moving down the same path of declining emissions without doing unacceptable harm to national unity.

Moderated by Professor Steve Easterbrook, director of the School of the Environment, the discussion will include how that set of recommendations can be implemented in the new context of the current COVID-19 emergency.

Find out more about the book Carbon Province, Hydro Province: The Challenge of Canadian Energy and Climate Federalism.

All are invited to attend, at no charge. To participate, register with Eventbrite.

Professor Douglas Macdonald has written extensively on Canadian climate-change policy. His 2007 book, Business and Environmental Politics in Canada, was awarded by the Canadian Political Science Association the Donald Smiley prize for the “best book published in English or French in the field relating to the study of government and politics in 2007.”

CARING FOR OUR CLIMATE FILM COMPILATION (in partnership with Halton Environmental Network) WATER BE DAMMED.  WORLD PREMIERE | Canada | Documentary | 35 minutes (made in collaboration with School of the Environment and Department of Geography, University of Toronto)

Synopsis: We live on “the blue planet”, abundant with water. Yet, we are now facing a crisis created by decades of mismanagement, unlimited depletion and pollution of the earth’s water bodies, issues accelerated now by climate change. So how did we reach this crisis point?  Our documentary shows that by not following the four pillars of water sustainability – science, economics, governance AND spiritual connections, we have damned one of our most precious resources. Through the lens of the Satluj river in Punjab, India, we trace the story of challenges, hopes and aspirations of water’s will to survive and rejuvenate.  Director:  Vanita Khanna, Writer/Producer Dr. Romila Verma and Prab Kainth FILM FACT: This screening is the World Premiere of the documentary Water Be Dammed. Watch a preview.

SOCKEYE SALMON, RED FISH   Trailer  CANADIAN PREMIERE | Russia | Documentary| 51m

Synopsis: Sockeye, a species of wild salmon, is born in Kamchatkan waters and spends its entire life in the Pacific Ocean. Only once does it return to fresh waters – to give offspring, start the circle of life, and die. It is an inexhaustible resource that feeds billions of people on the planet, restored every year. But soon, we may find ourselves facing the

unimaginable: humans will exhaust the inexhaustible.  Directors: Dmitriy Shpilenok, Vladislav Grishin  FILM FACT: salmon poaching is so dangerous in the Kamchatkan wildlife sanctuary that the filmmaker faced insurmountable delays shooting. Every night, over 700 kilos of sockeye caviar was poached causing filming to shut down for a time.

SHORT FILMS: Traces (Belgium, 12:05, Dir. Sebastien Pins), It Only Takes a Minute (Oakville, 1:35 Dir. Katie Wang & Hayden Chan, Our Plastic Legacy (11:58, Dir. Dave Tourchin), Halton Climate Collective:

Every Action counts (Oakville, 2:50, Dir. Nicholas Wandel), Guardians of the Grasslands (Canada, 12 min, Dir: Sarah Wray and Ben Wilson)

Q&A: with Romila Verma (Writer/Producer Water Be Dammed) and other filmmakers to follow screening.

Order tickets online.

Daegan Miller, Writer and Critic
Co-sponsored by: the JHI Environmental Humanities Network, the Work in Nineteenth-Century Studies, and the Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Toronto.

Christine Till, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, York University, Adjunct Scientist to the Neurosciences and Mental Health Program at SickKids

Mark Jaccard, professor of sustainable energy in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, speaks on how climate-concerned citizens can overcome myths that hinder us from acting in time to prevent extreme climate impacts.

Sarah Finkelstein, Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto

Miriam Diamond, Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto

Kevin Matthew Wong, Artistic Director of Broadleaf Theatre; Toronto-based Theatre Artist, Creator,
Performer, Producer, Musician, and Environmentalist.