Research to Action: Advancing Urban Sustainability 2024

Presented by the UBC Sustainability Scholars Program: A conference on urban sustainability research

What happens when you give bright and engaged students real-world sustainability problems to solve?

UBC Sustainability Scholars are helping to generate real change in the world. Join us to learn more about what our local governments, institutions and NGOs are doing to future-proof our people, our cities, and our urban spaces.

Wednesday, October 2, 1:00 - 5:00 pm PDT, in-person

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This afternoon of engaged discussions will cover a diverse range of applied sustainability projects produced by UBC graduate students in collaboration with partner organizations including the City of Vancouver, Metro Vancouver, BC Hydro, TransLink, local health authorities, local governments, various NGOs, and many others. Following the opening remarks and keynote by Andrea Reimer, this year's Sustainability Scholars will present their projects in concurrent themed panel sessions throughout the afternoon. Panels will be moderated by experts from UBC and Sustainability Scholars Program partners.

This event will be held at UBC in the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), and is free to all. Registration is required.

Guest Speaker

Andrea Reimer

Andrea has been a strong public voice in Vancouver and the metro region for almost two decades, with a focus on working with residents to build green, reconciled, engaged communities and making government easy for the public to access.

Andrea started her public work as a community organizer on issues of social, economic and environmental justice. In 2002 she was elected to the Vancouver School Board, and went on to be elected to three terms on Vancouver City Council. During her decade on City Council, Andrea spearheaded the City’s effort to be the Greenest City on Earth, championed Vancouver’s nationally significant municipal framework for reconciliation with indigenous peoples, catalyzed the City’s digital strategy, grew the largest municipal childcare program in Canada, and transformed public engagement and open government policies.

After retiring from municipal politics in 2018, Andrea was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in recognition of her significant contribution to urban policy and civic leadership. She subsequently was appointed as the first policy practitioner fellow at UBC's School of Public Policy and Global Affairs.

In 2020 Andrea founded Tawâw Strategies, a consulting firm that supports courageous leaders taking bold action on the biggest public policy challenges of our times. She continues to teach about power at UBC's School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and sits on a number of boards ranging from Translink locally and the provincial Climate Solutions Council to her international work with the World Future Council and Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Download PDF copy of agenda

The UBC Vancouver campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.