UCalgary co-hosts finale of Universities Canada's climate initiative

Three years of active dialogue on sustainability and how universities can drive change about climate issues was marked by the Building Resilient Futures event.

Held on March 4-5, and simultaneously hosted at the University of Calgary and McGill University, this was a unique event co-sponsored by Universities Canada and the Sustainability in Higher Education Across Canada Network (SHEAC), in association with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Canada (SDSN).

“The event was about generating transdisciplinary climate action toward resilient and regenerative futures,” says Dr. Teri Balser, PhD, professor in the Faculty of Science, co-ordinator of SHEAC, and academic co-lead (sustainability) for the Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship (ITS).

“We want to leverage the collective power of universities in supporting sustainability for the communities around us,” says Balser.

UCalgary was chosen as the Western Canada venue for the event because of Balser’s association with SHEAC, ITS and SDSN.

The event convened individuals from diverse backgrounds including UCalgary faculty and staff, representation from 20 post-secondary institutions across Canada, and community organizations including Sustainable Campus Collective and more. 

Participants worked on different thematic teams: teaching and learning that creates action; community engagement that builds partnerships; and university governance that fosters agility and innovation, with the goal of developing scenarios and action plans for Canadian universities to drive change. 

Building Resilient Futures was a culmination of the three-year climate initiative initiated by Universities Canada. The goal of what the organization describes as a working conference was to produce a set of recommendations and a vision to be compiled into a final report to be circulated across Canada. The report will be released at a later date.

To end the conference, local hip hop artist ZHE the Free performed pieces she wrote after attending the event and listening to conversations all day, inspiring participants to use their voice and command action for sustainable and resilient futures.