Educator

The education offered at the University of Toronto is distinguished by the tremendous opportunities available students to study and work with some of the world’s most eminent scholars in a wide range of fields. When it comes to studies related to energy and the environment, as in other fields, our history indicates that our students are eager to take advantage of this opportunity, and there is strong interest in these issues among our student body as a whole.

We see this interest in the pioneering advocacy of the students whose work led to the founding of Pollution Probe in 1971, and in the many students active today in the U of T Environmental Resource Network and in sustainability initiatives across our campuses. U of T students use their education – in and out of the classroom – to make a positive difference in the world. As alumni, they go on to contribute on local, national, and global stages. As a result, the University’s role as ‘educator’ extends beyond our campuses and into the spheres of civil society, industry, and public-policy making.

This page links to a collection of stories and initiatives reflecting the University’s role as an educator in the fields of sustainability, the environment, and climate change . If you have a story or idea you would like to see highlighted here, please contact us at email.utoronto.ca

U of T’s Tiff Macklem discusses findings of expert panel on sustainable finance at event with federal finance minister

Tiff Macklem, dean of U of T’s Rotman School of Management, chaired an expert panel on sustainable finance that made 15 recommendations about the transition to a “climate-smart” economy.

Original article

Three teams awarded U of T’s first-ever sustainability innovation prize

In front of a packed room of their peers, 10 groups of students recently had three minutes each to pitch a new sustainability-focused product or startup with the potential to make a signficant impact.

In the end, three were named winners of the first-ever University of Toronto Sustainability Innovation Prize, a $5,000 award created to recognize, reward and accelerate U of T’s most innovative sustainability ideas.

Original story

EaRTH-focused: U of T-Centennial College partnership to advance cleantech, build ‘vertical farm’

The University of Toronto Scarborough and Centennial College are teaming up to establish the EaRTH District – an initiative aimed at advancing the cleantech sector through research, academic programming and commercialization.

EaRTH, which stands for Environmental and Related Technologies Hub, will be a knowledge and training centre at U of T Scarborough focused on the development of clean technologies.

Among the partnership’s plans: apply innovative technologies to food production in an urban setting through the development of Canada’s first net-zero vertical farm.

Original article

The last straw: U of T ecology expert, students create inventory of plastic litter that collects in the Don River

On a hot and muggy July day, Chelsea Rochman, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto, and a group of students made their way to the mouth of the Don River, armed with gardening gloves, garbage bags and a first aid kit.

Original article

Planning for climate change impact: U of T students roll out designs for a south Florida county

A group of architecture students at the University of Toronto tapped into their creativity, planning and design skills to reimagine new ways southern Florida can tackle climate change-related flooding, rising water levels and salt water entering canals and corroding existing infrastructure.

Original article

U of T symposium tackles carbon markets and climate finance

Looking for creative ways to fund efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, the University of Toronto brought together the financial community, university leaders, local government officials and climate change advocates for an all-day forum on carbon markets and sustainable finance.

Original article