Research - Sustainability

The Research Subcommittee aims to support and bring together sustainability researchers into a community of practice and enhance relevant research initiatives. The Research Subcommittee incorporates aspects of Campus as Living Lab (CLL) which is one of the four cross-cutting themes under CECCS.

Research Subcommittee Goals

To support and bring together sustainability researchers into a community of practice and enhance relevant research initiatives

Membership

Barbara Fallon (Co-Chair), Associate Vice-President, Research, Office of the VP Research & Innovation; Professor, Social Work

Imre Szeman (Co-Chair), Director, Institute for Environment, Conservation & Sustainability, UTSC; Professor, Human Geography 

Gwen Burrows, Assistant Vice-President, International Engagement & Impact; Office of the Vice-President, International

Heather Cunningham, Assistant Director, Research & Innovation Services, Gerstein Science Information Centre

Erica Di Ruggiero, Research Director, SDG@UofT ISI; Associate Professor, DLSPH

Jessica Fields, Vice-Dean, Faculty Affairs, Equity & Success, Office of Vice Principal Academic & Dean, UTSC; Professor, Health & Society

France Gagnon, Vice Principal, Research & Innovation; Professor, DLSPH

Vinita Haroun, Director, Centre for Research & Innovation Support (CRIS)

Ito Peng, Director, Centre for Global Social Policy, FAS; Professor, Sociology

David Sinton, Academic Director, Climate Positive Energy ISI; Professor, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, FASE

Matti Siemiatycki, Director, Infrastructure Institute, School of Cities; Professor, Geography & Planning

Michael Widener, Chair & Professor, Geography & Planning

Project Manager: Ayako Ariga

Examples of Sustainability-Focused Activities at U of T

Sustainability research is springing up across the University in a variety of exciting and innovative ways. Below are just a few examples.

Sustainability-Related Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISIs)

Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISIs) are large-scale, cross-divisional, and interdisciplinary initiatives that tackle society’s grand challenges such as climate change, inequality, or infectious diseases. Created in 2019, the ISI office coordinates resources and streamlines the process of building, growing, and maintaining collaborations across disciplines and sectors. It supports U of T’s capacity to launch, grow, and sustain innovative strategic research initiatives. The ISI office is housed within the Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation at the University of Toronto. Working across faculties and with affiliated hospitals, VPRI is the administrative support hub for U of T’s research and innovation activities, helping researchers at every stage by providing advice and resources. There are over twenty initiatives under the ISI portfolio, with three focused particularly on sustainability: Climate Positive Energy, Mobility Network, and Sustainable Development Goals @ U of T.

The Climate Positive Energy ISI focuses on mitigating and adapting to climate change through re-envisioning energy systems and facilitating equitable transitions to sustainable energy.
It links researchers developing social, scientific, technical, economic, and policy solutions around a common goal – supporting Canada and the world in achieving net-negative carbon emissions by 2050 while mitigating inequities in access to energy and the consequences of production.

The Mobility Network ISI is a multidisciplinary, collaborative, and diverse network of mobility and transportation researchers that connects the U of T’s exceptional strengths in data sciences, engineering, and social sciences to address the technological, social, environmental, and health disruptions facing society globally. It provides the evidence and decision-support needed for effective and lasting societal change, having profound implications for individual well-being, resiliency, sustainable and just urban growth, and prosperity.

The Sustainable Development Goals @ U of T ISI aims at producing a vision for advancing the UN SDGs at U of T, centered around peace and prosperity for people and the planet. It will build on existing research initiatives and will form new interdisciplinary and global partnerships.

Urban Action Climate Project

Like many cities that have declared a climate emergency, Toronto has accelerated its targets to significantly cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while also addressing the impacts of climate change. These commitments are articulated in the City’s climate action strategy: TransformTO, which was unanimously approved by City Council in July 2017, and has been updated several times since then. The plan includes a set of long-term, low-carbon goals and strategies to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions and improve health, grow the economy, and improve social equity.

Achieving these targets will require “transformational changes in how we live, work, commute, and build” (TransformTO, 2019) and a Herculean effort across the wide array of sectors, industries and levels of government that shape Toronto’s urban environment.

The Urban Climate Action Project (UCAP) brings the expertise and capacities of the University of Toronto to the table by developing a university/city partnership to tackle challenges of implementing TransformTO.

Through partnerships, transdisciplinary knowledge co-production, and a connected communities approach, UCAP is working to advance equity, social justice, climate action and sustainability. Learn more about UCAP projects and activities here.

Institutes for Resilient and Inclusive Societies and Ecosystems (iRISE)

iRISE is a hub for Convergent Research Aimed at Solving our World’s Most Wicked Problems. The challenges of the current climate crisis, the health of our planet, the health and well-being of individuals and societies, and the inclusiveness and sustainability of local and global economies are all intertwined to an unprecedented extent. The solution to these challenges is rarely linear (the preferred path of many) nor without unrealized twists and turns associated with living in an unprecedented time. iRISE provides organizational, human, and financial resources for convergence research that is needed to address these interdependent challenges. This convergence research cannot be accomplished through existing departmental structures.

iRISE and its member institutes and programs provide support for research and innovation at U of T Scarborough and beyond: facilitating internal and external collaborative research partnerships; identifying and pursuing research funding opportunities; fostering entrepreneurship and commercialization of scholarly endeavours; and heightening the visibility of the accomplishments of U of T Scarborough scholars.

iRISE will help create new narratives of our future and the realization of socially-just and -equitable transitions towards that future.

The founding institutes and initiatives are:

The Centre for Sustainable Health Systems

Launched in September 2019, the Centre for Sustainable Health Systems is based within the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. The Centre leverages the expertise and partnerships of one of the largest and most established academic units for health services, systems and policy research and training in North America.

Since its launch, the Centre has expanded its impact, including through research, education and support for practice change. Of note, the Centre helped to initiate – and serves as Secretariat for – Sustainable Health System Community of Practice. Launched in September 2020, the Community of Practice unites 14 academic hospitals and seven health science faculties at the University of Toronto in pursuit of high quality, low carbon and equitable care.

University of Toronto Research Expertise

Clean Tech University of Toronto Research Expertise (Updated February 2022)

Sustainability University of Toronto Research Expertise (Updated February 2022)

Updates to the above documents should be directed to: colin.swift@utoronto.ca