Research

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

Faculty Alumni Student Staff

NameAffiliationType
Fiona Miller (Chair)Professor, Chair in Health Management Strategies, and Connaught Scholar, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health; Director, CASCADES – Creating a Sustainable Canadian Health System in a Climate Crisis; Director, Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health & Sustainable CareFaculty
Aimy Bazylak Associate Professor, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering Faculty
Amanda Harvey-SánchezPhD Candidate, Anthropology Graduate Student
Tenley ConwayProfessor, Department of Geography, Geomatics & Environment, UTMFaculty
Erica Di RuggieroDirector of the Centre for Global Health, Dalla Lana School of Public HealthFaculty
Irena Creed Professor, Department of Physical & Environmental Services, UTSC and Associate Vice President, Research and Innovation, UTSC Faculty
Kenneth S. Corts Professor and Vice-Dean, Research, Strategy, and Resources, Marcel Desautels Chair in Entrepreneurship, Rotman School of ManagementFaculty
Barbara Fallon Associate Vice-President, Research in the Division of the Vice-President Research and Innovation; Professor, Social Work Faculty
Vinita Haroun Director, Centre for Research Innovation and Support Staff
Kent Moore Professor, Department Chemical and Physical Sciences, UTM and Associate Vice-Principal, Research & Innovation, UTM Faculty

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)

SDGs at ISI logo
Mobility Network logo
Climate Positive Energy logo

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

UCAP logo

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