U of T Professor John Robinson retires, leaving a legacy of optimism in sustainability
“Don’t lead with climate.”
It sounds surprising to hear from a sustainability expert, but after more than four decades in the field, it’s a guiding principle for John Robinson.
“The way we engage average people on issues that matter to them, like climate change, is not working,” says Robinson, a University of Toronto professor in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and the School of Environment. “We need to rethink an approach that offers a much greater degree of political support and behavioural change.”
“We don’t need to tell more tales of gloom and doom. We need to start focusing on issues people care about and the positive actions that can be done to steer things in a more sustainable direction, in the hope that they become irresistible.”
Defiant optimism is among the many lessons Robinson will carry with him into retirement, set for July 1, 2026. His teaching career ends where it first began – at U of T, where he earned both his BA and PhD.
As professor emeritus, Robinson will continue supervising his graduate students, and conducting research, including work with East Scarborough Storefront, a community hub that led to his “don’t lead with climate” breakthrough.
Visionary Communities: From ideas to action
“My work with ESS has been transformational,” he says. “I’ve spent decades doing participatory research projects but never at this level of depth and in this kind of way.”
The project – called Visionary Communities – is a collaborative effort between academics like Robinson, the ESS and residents in the Kingston Galloway-Orton Park neighbourhood.
Visionary Communities asks the community to decide for itself the kinds of solutions and improvements they want for their future. The researchers then help make the connection to climate action.
“This project is an attempt to undertake a form of research that is not common in the university, but it’s increasingly being called for,” says Robinson. “We engage with residents in a way that broadens the focus from climate to sustainability because that resonates more with the issues they care about and the world they live in. Important issues like tenant’s rights, food security and accessible transportation are all climate-related issues, even if they’re not immediately perceived as such by residents.”
From UBC to U of T
Visionary Communities is among many high points of Robinson’s career. Others include more than 20 years at the University of British Columbia, where he served as associate provost, sustainability, and was instrumental in the establishment of the UBC Sustainability Initiative (now the UBC Sustainability Hub) and the construction of the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), designed to be the most sustainable building in North America.
In 2016, Robinson returned to U of T where he was appointed presidential advisor on the environment, climate change, and sustainability – another career milestone. The inaugural role included co-chairing the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability (CECCS), a group of faculty, staff and students tasked with overseeing the university’s sustainability enterprise. Robinson served as co-chair until earlier this year.
“The committee and the work of the secretariat team was the springboard to where U of T is now,” says Robinson. “We would not have been on any list of leading universities in sustainability when I came back to U of T. But taking a whole institution approach, and by integrating the research and teaching mission of the university with its operations, we’ve come a long way.”
Since the formation of CECCS in 2017, U of T has been named the most sustainable university in the world, in 2024 and 2025. The university has ranked in the top two spots for the last four years in a row by the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability.
Aiming for the impossible
As Robinson readies for his next chapter, so too does U of T and CECCS.
The university turns 200 next year and as it enters its third century, CECCS will seek to renew U of T’s sustainability goals and make recommendations to advance the institution’s sustainability leadership even further.
Robinson believes lofty ambition is the key to the university’s success.
“I’m not a big fan of possible targets,” he says. “I think U of T’s goals should always be impossible because we’ll get farther that way.”
The future of sustainability in higher education
Robinson believes the universities with the strongest sustainability agendas, now and in the future, are the ones that stay focused on one overarching question: how can they best contribute to a fundamental transformation of society?
“Universities like U of T are trying to change the world. We can’t create this fundamental change, but we certainly can contribute to it,” Robinson explains. “So, I believe this must be the question U of T answers going forward.”
As Canada’s flagship university, it’s a question that U of T – more than any other university in the country – is best primed to answer, according to Liat Margolis, an associate professor in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, who replaced Robinson as CECCS co-chair.
“Thanks to John, the committee, and the entire U of T community, we’re building on a decade of progress to enter the university’s next century with the vision, drive and momentum necessary to help co-create a more sustainable future,” she says. “CECCS and its members are ready to help the university deepen and expand its role as a model institution for sustainability excellence in higher education and to make an even greater impact in Toronto, across Canada, and around the world.”
The next generation
Besides CECCS, Robinson’s legacy also includes the thousands of students he taught or supervised, countless community projects he helped bring to life, and an impressive academic track record (including more than 100 publications).
Several months ago, he taught his last class and was met with applause (and cake) from his students.
“Today’s students are agents of change,” he says. “They’re more engaged than generations ever before on global issues, and they all want jobs that will allow them to make a meaningful contribution to the world. I think that holds great hope.”
Stepping into retirement
For such a visionary, it’s unexpected Robinson never imagined he would have had the career he’s had. The son of a judge, he had initially conceived of a career in law.
“I’m not a big fan of planning life. I think life kind of happens and it takes you places you don’t expect,” he says. “And that’s a great thing.”
As for what Robinson expects in retirement, he looks forward to spending more time with his family, which includes his wife, five sons and four grandchildren.