Sustainability Solutions Group

Post COP21 Next Steps

17th March 2016/in Public Engagement, Team, Webinar /by Jeremy Murphy

Following the commitment of world leaders to an aspirational limit in global temperature of 1.5 degree increase at the December 2015 COP 21 negotiations (UNFCCC, 2015), it is clear that we need to dramatically change our current development paths if we are to achieve this objective.

What are the next steps for Canadian governments if they are serious about achieving a limit of 1.5 degrees increase and in a time frame that will make a difference for humanity? Are the scholars from Sustainable Canada Dialogues right that we can achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2050 through renewable energy? What kinds of policies and incentives have to be in place to accelerate the pace of change if we are to meet our commitments under COP21? How far does the Vancouver Declaration get us towards 1.5?

What are the Next Steps?
Join us on March 23rd, 10:00am-11:00pm PST or 1:00pm-2:00pm EST, for a wide-ranging conversation on the next steps Canada should take if they are serious about their commitments as a signatory to COP 21.

Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament
Professor Ann Dale, Principle Investigator MC3 research project, Meeting the Climate Change Challenge.
Professor Catherine Potvin, the fearless leader behind the seminal action plan, Acting on Climate Change: Solutions from Canadian scholars.
Yuill Herbert, Director of Sustainability Solutions Group and one of this country’s foremost community climate activists
Professor Leslie King, Co-Researcher MC3 research project, Meeting the Climate Change Challenge.

Click here to join the conversation

What is SSG?

8th March 2016/in Agricultural Planning, Campaigns, Campus Sustainability, Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation Modelling and Planning, Community Planning & Health Planning, Energy & Emissions Modelling and Planning, Green Building & LEED, Natural Infrastructure & Engineering, Neighbourhood Planning and Design, Public Engagement, Team /by Jeremy Murphy

In conversations with new recruits, with potential clients, partners, press, we are often met with confused faces puzzled by our inability to limit SSG and our potential to one area of work, one sector, one job. In a description for UBC from a couple of years ago, Director Yuill Herbert charts our trajectory, why and how we do the work we do, why we compete on the threshold of constant change and innovation. All the while keeping our feet firmly on the ground in being held to account not only by our cooperative members but by the grassroots; the communities we work closely with and for. Meaningful change is nothing without their participation and education around the decisions that ultimately matter to them.

“Our task is to look at the world and see it whole”, EF Schumacher

“SSG was founded in 2001 on the basis that meaningful solutions to critical societal issues needed to overcome the silos and stovepipes that characterise scientific study, design professions and design practice- and we have applied the idea of whole systems to the areas in which we work- building, planning, strategy, research and policy. Our portfolio spans energy planning, water planning, green building, urban design, waste analysis, climate change mitigation and beyond to health planning, adaptation and transportation modelling. Our dedication to this approach is such that we have embedded collaboration in our organisational structure, incorporating as a workers co-operative. Read more

How can environmental practitioners deepen engagement practices to create long-lasting change?

11th February 2016/in Frontpage Article, Public Engagement, Team, Webinar /by Jeremy Murphy

Our next Associate webinar is an exciting and fascinating offering, a voice and perception often absent in the climate change discourse. Please tune in to hear Olive share her brilliant work, and if you can’t make it, you can listen to it online from our webinars page. (Please note this session was rescheduled after last week’s audio problems).

Watch Olive’s presentation here and she invites you to continue the discussion if you wish to contact her.

How can environmental practitioners deepen engagement practices to create long-lasting change within communities and organisations?

Emerging psycho-social research points to the powerful influence of emotional and often unconscious responses to today’s ecological realities.

Associate member Olive Dempsey shares findings from her research that outline:

1. A Framework on the Psychology of Environmental Leadership that identifies a set ofDefensive Practices, Emotional Complications and Core Needs at play among those we seek to engage in pro-environmental change.

2. A set of recommendations for holistic and emotionally Intelligent engagement programs that can be applied across multiple sectors to enhance programs and practices.

CityInSight Energy, Emissions & Finance model: Yuill Herbert & Marcus Williams review the SSG model launched at COP21, Paris

4th January 2016/in Energy & Emissions Modelling and Planning, Frontpage Article, Public Engagement, Team, Webinar /by Jeremy Murphy

A very happy New Year to all of you.

To kickstart 2016, we held a webinar with Yuill from SSG and Marcus from WhatIf Technologies who update us with the launch of CityInSight at COP21 Paris. For those who haven’t been following the development of the model we’ll share the design and application of its use too.

SSG has partnered with whatIf? Technologies, an international leader in simulation modelling, to increase the sophistication, scope and capabilities of GHGProof in a new model – CityInSight. CityInSight also incorporates the Global GHG Protocol for Cities, a GHG accounting framework launched as the new global standard by the World Resources Institute, ICLEI, C40, UN Habitat and others at the UN Conference of the Parties in Lima in 2014.

You can read more about CityInSight here cityinsight.ssg.coop and listen again to our previous webinars.

Pathway to Paris highlights

9th December 2015/in Frontpage Article, Public Engagement, Team /by Jeremy Murphy

Pathway to Paris is a collection of artists, activists, academics, musicians, politicians, innovators who came together to make our voices heard at COP21 in Paris 2015.

To read more about the concert and our work in Paris over the COP, follow this link.

Opening speech by Rebecca Foon, co-Founder of Pathway to Paris and Director at SSG

“The climate crisis calls for courage, compassion & community. It is about peace. It calls for local, national and international solidarity. It asks that we change our lives for the better of the planet and for the collective future of our humanity. Climate change will change everything. This crisis demands that we make peace and sustainability our guiding principles.

We must come together and truly acknowledge how interconnected we all are. We must all add our voices to this urgent call for a just and livable world. The nature of that change is up to all of us – as citizens, consumers, activists, artists, scientists, students, journalists, business people, politicians. This is why we are all here tonight. The time is now.

The UN talks currently taking place need to establish an ambitious and legally binding agreement for our climate and environment. We must move in the direction of 100% clean energy – while evolving more equitable and just societies in the process, rooted in compassion and love for our world.

It is an enormous pleasure to be here with all of you.”

Friday 4th December

Saturday 5th December

(Headline quote attributed to Sandra Steinberger from EcoWatch article)

Plan 4DE webinar II: more detail on SSG’s district energy model for urban planning

13th November 2015/in Energy & Emissions Modelling and Planning, Public Engagement, Team, Webinar /by Jeremy Murphy

Ea Energy Analyses provide expertise in energy modelling and district energy for the Plan 4DE project, a cutting-edge tool for planners, modellers and decision-makers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by optimizing urban form for district energy. In this webinar, they will share the approach they took, the main elements of the model and considerations that are made and then explain the application of the model; the inputs and conditions it requires.

Here is the recording of the session and their presentation

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Jesper Werling (MSc, Energy Technology) is a partner with EA Energy Analyses with expertise in energy system analyses, planning of integrated energy systems, mathematical modelling of energy systems and district and individual heating production and distribution. Jesper’s experience includes a scenarios analysis of district heating for the future Danish energy system, a heat plan for Greater Copenhagen and an energy supply analysis for Copenhagen.

János Hethey (MSc Engineering, Energy) is an expert in the analysis of energy systems, the development and application of energy system models and planning in the district heating sector. He has worked on a variety of projects related to district energy including an analysis of the role of district heating in the future Danish energy system using a scenarios analysis development of a computer tool for economic evaluation of different district heating energy plants, the Nordic Energy Technology Perspectives 2012 for the IEA and Nordic Energy Research and the Blueprint for an energy strategy for Gladsaxe Municipality.

Ea Energy Analyses is a Danish consulting company specialising in energy systems analysis, energy planning, energy related R&D, demonstration of new technologies and international project management in the field of energy. They offer specialist skills in renewable energy and system analyses of the electricity, heat and gas sectors. They are based in Denmark and operate in the Nordic region and abroad with project activities in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.

Associate webinar: Lindsay Cole on Urban Rewilding Strategies

3rd November 2015/in Community Planning & Health Planning, Frontpage Article, Natural Infrastructure & Engineering, Neighbourhood Planning and Design, Public Engagement, Team, Webinar /by Jeremy Murphy

Thank for listening to Lindsay’s inspiring webinar and fruitful discussion after. Here is the recording for those who missed it and her presentation too.

On Wednesday 4th November at 13:00 EDT we have the next in our series of Associate webinars. This time we will be hearing from Lindsay Cole, co Founder of SSG and now Operations Manager with CityStudio Vancouver, with some brilliant work in between (see her bio below). The session will be informal with plenty of discussion about Lindsays approach and work.

Lindsay is a co-founder and former director with SSG, that left to take a position as the Greenest City Planner with the City of Vancouver. Upon completion of that planning and public engagement work, Lindsay moved to the Vancouver Park Board to lead the implementation of the Greenest City plan for that organisation. Her work included scoping and planning “Rewilding Vancouver: an Environmental Education and Stewardship Action Plan” for the Park Board, as well as the initial resourcing and implementation work. She is now the Operations Manager with CityStudio Vancouver, and is still connected to the Rewilding Plan (amongst other) City of Vancouver priorities. She’ll be briefly presenting the Rewilding Strategy, and looks forward to a lively discussion.

Here are some links related to her work at CityStudio Vancouver and her Environmental Education Stewardship Action Plan for City of Vancouver.

Pathway to Paris #18: The virtuous cycle has begun

2nd November 2015/in Campaigns, Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation Modelling and Planning, Community Planning & Health Planning, Energy & Emissions Modelling and Planning, Frontpage Article, Public Engagement, Team /by Jeremy Murphy

About this service | Subscribe to this briefing | Contact the editor

The structure of the UN Climate Talks needs to be redesigned
INDC’s show reduced emissions from energy by 2030
Negotiations in Bonn (#Bonn)
How can Canadian cities achieve a low carbon future
The virtuous cycle has begun
Vote for your Climate Future
High polluting HFC’s
SSG webinars on emission modeling, district energy and rewilding
Featured network: The Coalition Climate 21

“I will if you will”: The structure of the UN Climate Talks needs to be redesigned

The science of cooperation is being ignored in favour of self interest, say University of Cambridge, UK, University of Maryland, U.S, and University of Cologne. Having individual commitments rather that agreed standards, such as setting an agreed global price for carbon, favours a more chaotic and unaccountable structure. Through the nature of peer pressure, states are more likely to aim higher and commit of the onus as shared.

Vote For Your Climate Future 2050

21st October 2015/in Campaigns, Community Planning & Health Planning, Energy & Emissions Modelling and Planning, Public Engagement /by Jeremy Murphy

In the July 2015 Big City Mayors’ Caucus hosted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, mayors from 21 of Canada’s largest cities met to discuss the role that Canadian municipalities must play in climate action coming out of the upcoming COP21 UN Climate Conference in Paris.

The mayors agreed that municipalities across the country need to seize a leadership role and commit to binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more

Upcoming webinars with SSG, associates and partners

16th October 2015/in Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation Modelling and Planning, Community Planning & Health Planning, Energy & Emissions Modelling and Planning, Natural Infrastructure & Engineering, Public Engagement, Team /by Jeremy Murphy

In the autumn crunch, we are a hive activity here at SSG and are keen to share our work and our resources with you.

Here are our latest webinars up to January next year for you to join. We will be taking a break in December whilst at COP21 Paris for the UN Climate Talks.

October

1. We have our monthly Associate webinar on Wednesday 21st October 13:00 EDT, this time with Brennan Vogel on ‘Sub national approaches to climate change adaptation’
You can simply register here

October

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