Rethink: Planning for an Uncertain Future Student Symposium

The SCARP Student Symposium is a student organized networking event to foster strong academic/practitioner interactions. The symposium is designed to gather students, professors, alumni, potential employers as well as distinguished guests around a current topic in community and regional planning of SCARP students choosing.

This year the single day event will be themed around the work of two well-known academics and planning practitioners who are retiring after many years of teaching. Professor William Rees’ and Anthony Dorcey’s community work and academic contributions to the field of sustainability planning are the inspiration behind this year’s symposium. The panels, workshops and interactive seminars will integrate industrial partners and students. William Rees and Anthony Dorcey will provide inspiration as our morning keynotes, panels and workshops are scheduled throughout the day and Richard Heinberg will give a keynote address during lunch.  Read about the interactive workshops and panels scheduled for the day-long event at http://scarpsymposium.ca.

Bridging the Gap Between Science and Policy with Film – Mark Terry

When: Thursday, Feb. 2nd, 1:00 – 2:30 pm

Where: Forest Sciences Centre 1003

What: TerreWEB Seminar Series – Spring 2012 Theme: Perspectives on Challenges for Effective Communication of Science and Global Change

Who: Documentary filmmaker Mark Terry has been producing award-winning films in Canada for more than 20 years. An International Fellow member of The Explorers Club, Mark has travelled the world for his films, achieving the rare feat of setting foot on all seven continents.

His recent work bringing climate research from the polar regions to the United Nations and its environmental policy-makers has been recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television when he was given the Gemini Humanitarian Award in 2011. The David Suzuki Foundation also named him a Community Leader.

Climate Change Adaptation and the Energy-Water Nexus – Deborah Harford

When: January 26th, 1:00 – 2:30 pm

Where: Forest Sciences Centre 1003

What:  TerreWEB Seminar Series – Spring 2012 Theme: Perspectives on Challenges for Effective Communication of Science and Global Change Location

Who: As executive director of ACT, the Adaptation to Climate Change Team at SFU, Deborah Harford is responsible for development of the initiative’s vision and its partnerships with the public and private sectors, as well as coordination and management of the program. She also directs and produces ACT’s policy recommendations for adaptation strategies at all levels of government, as well as communication of the program’s outcomes.  Deborah’s work with ACT has gained her national recognition as a resource for those seeking information on climate change adaptation and practical coping strategies.

APSC 364 – Applied Sustainability: UBC as a living lab

Date and Location: Tue, January 24,  3:30 PM – 5:00 PM in McMillan 166

Free. Take a seat and engage with UBC staff members, scholars, residents and students as they discuss the “how,” the “what,” and the “why” of making UBC a positive agent of change for sustainability. The pilot course APSC 364–Applied Sustainability: UBC as a Living Lab welcomes the public to attend as UBC staff members and scholars present and discuss sustainability themes relevant to UBC. The objective of the course is to integrate teaching, learning, and research on sustainability to inform and contribute to long-term strategy development at UBC. Using the campus as a unit of study, this course will explore UBC as a living lab where ideas may be incubated, tested, and realized. Lectures will run on selected Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 – 5:00pm in McMillan 166 beginning January 17th, 2012. All students, staff, faculty, UBC residents and the general public are warmly welcomed! No pre-registration required.

Limit Climate Change and Stay Healthy – Kirsten Zickfeld and Erica Frank

  • When: January 25th, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
  • Where: Rm C130, UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson Street
  • Organizer: Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
  • Details: Join us for a discussion on the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on climate, how long these effects will persist, and what needs to be done to limit global warming to safe levels. Learn how to reduce climate change and become healthier by doing so, and hear about the world’s first (cost, barrier, advertisement, and carbon) free university (NextGenU.org), and its training on climate change and health.
  • Register: www.limitclimatechange.eventbrite.ca (Free of charge and open to public)

Movie Night: Who Killed the Electric Car?

Wednesday, January 11th, at 4:30pm  in CHBE 202

FREE

“In 1996, electric  cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust, and ran without gasoline. Ten years later, these cars were destroyed. ”

Come on out Wednesday night to watch this fascinating and award- winning documentary exploring the creation and subsequent destruction of electric vehicles as well as the role of sustainable living in the future.

A follow-up to “Who Killed the Electric Car?”

The Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association is presenting the
Vancouver premier of “Revenge of the Electric Car”. Director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars.

WHERE
International Village Cinemas
(Tinseltown)
88 West Pender
Vancouver BC

WHEN
Thursday, Jan.12th, 2012 (the day after sustainability club’s showing of “Who killed the electric car”)
6:30pm

The movie begins at 6:30, to be followed by a 30min speaker panel. Some
electric vehicles will also be on display.

Tickets are $12. Purchase in advance here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/216294

Homo sapiens: Repeat Offender A presentation by Ronald Wright

Part of the Biodiversity Lecture Series

Monday December 5th 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the Woodward Library

FREE. The history of civilization has seen the growth of humankind at the expense of other species, especially in recent centuries. Yet our civilization depends on the health and diversity of eco-systems and of the Earth itself. Ronald Wright will discuss this predicament, our sorry record, and prospects for reform.

Ronald Wright is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and historian. His nine books include the bestseller Stolen Continents, winner of the Gordon Montador Award and chosen as a book of the year by the Independent and the Sunday Times. His first novel, A Scientific Romance, won the 1997 David Higham Prize for Fiction and was chosen a book of the year by the Globe and Mail, the Sunday Times, and the New York Times.

Sustainable Cities: a question of culture?

Wednesday November 30th 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm at University Center building Room 106

Free & Open to the public

Sponsored by the Office of Research Services, the Research Tea Break Speaker Series is a showcase of the many types of research occurring on campus. Speakers in this series provide a half-hour presentation of their research, followed by an interactive discussion between the speaker and the audience.

This series continues in November with a talk by Bernard Momer, associate professor of geography, giving his talk Sustainable cities: a question of culture? This talk will begin with a brief journey through the evolution of cities in the Western World followed by a discussion examining the links between planning, sustainability and culture.

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