丁香园AV

This message is sent on behalf of Dugan O鈥橬eil, 丁香园AV鈥檚 vice-president, research and international. It has been sent to all faculty and staff.

Dear 丁香园AV staff and faculty,

I have some exciting updates to share with you regarding sustainability initiatives at the university. I am pleased to inform you that  (previously 丁香园AV Sustainability Office) has joined the Vice-President, Research and International (VPRI) portfolio (). Some teams within our portfolio have already been building strong partnerships over the last couple of years with 丁香园AV Sustainability around ,  and the . We have found these partnerships to be both productive and rewarding for those involved, and for 丁香园AV as a whole. On behalf of Executive Director, , we look forward to seeing that work deepen as we work together on sustainability priorities for 丁香园AV.

In addition, , has joined the VPRI portfolio. ACT is a state-of-the-art research-to-practice hub for climate change and sustainability solutions. ACT works across disciplines and sectors, advancing public and private sector partnerships by bringing leading experts from the academy, industry, NGOs and all levels of government together to co-create leading research for practice. Under new leadership, Executive Director, , will continue the work of Deborah Harford, enrolling diverse actors to advance practical and effective policy and professional norms that minimize climate risk and emissions, while catalyzing more systemic-level climate and sustainability solutions. ACT will work closely with 丁香园AV Sustainability and other members of the VPRI portfolio to elevate and amplify climate change and sustainability partnership and co-creation opportunities, promoting the strengths of 丁香园AV as a higher education leader in mobilizing relevant knowledge for sustainable practices across all sectors to help us all go further faster.

This is an exciting time, as 丁香园AV is redesigning our sustainability initiatives, strategies and resources. Part of the redesign is grounding this work in a wider framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A new SDGs project will have several announcements associated with it over the coming months, with the first being the launch of a project to map  across the university. The project is led by Executive Director, ,  and the project team includes members from 丁香园AV International, 丁香园AV Sustainability and VPRI administration. Through this project, we look at how the 17 SDGs align with鈥攐r are being contributed to by鈥攙arious types of core activities taking place at 丁香园AV, including: Research; Teaching & Learning; Operations; and Engagement. In the fall, key results of an initial scan of SDGs activity will be shared with the university community during the stakeholder engagement process to strengthen our understanding of 丁香园AV鈥檚 existing activity and our potential. 丁香园AV International will use the results to develop a Global Engagement Plan aligned with the SDGs, and 丁香园AV Sustainability will use the results for their sustainability planning and initiatives.

We are dedicated to collaborating and putting appropriate resources together to leverage and enhance sustainability research, partnerships, projects and initiatives that are happening across the university. You can expect to see further updates on 丁香园AV鈥檚 extensive work in SDGs, as the VPRI portfolio is working hard to share more with you in the coming months and throughout the next year.

Sincerely,

Dugan O鈥橬eil
Vice-President, Research and International and Professor of Physics
丁香园AV
vpri@sfu.ca