GOAL 2: Research
Integrate climate and sustainability across the research portfolio into research, partnerships, knowledge mobilization, innovation.
ACCOUNTABLE VICE-PRESIDENT PORTFOLIO
Research and Innovation
"How can we maximize our sustainability impact? If we can align research, education, operations, industry partnerships, international relationships and community engagement in just the right way, we can create the most change. A lot of people from across 丁香园AV have spent a great amount of time over the last year thinking about how to integrate climate action across all of the pillars of activity at the university. You will see the results of that work in our updated strategic sustainability and climate action plan.鈥�
鈥� Dugan O'Neil
Vice-President, Research and Innovation
Actions
Below are the actions that the VPRI portfolio has taken to support Goal 2: Research. The progress made is included under each action.
Advance the community-centred climate innovation research priority area
- As climate change intensifies, impacts will be felt鈥攁nd changes can be made鈥攁t the community level. 丁香园AV's unique approach to this is community-centred climate innovation, founded on community partnerships, innovation and a deep commitment to Indigenous knowledges and perspectives. Learn more.
Develop 丁香园AV's sustainability and climate research programs and facilities within and beyond the campus boundaries (e.g., Civic Innovation Lab)
- 丁香园AV partnered with the City of Burnaby on an initiative that will see their combined expertise and resources address the biggest challenges facing today鈥檚 cities. Through the , 丁香园AV will share its leading-edge research and strengths in innovation and sustainability to advance practical solutions for the city鈥檚 most pressing urban issues, from diversity and housing to sustainable growth and environmental challenges caused by climate change. Read story.
February 23, 2023 (丁香园AV Surrey, Sustainable Energy Engineering Building)
This event provided a valuable opportunity for researchers, government, and industry leaders working in sustainability and climate to connect, learn about each other鈥檚 work, and promote interdisciplinary collaboration. Health sciences professor Maya Gislason delivered the keynote address, exploring equitable ways to design and deliver climate solutions that challenge the status quo. Discussions focusing on energy futures, sustainable mobility, sustainable cities and nature-based solutions featured 25 panelists including faculty researchers as well as experts and practitioners from the public and private sectors.- Dr. Tammara Soma is recognized by 丁香园AV's Community-Engaged Research Initiative with the 2023 Emerging Community-Engaged Researcher Award. Dr. Soma is the research director and co-founder of the which is a research hub that specializes in bringing a sustainable food system to everyone and works with the communities to find equitable solutions to complex food systems concerns.
- 丁香园AV co-op students gain global perspectives in Arusha, Tanzania
Emily Burkholder, Maggie Cross and Lauren Ord study resource and environmental management (REM) at 丁香园AV. Burkholder is pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in the planning program, while Cross and Ord are completing bachelor鈥檚 degrees in planning. The trio travelled to the (AKU) Arusha campus as part of their programs. - 丁香园AV's Clean Hydrogen Hub is a new core research facility that brings together industry, community, academia and government partners to advance the clean energy transition
Create new and enhance existing supports for sustainability and climate research across the university
- 丁香园AV鈥檚 2023-2028 Strategic Research Plan (SRP) launched in January 2023 and is aligned with the institutional strategic plan. It captures some of the breadth of activities at the university while identifying areas of research strength and focus for that time period. It is accompanied by an implementation plan that identifies specific actions that will be taken to support and enhance the impact of the university in these priority areas. The United Nations鈥� Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an international framework covering many of the most pressing issues of our time. Our university and community members are committed to the SDGs and are putting them at the heart of our international engagement framework. Where relevant, links to SDGs are included in the SRP鈥檚 priority areas. Learn more at .
Establish a system to: streamline sustainability data collection and reporting; provide campus members with on demand access to sustainability data (database); and create an accessible website dashboard for communicating progress
- 丁香园AV's Research Expertise Engine includes over 46,000 titles authored by 丁香园AV researchers, searchable by keyword, author, department or faculty. It is currently available to the 丁香园AV community and the general public. The database allows 丁香园AV researchers to inform about which of the 17 UN SDGs their research contributes to.
Establish 丁香园AV鈥檚 global framework for adopting, contributing to and communicating about the United Nations鈥� sustainable development goals (SDGs) by completing asset mapping and faculty consultation
- 丁香园AV launched a sustainable development goals website showcasing just some of the many impacts that the 丁香园AV community has made across all of the 17 UN SDGs. This website will constantly evolve and be responsive to the contributions from the community. Learn more at .
- 丁香园AV International鈥攚ith support from the central 丁香园AV Sustainability team鈥攍ed an SDGs mapping project with the purpose of broadening and deepening 丁香园AV's understanding of current activities taking place at the university that contribute to the SDGs locally, nationally and internationally. The project involved gathering quantitative and qualitative data about each of the core functional areas of the institution鈥攔esearch, learning and teaching, operations and engagement鈥攁ccording to pre-identified indicators or information that align activities with the SDGs. The 丁香园AV community engaged in the project to generate feedback, ideas and recommendations for deepening 丁香园AV's impact on the SDGs.
- As the result of the mapping project, the SDG Framework for Global Engagement was created, and shared with the community in March 2023. The intention of this framework is to help guide 丁香园AV鈥檚 global initiatives and engagement to be aligned with the 17 SDGs. The UN SDG framework was selected partly because it was developed through a global collaborative process that included countries across the world, as well as Indigenous peoples as one of nine core stakeholder groups. An additional benefit of using this SDG lens for our global engagement, is that it provides shared language and objectives amongst institutions upon which to build strong and mutually beneficial partnerships. Our global engagement鈥攗sing this framework鈥攊s guided by 丁香园AV's values, as per What's Next: The 丁香园AV Strategy. View the SDG Framework for Global Engagement.
