The Livable Cities Forum will be held Oct. 23 to 25 in Vancouver, where municipal leaders and practitioners will explore this year’s theme of “multisolving for a net-zero and resilient future.” The following University of Victoria experts are available to media to discuss topics relating to climate action relative to sustainable development.
David Atkinson (Geography) is an expert in monitoring and predicting large-scale weather systems and the impact of extreme weather events often caused by climate change. He leads the BSc Climate Science degree program that trains students to work with communities to mitigate the climate crisis. (Contact: [email protected])
Curran Crawford (Mechanical Engineering, Accelerating Community Energy Transformation) is the founding executive director of ACET, a 40+ partner initiative accelerating the global search for resilient and equitable clean energy solutions through local, community-based collaborations. In addition to his expertise in sustainable energy systems design and operation, Crawford can give early insights into the work underway that will transform the Canadian clean energy landscape this decade. He is available prior to and during the Livable Cities Forum. (Contact: [email protected])
Jutta Gutberlet (Geography) is a UVic geographer, who works with waste pickers in many countries in the global south and binners on the West Coast of Canada. She has been supporting waste pickers to help themselves—to improve working conditions, form co-operatives and associations, promote inclusive public policies and advance social movements. Gutberlet can discuss the relationship between waste and climate change, the environmental impacts of plastics, and the key changes needed to address the effects of waste on the planet. (Contact: [email protected])
Geoff Loomer (Law) is an expert in tax law and policy, with research focus on comparative and international taxation, corporate taxation and the connections between tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax administration. He can speak to the interaction of housing and tax policies. (Contact: [email protected])
Ian Mauro (Environmental Studies, Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions) is an expert in climate action partnerships, community-based climate projects, and multimedia climate education and knowledge mobilization. A filmmaker and scientist, and executive director of PICS, Mauro can discuss climate science, society and sustainability, and the importance of interweaving academic, local and Indigenous knowledges. Mauro is available on site during the forum or interviews can be arranged through Cindy MacDougall: 250-853-3626 or [email protected].
Kara Shaw (Environmental Studies) is an expert in the political ecology of energy transitions and ways in which frontline communities are both resisting the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and advancing climate solutions. She is the director of the Certificate in Transformative Climate Action, which focuses on the social and political dynamics of climate action, and of the UVic Sustainability Scholars Program, which pairs graduate students with community partners to research solutions to current sustainability challenges. (Contact: [email protected])
Gerald Singh (Environmental Studies) examines the intersections between environmental management, development and social equity. His research is primarily situated in the science-policy interface, and works to understand uncertainty and risk in policy and actions towards sustainable development goals and unequal effects on people. He works across ocean disciplines, from established areas such as fisheries to emerging subjects like coastal energy transitions. (Contact: [email protected])
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