Stimulating a Canadian narrative for climate

ABSTRACT: This perspective documents current thinking around climate actions in Canada by synthesizing scholarly proposals made by Sustainable Canada Dialogues (SCD), an informal network of scholars from all 10 provinces, and by reviewing responses from civil society representatives to the scholars' proposals. Motivated by Canada's recent history of repeatedly missing its emissions reduction targets and failing to produce a coherent plan to address climate change, SCD mobilized more than 60 scholars to identify possible pathways towards a low-carbon economy and sustainable society and invited civil society to comment on the proposed solutions. This perspective illustrates a range of Canadian ideas coming from many sectors of society and a wealth of existing inspiring initiatives. Solutions discussed include climate change governance, low-carbon transition, energy production, and consumption. This process of knowledge synthesis/creation is novel and important because it provides a working model for making connections across academic fields as well as between academia and civil society. The process produces a holistic set of insights and recommendations for climate change actions and a unique model of engagement. The different voices reported here enrich the scope of possible solutions, showing that Canada is brimming with ideas, possibilities, and the will to act

Living systems : innovative materials and technologies for landscape architecture

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Evaluating the shading effect of photovoltaic panels on green roof discharge reduction and plant growth

The hydrology and stormwater management benefits of green roofs (GRs) when integrated with photovoltaic (PV) arrays are currently not well understood. This study is the first quantitative study of an integrated full-scale GR-PV system in Canada. In this project, two GR-PV systems, with low (0.6 m) and high (1.2 m) differential height (LDH and HDH) between the GR surface and PV panels have been compared with a GR test module for storm water retention and biomass. Over 51 rainfall events in summer and fall 2016 and spring 2017, rainwater retention, peak flow reduction, NRCS curve number, and biomass of GR-PV and GR systems were examined. Rainwater retention and peak flow reduction were not significantly different between the LDH and HDH systems. Vegetation growth was 47% greater in the HDH system compared to the LDH system. This was attributed to greater solar radiation and rain exposure of vegetation in the HDH system due to the greater vertical distance between the PV panels and the GR modules.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through a Strategic Project Grant (STPGP 447409 - 13)

Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries - Session 2. Educators

Educators representing interactions with materials speak to critical approaches, life-cycle concerns, critical thinking of composition/process/properties

Stimulating a Canadian narrative for climate

This perspective documents current thinking around climate actions in Canada by synthesizing scholarly proposals made by Sustainable Canada Dialogues (SCD), an informal network of scholars from all 10 provinces, and by reviewing responses from civil society representatives to the scholars’ proposals. Motivated by Canada’s recent history of repeatedly missing its emissions reduction targets and failing to produce a coherent plan to address climate change, SCD mobilized more than 60 scholars to identify possible pathways towards a low-carbon economy and sustainable society and invited civil society to comment on the proposed solutions. This perspective illustrates a range of Canadian ideas coming from many sectors of society and a wealth of existing inspiring initiatives. Solutions discussed include climate change governance, low-carbon transition, energy production, and consumption. This process of knowledge synthesis/creation is novel and important because it provides a working model for making connections across academic fields as well as between academia and civil society. The process produces a holistic set of insights and recommendations for climate change actions and a unique model of engagement. The different voices reported here enrich the scope of possible solutions, showing that Canada is brimming with ideas, possibilities, and the will to act