| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 69.71 |
| Liaison | Sharmilla Raj |
| Submission Date | May 6, 2024 |
Toronto Metropolitan University
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Local advocacy
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the municipal/local level:
CivicLabTO is a city building knowledge exchange platform shared between the City of Toronto and eight academic institutions, including TMU, within the city. Its purpose is to unite subject matter experts and municipal leaders, sparking conversation, learning and collaboration on important civic issues. Through sharing insights and resources, members of the CivicLabTO partnership contribute to valuable cross-sectoral dialogue, ultimately creating greater urban research and training opportunities at local colleges and universities, and strengthening informed decision making and policy at the municipal level. TMU co-hosted its most recent Symposium which focused on the current strategic priorities of the City of Toronto and the role that higher education can play in addressing issues including: multi-disciplinary approaches to realizing a net zero TO by 2040, city building and mobility, local and inclusive strategies to economic development post-pandemic and addressing the student housing challenge city-wide. Each of the action-oriented sessions were led by City of Toronto staff and allowed for the sharing of ideas relevant to shaping local urban policies. In 2021, during another CivicLab TO Symposium, Dr. Fatih Sekercioglu, Assistant Professor, School of Occupational and Public Health and Director of the Planetary Health Research Lab, lobbied for academic and municipal collaboration, such as in the Toronto Ambient Air Quality Impacts from COVID-19 Study, to generate targeted, timely and useful research to inform public policy and address the climate crisis.
Regional advocacy
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level:
The Dais is a public policy and leadership institute at Toronto Metropolitan University that connects people to the ideas and power we need to build a more inclusive, innovative, and prosperous Canada. Generation Climate is a Dais youth-driven initiative focused on building factual awareness about, and solutions to, climate change. In the last two years, we have had nearly 270,000 conversations about climate change with young people across the country, and thousands have committed to taking climate action. Over 1,000 young people have been trained in climate science, policy and action, and dozens are supporting climate action in their community or starting their own climate projects. In partnership with other universities through the Council of Ontario Universities, TMU has been advocating for more investment in green infrastructure and clean tech research from the provincial government. We have outlined to the province that clean technology is, and will be, critical to long-term environmental sustainability, and economic growth. We advocated to position TMU as a recognized global leader in helping deliver these solutions. In our last submission, we have provided examples of our university-industry partnerships that are developing new, innovative solutions to issues of energy production, recycling, lighting and transportation with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
National advocacy
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the national level:
Federally we are currently advocating for "Innovations for a Sustainable Future" with TMU's Center for Urban Energy. While the campaign broadly pushed for green infrastructure investment and climate change research in collaboration with Universities Canada, our focus has been on advocating for more investment into cleantech R&D and suggesting TMU as a national partner.
International advocacy
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the international level:
Wendy Cukier, Academic Director and Founder of the Diversity Institute at TMU, was as an invited expert panelist at a summit hosted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France. At this summit multi-stakeholder dialogue experts from around the world proposed solutions to improve sustainability. Cukier's panel focused on the need for governments to tailor approaches to addressing emerging technology-driven skill demands and initiatives targeting underrepresented groups. Cukier advocated for the need to drive social change and adoption at the political, organization, and individual level to create lasting change towards sustainable practices. She also lobbied for more training and work placement programs that can be utilized to make digital and green skills more accessible and to help address the gaps. In addition to this Cukier highlighted the importance of including Indigenous perspective in any discussions about sustainability, and emphasized the need to address the impacts of environmental racism. Cukier was adamant that the OECD must prioritize inclusion when drafting policies in the transition to net zero.
Optional Fields
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Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability advocacy efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://www.torontomu.ca/news-events/news/2022/02/from-the-president-statement-on-the-conflict-in-ukraine/
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