In.Site2 and Sustainability Across Disciplines
A Faculty of Fine Arts and Faculty of Arts and Science Collaboration
March 17-21, 2025 at Concordia University
This collaborative, multi-event symposium included presentations, interactive and participatory sessions, workshops, short films, and exhibitions highlighting both the strengths of diverse fields and the potential for innovative solutions to be developed through multidisciplinary discourse and practice.
With over 350 members of Concordia and greater Montreal community participants in the conference, the symposium was designed to encourage collaboration between different disciplines; provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge, ideas and best practice; and encourage students and faculty researchers to explore unique ways of communicating, with a special focus on collaborations with the arts.
Student awards
This year, we were able to hold a competition for best student presentations in several different categories. These were judged by a cross-disciplinary panel of Concordia faculty members.
Best 3-minute student presentation
- Anthony Garoufalis-Auger: Climate science and the rising popularity of the far right
- Tessa Hansen: The edible city: Foraging to eat, learn, and reconnect
- Shudhi Ahuja: Decolonizing sustainability: The Sarayaku approach
Best undergraduate student talk
- Niraj Dayanandan: Foliage and fortune: An analysis of urban forest accessibility and resilience in Montreal
- Annabel Durr: Unheard plant voices: Phytograms as ethnography
Best graduate student talk
- Matthew Segal: How can Canada contribute to more sustainable e-waste globally?
- Valeri Bolduc: Mammals crossing bridges and water culverts in the Laurentides: No light at the end of the tunnel for certain species
- Dalia Assi: Equitable greenspace planning: A path to environmental justice in Laval, Quebec
Best graduate student panelist
- Anna Noel: Soil stories
- Julia Kathrin Lehmann: Why are documentary films important to multidisciplinary sustainability research and practice?
Schedule of events
Monday, March 17
10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
- A critical look at current topics in sustainability science, with Michael Ekwe, Rosa Castillo, Zahra Najmi, Hope Moon, Italo Ferreira Pereira, Megan Tremblay, Susan Ly, Anthony Garoufalis-Auger, Tessa Hansen, Shudhi Ahuja, and Etienne Issa.
11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
- Careers in sustainability, with Emmanuel Addoquaye, Lidiya Beida, and Anne-Marie Laflamme
1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
- Soil stories, with Anna Noel and Melody Lynch
2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
- CRUST – Ceramics Reimagined Using Sustainable Techniques, with Linda Swanson, Teresa Dorey, Daniel Gillberg, and Loriane Thibodeau
4:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Forest documents: A reading room immersed within an old growth forest, with Leila Sujir, John Latour, Sarah Turner, and Jorge Zavagno
Student artwork
Exhibitors at 4th Space include Crissy Jarvis, Sandrine Meunier-Geoffroy, Emily Bain, Pramila Choudhary, Dale Crockett, Lucy Gill, Anna Noel, Loriane Thibodeau, Daniel Gilberg, Myra Lintaman, and Teresa Dorey.
Tuesday, March 18
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
- Active matter and environmental relations, with Alice Jarry, Natalija Miodragovic (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany) and Charlett Wenig (Max Planck Society, Germany)
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
- Zines as a form of material resistance with Kevin Yuen Kit Lo
1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
- Zines for sustainability workshop, with Kevin Yuen Kit Lo and Myra Lintaman
3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
- Rewilding arts and science, with Sylvia Rack, Khadija Baker, Natasha Lavdovsky, Helen Gregory, Emma Despland and Mathilde Tissier
5:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
- Sustainability shorts: Discussions and presentations by the exhibition designers and artists including two student short films, with films by Suzannah Zakour and Diego Cervantes (produced in collaboration with Mirdhula Kanapathypillai, Melissa Michailidis, and Julia Teoli Calabro) and exhibits by Crissy Jarvis, Sandrine Meunier-Geoffroy, Emily Bain, Pramila Choudhary, Dale Crockett, Lucy Gill, Anna Noel, Loriane Thibodeau, Daniel Gilberg and Teresa Dorey
Student artwork
Exhibitors at 4th Space include Crissy Jarvis, Sandrine Meunier-Geoffroy, Emily Bain, Pramila Choudhary, Dale Crockett, Lucy Gill, Anna Noel, Loriane Thibodeau, Daniel Gilberg, Myra Lintaman, and Teresa Dorey.
Wednesday, March 19
10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
- Angles of consequence: Site-specific solar performance for the climate, with Meghan Moe Beitiks, Zoe Heffring, Alexia Maldonado Juarez, Milena Pereira, and Christine White
11:45 a.m. to 12:25 p.m.
- Sustainable material research: A report on interdisciplinary initiatives, with Kelly Jazvac
12:25 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.
- SOFA Action Plan Launch – Sustainability of the Fine Arts with Kelly Jazvac
1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
- A climate of hope collage event with the Climate Emergency Committee
2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
- The atmospheres of walkability: Considering diverse sensory experiences for sustainable mobility, with Florian Grond, Melissa Parks (McGill), and Emily Bain
3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
- Why are documentary films important to multidisciplinary sustainability research and practice? with Zachary Fleury, Warsame Isse, pk langshaw, Julia Kathrin Lehmann, and Elizabeth (Liz) Miller, and Adriana Miranda
4:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
- What have we learned?
Student artwork
Exhibitors at 4th Space include Crissy Jarvis, Sandrine Meunier-Geoffroy, Emily Bain, Pramila Choudhary, Dale Crockett, Lucy Gill, Anna Noel, Loriane Thibodeau, Daniel Gilberg, Myra Lintaman, and Teresa Dorey.
Thursday, March 20
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
- Uncovering sustainable pathways with life cycle assessment, a panel and workshop with Shannon Lloyd, Ivan Kantor, Alireza Adli, Mina Daneshmandi, Neda Nikbakht, Mohammad Reza Seyedabadi, Juan Sebastian Rojas, Parsa Shirzad, and Martin Zorilla
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- Our embodied presence and the climate crisis: Trauma, the nervous system, and inner and outer sustainability, a workshop with Bonnie Harnden
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- A radical proposal for municipal public services, with Xabier Gainza Barrencua
9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
- "Careers in sustainability panel discussion and networking session," at SHIFT in LB-145.
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- "Leadership in Environmental and Digital Innovation for Sustainability Workshop," with Nilufar Sabet-Kassouf in ER-1428
3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- "Environmental history: Past, present, and future at Concordia," with Anya Zilberstein, Rosanna Cyr, Rémi Piovesan, and Julian Rioux in ER-1428
Student artwork
Exhibitors at 4th Space include Crissy Jarvis, Sandrine Meunier-Geoffroy, Emily Bain, Pramila Choudhary, Dale Crockett, Lucy Gill, Anna Noel, Loriane Thibodeau, Daniel Gilberg, Myra Lintaman, and Teresa Dorey.
Friday, March 21
9:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
- Greening the city, with Jochen Jaeger, Dalia Assi, Gaëlle Poirier-Morin, Niraj Dayanandan, Cédric Gazal, Annabel Durr, and Richelle Smith
11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
- Harnessing emotions to inspire climate action: A workshop with Heather McLaughlin
12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
- Environmental science, sustainability, and biodiversity poster session and exhibit, with Niraj Dayanandan, Sandrine Meunier-Geoffroy, Ana Lívia de Castro Severo de Oliveira, and Amanda Grégoire
1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Issues in sustainability across disciplines, with Peter Graham, Valérie Bolduc, Julia Calabro, Melika Safari, Sabrina Mruczek, and Matthew Segal
2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Sustainability in the lab: Case studies from the sciences, with Brett Cox, Pat Forgione, Ashlee Howarth, and Sarah Taylor
2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Nature connections: Exploring relational values of nature through art on Loyola Campus: A workshop with Sarah Chamberland-Fontaine and Bella Richmond
3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Motivating response/ability towards the ecological emergency: A workshop, with Jessica Bleuer, Heather McLaughlin, and Bonnie Harnden
4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Sustainability programming in the CEGEPs, with Jessica Burpee, Arrien Weeks, Jennifer de Vera, and Azra Khan
5:30 p.m.
- Closing words
Student artwork
Exhibitors at 4th Space include Crissy Jarvis, Sandrine Meunier-Geoffroy, Emily Bain, Pramila Choudhary, Dale Crockett, Lucy Gill, Anna Noel, Loriane Thibodeau, Daniel Gilberg, Myra Lintaman, and Teresa Dorey.
Special thanks
This event is brought to you by the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre and the Department of Design and Computation Arts.
In collaboration with 4TH SPACE and with the support of the SOFA Sustainable Fine Arts and Studio Arts, the Office of the Vice-President, Research, Innovation and Impact, the Office of Sustainability, Career Advising and Professional Services, the Faculty of Fine Arts, Science College, School of Community and Public Affairs and First Peoples Studies, Department of Communication Studies, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment and Department of Political Science.
Much of the work featured this week is the work of or supported by graduate students supported through RA and TAships. We recognize their crucial role in research and teaching at the University.
This event will contribute to the Concordia's Sustainability Action Plan by increasing the visibility of sustainability research at Concordia.
Territorial acknowledgement
Concordia University and most of the participants in this event will be located in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), on the unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation, one of the founding nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. If you are not in Tiohtià:ke, you can find out whose land you are on.