Urban Biodiversity Symposium
In 2014, we hosted Partnerships for the Living City: Promoting Urban Biodiversity, a conference focusing on the future of our cities. The event drew researchers, policy-makers, urban planners and community members, who discussed the significant environmental challenges facing our rapidly growing metropolises..
Friday March 7, 2014
D.B. Clarke Theatre
(Henry F. Hall Building 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W)
- 8a.m. Registration
- 9a.m. Welcome and Opening Address
- 9:40a.m. Singapore Index: Lessons from Montreal and Abroad
Mr. Réal Ménard, City of Montreal, Executive Council, Responsible for Sustainable Development, the Environment, Large Parks and Green Spaces
Mr. Luis Eduardo Peres Damasceno, Director of Participation and Promotion to Public Policies of the São Paulo Municipal Department of Green Spaces and Environment
Panel of Montreal Mayors
- 11 :15a.m. BREAK
- 11 :30a.m. Showcasing the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre Fellows and Associates
Professor Panel & Graduate Student Poster Presentations
- Lunch Keynote Address: David Maddox, Founder and Editor of The Nature of Cities TBC
- 2-5p.m. Showcasing Leaders in Urban Sustainability and Biodiversity: Public Engagement, Sharing Best Practices, NGO Kiosks
- Achievements in Urban Biodiversity
- Challenges in Urban Biodiversity
- Biodiversity as a social issue, critical for the health and well-being of citizens
Gala Dinner and Keynote Speaker
H-767, 7th floor, Henry F. Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd W).
- 5-6p.m. Networking Cocktail
- 6-8:30p.m. Gala Dinner
- 6p.m. Opening Address
- 6:30p.m. Keynote Address: Professor Holly Dressel - "Urban Biodiversity: Beyond the City Borders"
- 7:30p.m. Closing Address
- 7:00PM - 8:30p.m. Book sale and signing
Welcome and opening address
Benoit-Antoine Bacon, PhD.
Provost and Vice-President, Academic Affairs, Concordia University
Peter Stoett, PhD.
Director, Loyola Sustainability Research Centre
Braulio Dias
Executive Director, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
Andrew Gonzalez, PhD.
Director, Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science
Singapore index: Lessons from Montreal and abroad
Réal Ménard
City of Montreal, Member of the Executive Council, Responsible for Sustainable Development, the Environment, Large Parks and Green Spaces
Luis Eduardo Peres Damasceno
Director of Participation and Promotion to Public Policies of the São Paulo Municipal Department of Green Spaces and Environment
Panel of Montreal mayors
Mayor Alan DeSousa (Saint Laurent)
Mayor Anthony Housfather (Côte Sainte-Luc)
Mayor Paola Hawa (Sainte Anne-de-Bellevue)
Mayor François Croteau (Rosemont-Petite Patrie)
Showcasing the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre
Professor Panel
Melanie McCavour, PhD. (Biology)
Katja Neves, PhD. (Sociology/Anthropology)
Jochen Jaeger, PhD. (Environmental Sciences)
Owen Temby, PhD. (Loyola Sustainability Research Centre)
Selvadurai Dayanand, PhD. (Biology)
Laura Shillington, PhD. (Geography)
Graduate Student Poster Presentations
Adrienne Asgary, BSc Honors, Geography, Planning and Environment
- "Measuring the Connectivity of Natural Areas in Cities as an Indicator of the City Biodiversity Index of the Convention on Biological Diversity"
Marie-Hélène Brice and Alexandre Bergeron, Institut de recherche en biologie végétale
- "Climbing towards the light: Liana distribution and diversity in urban ecosystems"
Megan Deslauriers, BSc Honours, Geography, Planning and Environment
- "Increasing the Connectivity of the Greenway Network in Southwest Montreal: Scenarios for Enhancing the Wellbeing of Biodiversity and Humans"
Einat Eidan, M.A. Education
"Kids Biodiversity: A Website for the UN-CBD"
Kristy Franks, M.A., Special Individualized Program
- Water Ethics and Water Education for Urban Biodiversity
Kristian Gareau, Masters Candidate, Special Individualized Program
- "Lives on the Line: Coalitions of Resistance to Petro-Capitalism in Quebec, Canada"
Valérie T. Gravel, Masters in Environmental Impact Assessment
- "Biodiversity Landscape Planning in Environmental Assessments (EAs): A Look at the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project (DMNP) case study, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) standards"
Richard Greco, M.A.
- "Agroterrorism and the Corn Monoculture in the United States"
Patricia Hanney, M.A., Sustainable Development
- "Outside the Box with the WWViews: A Policy Role for City Slickers in Global Biodiversity Issues"
Ernest I. Hennig, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow in Georgraphy, Planning and Environment
- "Increasing Threats to Biodiversity: How can Urban Sprawl and its Drivers be Addressed?"
Rodrigo Lima, Msc, Research Associate in Geography Planning and Environment
- "Urban Sprawl and Wildlife Adaptation"
Naghmeh Nazarnia, MSc, Geography, Planning and Environment
- "Comparison of the Increase in Urban Sprawl in the Metropolitan Areas of Montréal, Québec and Zurich: How do they Differ, and Why?"
Laura Roch, MSc in Geography, Planning and Environment
- "Monitoring an Ecosystem at Risk: What is the Degree of Grassland Fragmentation in the Canadian Prairies?"
Aurelia Roman, Interdisciplinary PhD, and MA in Human Systems Interventions
- "Urban Prosumerism"
Tsveta Voichera, Masters, Educational studies
- "Growing Herbs at Concordia: Learning through Tradition
Showcasing leaders in urban sustainability and biodiversity
Over 20 NGOs, research institutions and community organizations showcased!
Lunch Keynote
Dr. David Maddox, founder, The Nature of Cities
David Maddox is committed to the health of the natural environment, urban resilience, the application of ecosystem services for human welfare and livelihoods, and the effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation of these issues. As the founder and editor of The Nature of Cities, a discussion site devoted to cities as ecological spaces, and Chief Scientist for Sound Science LLC, his current work is in the development and dissemination of useful knowledge for design and management of social-ecological systems in urban landscapes.
Gala dinner and keynote address: Professor Holly Dressel
Keynote Address
Professor Holly Dressel
Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Environmentalist and Researcher
Best-selling author and researcher, Holly Dressel, Adjunct Professor at McGill University’s School of the Environment, is one of Canada's most recognized names in teaching, environmental studies, health care, economic concerns and aboriginal issues.
Dressel is best known for her work with celebrated environmentalist and television host David Suzuki on film and radio programs, as well as the three best-selling books they have written together: From Naked Ape to Super-species, Good News for a Change and More Good News. All of these books include analysis of problems specific to urban environments, and argue for the extreme importance of biodiversity in the healthy survival of all systems, from water and carbon cycles to climate and social cohesion. Dressel is also the writer, producer, broadcaster or researcher for many radio and television series and documentaries, mostly done for CBC and the NFB. In addition to her involvement with environmental subjects, Dressel wrote Who Killed the Queen? The Story of a Community Hospital and How to Fix Health Care, the most complete book on the history and status of the Canadian health care system. Professor Dressel is in demand as a journalist, speaker and media expert on a variety of issues, including both human and ecosystem health, economic systems, biodiversity and habitat preservation, indigenous and traditional systems, and genetic engineering.
Opening Address
Programme Officer, Sub-national and local implementation, tourism, islands and South-South cooperation
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
United National Environment Programme (UNEP)
https://www.cbd.int/secretariat/
Programme Officer, Local Authorities and Biodiversity
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
https://www.cbd.int/secretariat/
Loyola Sustainability Research Centre -www.concordia.ca/loyolasustainabilityresearch
Convention on Biological Diversity - www.cbd.int
International Day for Biological Diversity - https://www.cbd.int/idb/
United Nations Decade on Biodiversity - www.cbd.int/2011-2020
United Nations Decade on Biodiversity on Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/UNBiodiversity
Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Sciences - www.qcbs.ca
David O'Brien Centre for Sustainable Entreprise -http://johnmolson.concordia.ca/en/faculty-research/research-centres/david-obrien-centre-for-sustainable-enterprise
Field Trips Related to Sustainability and Biodiversity in Montreal
For any questions, or to volunteer at the Partnerships for the Living City: Promoting Urban Biodiversity Conference, please contact Conference Coordinator, Marian Pinsky at sm_pinsk@live.concordia.ca.
You can also contact Loyola Sustainability Research Centre (LSRC) Director Peter Stoett at Peter.Stoett@concordia.ca or LSRC Coordinator Adan E. Suazo at Adan.Suazo@concordia.ca
Marian Pinsky, M.A., Sociology, is the Coordinator of the Partnerships for the Living City: Promoting Urban Biodiversity Conference, which showcases the research talents of the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre at Concordia University. Previously working in Aboriginal youth leadership programming at Canada World Youth, a leader in international education programs, Marian was directly involved in programs focused on international development and Aboriginal youth empowerment in Peru, Tanzania and South Africa. Having recently completed her Masters in Sociology, Marian has been published several times on her work on the World Social Forum, the global food crisis, and development in Kerala, India. She is also involved in numerous ventures ranging from Montreal's Social Justice Committee, to her most recent engagement as a Theme Team Researcher for the Montreal World Health Organization (MonWHO) Simulation on Access to Global Health. Marian loves hiking, swing dancing, being outdoors, and most recently joined a dragon boat racing team!
