Faculty and staff at UBC's Okanagan campus didn't have to travel to serve as subject-matter experts for the Thompson-Okanagan region's Provincial Climate Action Workshop this week.
The two-day event on Wednesday and Thursday was hosted by UBC's Okanagan campus Sustainability Office, drawing participants from government, business, academia, the public and non-profit sectors.
Small Steps and Big Leaps: Mobilizing Climate Action in the Thompson-Okanagan was organized by the Fresh Outlook Foundation as one in a series of four similar workshops being held throughout the province this year by B.C.'s Climate Action Secretariat.
The workshop focused on:
- increasing collaboration between sectors
- providing targeted training to support carbon reduction efforts
- engaging the community through climate change visioning, which links climate science, local input, and planning information with mapping and 3D visualization tools
"It has been exciting to host such an important workshop examining climate action initiatives for this part of Canada," says Leanne Bilodeau, Director of Sustainability Operations at the Okanagan campus, who spoke at the workshop on energy and carbon efficiency in the public sector.
"This is a meaningful way to build on UBC's commitment to leadership in sustainability for our region and in researching sustainability issues."
The Wednesday morning session was welcomed by Jackie Podger, Associate Vice President of Administration and Finance, and table discussion leaders from the university included Leanne Bilodeau, Engineering Professor Gordon Lovegrove, graduate student Darwin Horning, and Facilities Manager Roger Bizzotto.
Learn more about sustainability initiatives at UBC's Okanagan campus at www.ubc.ca/okanagan/sustainability.
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