The Climate Change Project, City of Mississauga
CultureLink’s support programs for newcomers aim to foster crucial connections: between social and environmental justice, and between human and ecosystem health. For thirty years, the multilingual Toronto non-profit has assisted new immigrants and refugees with the challenges of migration by expanding their social communities and local Canadian knowledge, whether through one-on-one settlement assistance, employment workshops, intergenerational programming, local walking tours of neighbourhoods, first-time camping experiences, or “New Canadian Life,” a weekly radio show of newcomer stories. CultureLink’s Green Settlement principles—in place since 2008—aim to encourage the maintenance and growth of health-conscious and environmentally protective habits that may be overlooked in dominant North American lifestyles, and within the more immediate pressures of migration. In partnership with Cycle Toronto, CultureLink has developed a multilingual cyclists’ handbook, the Bike to School Project, and Bike Host, a program that offers rental bikes and mentor-led tours to promote cycling as an active and economical mode of commuting. Nurturing sustainable habits within settlement services contributes to a more diverse environmental movement in Canada and expands the idea of “environmental citizenship” to include all residents in the collaborative path to a healthy future.
Founded in 1979, Ecosource is an education charity specializing in engaging, hands-on programs that focus on can become better environmental citizens. The organization provides action-oriented education about waste reduction, local food, and sustainability. Key to work is that engagement between people of all community knowledge and resilience. Ecosource’s programs engage a variety of audiences and issues: from whole-school waste reduction education and community gardening to collaborations with Indigenous knowledge holders and youth-led conferences. Working with teachers, students, senior citizens, and people of and abilities, Ecosource inspires and empowers the community to become more environmentally responsible through creative public education.
With its first event in September 2017, Great Lakes Water Walk forms part of a series of Indigenous-led walks and actions aimed at celebrating, honouring, and protecting waterways across Turtle Island. At the inaugural Great Lakes Water Walk, Anishinaabe Elders led walkers eastward from Port Credit and westward from Scarborough to meet in Toronto, where a round dance and multi-faith water blessing was held. To emphasize intercultural traditions, women waterkeepers carried copper pails at the head of each march, centering the longstanding use of copper for water vessels due to its antimicrobial qualities. In sharing this knowledge, along with the embodied practice of walking as a pedagogical tool, organizers of Great Lakes Water Walk foreground Indigenous traditions, and ensure their endurance in the Greater Toronto Area.
The Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research (SOCAAR) at the University of Toronto monitors air quality and the impact of various sources of airborne pollution in the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area and beyond. Directed by Greg Evans, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, SOCAAR uses advanced instruments and facilities to study air pollution and its impacts, such as a combustion lab to study emissions from new vehicles and fuels, monitoring stations by large roads to measure traffic pollution, networks of smart sensors to study pollution exposure across cities, and a truck full of instruments for air sampling field work (MAPLE: Mobile Analysis of ParticuLate in the Environment). SOCAAR’s interdisciplinary work identifies links between site-specific vehicular and industrial emissions, the composition of urban air, and the influence of airborne particles on human health and climate change. SOCAAR’s research helps inform policy, and monitors changes in human and commercial behaviour to help navigate the invisible harms latent in our urban air.
By collaborating with language centres and community organizations, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) Multicultural Connections Program (MCP) seeks higher newcomer participation in environmental stewardship by lowering economic, cultural, and language barriers that may limit access to nature-based events and local knowledge. The MCP delivers free educational programs that cover a range of topics from the Great Lakes and water conservation to solid waste management, biodiversity, First Nations’ pre-contact lifeways, and the impact of European colonization. In addition, the program uses TRCA’s green spaces for Growing Pollinator Plants, an initiative that creates better environments for native bees. In response to the needs of the large numbers of new Canadian residents who settle in the Greater Toronto Area within TRCA watersheds, the MCP addresses the rapidly shifting demographics of a migrating world, while recognizing our responsibilities to the non-human world.
Walk + Roll Peel works to promote active transportation in the region through a broad-based plan aimed at sharing resources and building community around walking and cycling. Recognizing the need for clear, concise, and region-specific advice for active transportation, Walk + Roll Peel provides information covering all the varied concerns for vulnerable road users—from mapping trails and monitoring road conditions, to choosing a bike and efficiently carrying cargo. Jointly run by the Region of Peel and its three municipalities, the organization maintains listings of policy and planning documents, local events, and public consultations pertaining to active transportation. With the wide scope of information provided by Walk + Roll Peel, the Region is well positioned to grow its numbers of sustainable road users—a plan of action that is crucial in conjunction with improvements to roads, trails, and transportation infrastructure.