Global change and sustainability
A business case for change
Adjusting to a changing world
Researcher spotlights
A business case for change
Climate change offers opportunities for businesses to gain a competitive edge by “going green” and reducing their carbon footprint. But that’s only half the story, says UVic’s Monika Winn, an international leader in socially and environmentally sustainable business strategies.
The other more daunting question is—how can businesses adapt to the actual physical impacts of climate change? “Some impacts are already being felt,” says Winn, who investigates how firms can enhance their resilience in light of the “profound uncertainty” associated with climate change.
Adjusting to a changing world
Climate change and civil strife are unsettling the world’s populations as never before, and the political and environmental impacts are being felt around the globe.
UVic researchers are addressing these challenges through their expertise in the many social, economic and cultural issues inextricably linked to ecological, environmental and community sustainability. Research areas include:
- watershed and water resource management
- forest ecosystems
- environmental economics and stewardship
- law and ethics
- ecological restoration
- sustainable energy systems
- resource geography
- geomatics
- ethnobotany
Our researchers are also exploring the many forces that are causes or effects of globalization. Research areas include:
- governance
- international law and trade
- politics
- public management
- feminist perspectives
- social policy analysis
Learn more about global change and sustainability research at UVic:
- Faculty of Social Sciences research
- Faculty of Engineering research
- Department of Biology research
- School of Earth and Ocean Sciences research
- Institute for Integrated Energy Systems
- Centre for Global Studies
- Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
- Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium
Researcher spotlights
A global player
Whether it’s calling for the expansion of G-8 membership or offering proposals to achieve self-sustaining peace in Afghanistan, Gordon Smith never hesitates to inject policy research into the public agenda.
As founding director of UVic’s Centre for Global Studies, Smith draws on his distinguished career with the Canadian public service to help restructure inefficient international institutions while championing Canada’s role at significant global meetings. “In a world where there are rule-makers and rule-takers, it’s better to be in the former group,” he says. Learn more about the Centre for Global Studies.
Sustainable aquaculture
Can aquaculture become more ecologically friendly? UVic’s Stephen Cross thinks so. At a research facility on Vancouver Island’s west coast, the marine ecologist is investigating the commercial potential of a modern form of polyculture—a technique that uses the organic waste from one farmed organism as food for other farmed organisms. His approach, known as sustainable ecological aquaculture, would address environmental issues, enhance seafood production and diversify the seafood industry in BC.
In the public interest
As the first program of its kind in Canada, UVic’s Environmental Law Clinic (ELC) attracts some of the country’s brightest students interested in public interest and environmental law. Under the supervision of senior lawyers, students offer pro bono legal representation and assistance, produce legal education materials and advocate on a wide range of issues.
The clinic works on behalf of community groups, First Nations and conservation organizations in BC whose voices might not otherwise be heard.
A drive to succeed
Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
PICS graduate fellowships
Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium
A drive to succeed
There’s nothing like healthy competition to get the creative wheels turning. That’s what the UVic EcoCAR team is counting on as they vie for top spot in a three-year North American student competition to design a fuel-efficient, reduced emissions vehicle.
The EcoCAR is one of many green energy projects involving UVic’s widely respected Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVIc), which works with public and private sector partners in areas as diverse as fuel cell science, hydrogen and hybrid vehicle technology, energy systems analysis, and energy policy development. Learn more about the UVic EcoCAR project.
Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
Led and hosted by UVic, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) brings together an intellectual powerhouse of climate change experts from BC’s four research-intensive universities—UVic, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and the University of Northern British Columbia. Researchers from other organizations, government representatives, and the private and non-profit sectors are also key participants.
PICS research falls under five broad themes:
- the low-carbon emissions economy
- sustainable communities
- carbon management in BC forests
- resilient ecosystems
- social mobilization
Solutions arising from this research will ensure that communities, civic leaders and industries have the best information possible to prepare for climate change. Learn more about research at the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions.
Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium
Quantifying the impacts of climate change and variability on our physical environment and estimating future conditions in Pacific North America is the mission of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC). The consortium works to reduce regional vulnerability to global climate change, climate variability and extreme events, such as droughts or catastrophic storms.
Collaboration on research projects is the key to success. PCIC partners with federal and provincial agencies on a range of projects including future stream flow on the Columbia, Peace and Campbell river basins, mountain pine beetle impacts in the Fraser River watershed, and climate change impacts in local communities.