Josephson is the 2012 Staff Sustainability Champion

Ken Josephson (geography) was celebrated as the 2012 Staff Sustainability Champion at the opening reception of the Connect U all-staff conference on Feb. 20. While UVic is home to countless people who help make our campus more sustainable, a few stand out in the way they make a difference and inspire others. Josephson is one of those people, and the second UVic employee to receive this peer-nominated annual award.

In his 30 years at UVic, Josephson—a cartographer in the geography department—has made sustainability the guiding principle behind everything he does. He is perhaps best known for his work to spearhead community mapping projects, including the UVic Green Map [mapping.uvic.ca/]. Community mapping incorporates citizen engagement to help create a sense of place and a collective vision for sustainability. Josephson is also the co-creator of the UVic Living Stories project [http://mapping.uvic.ca/uvic50/], which gathered stories of UVic’s environmental history as an enriching place-making exercise.

Josephson was intimately involved in the design of some of the key sustainability features of the Social Sciences and Mathematics Building in which he works, including the green roof and the community mosaic project. On a smaller scale, he researched and arranged for the purchase of compostable plates, cutlery and cups for the geography department, and maintains the office composting program. Josephson also ensures the cartography department uses 100-per-cent post-consumer waste recycled paper, and biodegradable vinyl for printed banners and posters.