Alexis Morgan – CEW/YCAS May 16th, 2002. Sustainable Toronto & Monitoring for Sustainability: A GRA’s perspective Alexis Morgan – CEW/YCAS May 16th, 2002.

Summary of the status of MFS Achieved primary goals! Website is functional & has been successfully used for multiple sites (construction ongoing). GTA School groups have participated in program (Community groups are underway). Program has expanded to a regional level (GTA, Peterborough & Niagara). Publications are in peer review.

Outcomes/Benefits PUBLICATIONS/PRESENTATIONS Publication of “Defining Sustainability, Sustainable Development and Sustainable Communities: A working paper for the Sustainable Toronto Project” (w/ Daniella Molnar) Submission of “Environmental Monitoring, Community Action and the Role of the Universities: The Case of Citizens’ Environment Watch to Environmental Management (w/ Beth Savan and Chris Gore) Presentation of “Monitoring for Sustainability: Linking communitites, biodiversity & ecosystem health with an online-GIS” in Washington, DC at a ISEH/UNEP/WHO/IUCN sponsored conference

Outcomes/Benefits (cont’d) PROGRAM DELIVERIES Development of “An introduction to Geographic Information Systems: Monitoring for Sustainability” teaching module for school/community groups.

Outcomes/Benefits (cont’d) EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES Attendance at “Community Partnerships for Sustainability Workshop Utilizing Geomatics, 2002” – April 3, 2002. Attendance at “Partnering for Sustainability” conference – April 8 & 9, 2002. Toronto, ON. Attendance at “Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy People: Linkages between ecosystem health, human health and biodiversity” – June 5 – 11th, 2002. Washington, DC.

Reflections… Sustainability is a long term, ethical principle. Partnerships represent powerful tools in harnessing inertia for a goal. HOWEVER, goal perception, funding sources, & timelines are major considerations in selecting partners and maintaining effective partnerships. Effective communication is key in maintaining focus & relationship. It always feels like you can do more than you can…and there is always more to be done…

Reflections… SUMMARY OF GRA EXPERIENCE Excellent opportunities to get involved in program delivery & get outreach/teaching experience. Good educational & networking opportunities from conferences and other project related activities. Excellent opportunities to be involved with the creation of presentations & publications. Good chance to test the waters with an ENGO while still in school.

Challenges (GRA) Time commitments of graduate school. Lack of/fuzzy definition of specific tasks and deliverables at times. Difficulty in straddling two institutions.

Challenges (Project) Goals & timelines Long term issues Partner goals (each slightly different) Project timeline vs. funding timeline vs. ecological timeline Long term issues Funding (who will pay?) Organization (who will run?) Control (who will provide database storage?)

Opportunities My opinion – NOT MFS The opportunities for cross-project collaborations and linkages are HUGE, but the present funding/time/organizational structure all pose obstacles. Examples of possible linkages to other ST projects (1) Seeds of our City: simply mapping the sites of food share gardens. (3) Ontario Communities Right to Know Initiative: posting information off of our site and/or including surface water data.

Opportunities (cont’d) Linkages (cont’d) (4) Promoting Education & Awareness of the Links between Health and the Environment: mapping human health (census data?), biological indicator health and human health, lichen data & air quality. (5) Professional Development for Sustainable Learning: development of a module for a LSF Institute. (6) Building the Management Capacity of the Environmental Non-Profit Sector: Mapping/listing local groups that could act in partnerships.

Opportunities (cont’d) Linkages (cont’d) (7) Understanding Shifts in Canadian Environmental Governance: posting data on the site of historical trends as they relate to decisions in governance. (8) Building Effective Leadership: Mapping green spaces and those areas that use pesticides vs. those that don’t. (9) Sustainability Tool-kit for Governance: link Monitoring for Sustainability & Sustainable Toronto with other municipal efforts (e.g. Vital Signs) and develop the website into a tool to inform local governance decisions.

Recommendations for Year 3 Recommendations related to my project: Improve functionality of spatial data (GIS) element of database by incorporating additional “sustainability” aspects of the database. Further integrate curriculum aspects into GIS module. Discuss website interface with end-users. Make long term decisions about the project (underway)

Recommendations for Year 3 Recommendations related to Sustainable Toronto: Provide incoming GRAs with specific tasks/ envisioned goals Improve linkages with Business sector Improve communication/collaboration with other efforts going on in the GTA Improve publicity of the project to the public (especially in the GTA) CONSIDER THE LONG TERM GOALS OF EACH PROJECT. WHERE ARE THESE PROJECTS GOING AFTER YEAR 3? And how do we get there? Keep up the good work!

CONCLUSION Sustainable Toronto needs to think sustainably (about itself). Combine social (the public) with economic (business partners) and environment (current partners) to provide an ethical LONG TERM vision for both itself AND Toronto as a whole.