ECO-CRISIS WEBINAR
MAY 2021
In May 2021, HNP Ontario hosted its first ever event, the Eco-Crisis Webinar, which consisted of seven bi-weekly virtual workshops revolving around environmental sustainability and green entrepreneurships. Each hour-long workshop featured a reputable guest speaker (ie: doctors, professors, eco-preneurs or other non-profit organizations) who educated the audience on a specific and complex concept, related to current environmental crises.
KEREN BROMBERG
Keren Bromberg is a senior coordinator at Credit Valley Conversation (CVC), a community-based environmental organization, dedicated to protecting, restoring and managing the natural resources of the Credit River Watershed. As HNP Ontario's first guest speaker, Keren spoke on the significance of conserving and protecting the Credit Valley Watershed as well as the importance of youth involvement within environmental action through CVC's "Youth 4 the Credit" and "Conservation Youth Corps" programs.
"If we take care of our land and water, then our economy and health will be stronger."
-Keren Bromberg
TENA LAVRENČIĆ
Tena is an anthropologist, activist, and ethical fashion writer based in Brussels, Belgium. She owns her writing business, Thinking Threads. Tena works with small to medium sized ethical brands, helping them redefine the standards of the fashion industry, one word at a time. In her workshop, Tena talked about the importance of doing business differently, as well as how to start getting involved with sustainable businesses.
THINKING THREADS
Tena's writing business, Thinking Threads, offers blog-writing, copywriting and content consulting! She writes on topics such as sustainable fashion, consumerism and is an advocate for ethical fashion.
"You must act now, because there is no Planet B."
-Green Hope Foundation
GREEN HOPE FOUNDATION
Green Hope Foundation is a youth led non-profit organization that operates in 25 countries around the globe. They use education for sustainable development as a transformative tool to empower youth and adults while providing them with the knowledge, skill, attitudes and behaviours to think and act for a sustainable future. Green Hope Foundation's actions are guided by the United Nations mandate of "Leave No One Behind." They focus on several global issues including climate justice, social uplift, land degradation, clean water & sanitation, and more!
SARA BELONTZ
Sara is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Western Ontario. The research she specializes in includes examining the transport and fate of plastic debris and microplastic pollution in freshwater environments. During her webinar workshop, Sara spoke about microplastics in surface and subsurface sediment of Lake Huron, North America.
"A single piece of litter can change a life."
-Sara Belontz
"Even if we stopped nuclear power generation tomorrow, we will still have to deal with the waste created from many decades ago."
DR. TOM AL
Dr. Tom Al is a professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Ottawa. He specializes in the research of groundwater, such as contaminants and protection in waste management. During his webinar, Dr. Tom Al discussed the deep geological sequestration of nuclear waste, and how groundwaste and the biosphere can be protected.
-Dr. Tom Al
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE TO EXTREME WEATHER (CREW)
CREW (Community Resilience to Extreme Weather) is an initiative that helps discover and explore new ways of communicating our need to adapt to the increasingly dangerous weather patterns. They are an award-winning grassroots volunteer-driven project who aim to build a network to inform, educate and help communities prepare for future extreme weather. During their webinar, CREW focused on their work in Toronto's St. James Town and the disproportionate impact of extreme weather on racialized and low-income populations, and the rewards of volunteering.
"Bringing together green spaces and building community resilience is of utmost importance. Leadership creation, meeting facilitation and communicating effectively. We need it right now."
-Sheila Murray, CREW Team
"As we take away the natural landscape, we warm up the planet."
-Dr. Brad Bass
DR. BRAD BASS
Dr. Brad Bass is an educator in complex systems, as well as the founder and director of the University Research Experience with Complex Systems (URECS) program that aims to offer opportunities for undergraduate and secondary school students to explore complex systems. During his webinar, Dr. Brad Bass discussed his past work on green infrastructure and the URECS program at the University of Toronto.
