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Need some reading material for lazy August days? Here is the latest edition to our newsletter. We hope it will inform and inspire. Do you have something that would inform and inspire the rest of our community? As we see climate chaos ramp up it is important that we all support one another with stories and news. Feel free to contact us if you are able to share something. We would be happy to help you do that here at R2:1. |
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01 - Aging in place while also climate adapting
By Cheryl Bradbee, BPhil, MCS, MDiv, MLA, PhD
02 - Climate Change Working Group (CCWG)
By Elaine Bradbee
03 - You too can have an impact
By Oruba Alwan, B.ARCH. LEED AP®. OAA Architect
04a - Is it time to evolve?
By Cheryl Bradbee, BPhil, MCS, MDiv, MLA, PhD
04b - Voices of Recilience - Proposal
By Aleksandar Janicijevic, Dipl. Ing. Arch
05 - Ocean Residency
By Una Janicijevic, multi-disciplinary artist & designer
06 - About Yasmin Ali Power Up
07 - Conclusion
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01 - Aging in place while also climate adapting
By Cheryl Bradbee, BPhil, MCS, MDiv, MLA, PhD
Climate change with extreme weather and multiple crises makes it difficult to plan a retirement. My 67th birthday is almost here. Over the past few years I've tried to plan my senior years. There are all sorts of ways to be a senior. Whatever you do, has to suit you, your context, and particular circumstances. I was lucky to have sufficient funds to build a new home though not where I was living pre-pandemic. I could not afford to build a home, even a modest one, anywhere in southern Ontario. So I relocated, with my sister, to New Brunswick. And now we live on the top of a hill, slightly outside of Fredericton, in an almost passive house, designed for aging in place. Except I made a big mistake when it comes to aging in place.
The house is designed well. Doors are 3' wide. It is all one level. Easy access. But the site turned out to be a steep hillside that backs onto the woods. Yes, bears roam here and deer and coyotes. Multiple health crises in the winter, when getting out of the driveway was difficult, convinced me that we need to move. The house might be both climate adaptive and good for aging, the location and site are not.
At the same time as we searched for a new site, closer into the city, we discussed what it means to be climate adaptive. A Passive House is not enough. We also feel a need to have some space for a garden, especially a productive one. And I wanted a lot small enough that I could both locate the house properly for active and passive solar but also be able to manage both lot and house as I age. The search was on and it took a long time. We looked at large lots and lots with existing homes that could possibly be torn down or renovated. Nothing was right. It was really frustrating. Until this February, during a snowstorm, with the power out for most of the city, the site came up online. It is ¼ acre, in a flatter sandy area, older neighbourhood, walkable to shops and transit. Perfect. I had an accepted offer in within 3 hours despite the fact that our agent had to submit by phone.
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Now we are building the next almost passive house. We will sell this one to finance the new one though costs have risen by almost 20% in 3 years. This new house has wide doors, one level, and at least one bathroom that would suit someone with a mobility aid. The kitchen is a galley kitchen with a 5' turn around. The driveway will act as an invisible wheel chair ramp coming up to the level of the house threshold, something not normally done here.
So lessons learned on aging during a climate crisis? Well, you have to be a prepper of sorts. I'm not into the retreat to the hills for a subsistence lifestyle. Way too hard at my age. Instead real climate adaptation takes place within the community. It means knowing your neighbours, building relationships, and planning together how to respond to weather extremes. And that is exactly what is needed for well-lived senior years, a community. Moving will allow us to become more integrated into the community, to participate in things, and get to know more people. All essential both for aging well and adapting to this new climate and new world. I look forward to the new house, a manageable site, and good walks along the trails in Fredericton. Maybe the occasional lost moose but hopefully no bears.
How are you adapting to new climate extremes? What change are you making in your life to meet the needs of our new reality? Let us know. We all need to learn from one another.
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02 -Climate Change Working Group (CCWG)
By Elaine Bradbee
At the University of New Brunswick, through their Center for Enhanced Teaching and Learning, we started a Climate Change Working Group (CCWG). We invited all faculty, staff and graduate students who were interested in working to address climate change to join. About 40 people are now members from both campuses. Many have said that they are thrilled that there is such a group, as they now have a place to meet likeminded people and work to make change. Others have commented that such a group was needed.
The CCWG started meeting in February with the initial task of deciding on its purpose. While it has not been finalized, the proposed purpose is to make systemic change at UNB, develop a culture of continuous thinking about the environment/climate change, combat mis/disinformation, provide tools for students to make change and reduce their anxiety, and work toward cross-disciplinary projects and research. This may change, but it is the statement the CCWG members are working from.
In March, my colleague and I presented the CCWG at an internal event called MOSAIC. We hold these internal events twice a year – one on each campus. We will be presenting the CCWG at each meeting, ending with an invitation to join.
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In April, it was decided that we would meet once a month and work through sub-committees. Nine have been filled by volunteers, so far. They are Leadership, Events and Workshops, Student Engagement, Integrating Climate Change into Curriculum, Grants and Research, Culture and Communication, Staff and Faculty Engagement, Climate Change Minor and Certificate, and a sub-committee for our second campus. The sub-committees have started to meet, elect chairs, and determine their own agendas.
I am on two of the committees, Events and Workshops and Integrating Climate Change into Curriculum. We’ve had our first meetings and are discussing ways to reach out through events and workshops as well as help instructors integrate climate change into their curriculum. Meanwhile, I’ve added sessions on integrating climate change into your curriculum as part of our professional development offerings.
So, stay tuned, the CCWG is looking forward to growing and making change. Meanwhile, if you have any comments, suggestions, or know of similar initiatives at your academic institutions, please share with us.
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03 - You too can have an impact
By Oruba Alwan, B.ARCH. LEED AP®. OAA Architect
I am working on a group about sustainability and systems thinking. This is just one part of my efforts. I am also involved in working groups that promote IDEAS – inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility and sustainability. But always, my focus is on preparing young people for their future and to give them the tools to improve things for themselves and their communities.
Another upcoming project is research on housing. The housing shortage is a major issue across Canada. But what about solving the problem with high quality, climate adapted housing? This is much more difficult as such housing typically costs a bit more. And much of the housing that is needed is for lower income groups, the marginalized, young people and seniors who are excluded from the rental and home ownership markets.
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The research, sponsored by Humber College of Applied Technology is meant to investigate who is doing high-level, climate adapted housing across the country and how developers and nonprofit groups get the job done. What kind of financing is needed? How should cities and planners be educated to choose such projects? How many are there and how many are planned? This research will benefit students but also provide information to decision makers and different levels of government.
This research and these groups enable communities that work together to move things forward. Climate adaptation, sustainability and IDEAS are essential if we are going to build a great future together.
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04a - Is it time to evolve?
By Cheryl Bradbee, BPhil, MCS, MDiv, MLA, PhD
Resilience 2:1 was organized primarily by people teaching in post-secondary institutions. We saw the need to bring information on climate resilience to the classroom. This was long before most were talking about these things. R2:1 was a pioneer with its focus on resilience rather than other climate change responses. But time has moved on. Perhaps it is time for R2:1 to evolve?
Those of us still teaching know that too many students continue to be unaware of what their future looks like. Many professors still do not include climate information in their courses, even in obvious ones. At the same time, there has been an explosion of websites, other media, non-profits, and others working on climate resilience.
1 Will you help us consider our evolution?
2 What would you like to see change or remain the same?
3 How do we get there?
4 How can we best serve you and the wider community?
Volunteers run R2:1. Membership and use of the site is free. But it costs in time and labour as well as financially to maintain the site. The Board has wrestled with these issues. The current website is geared to people who read, a lot. But research into Gen Z, the current cohort of post-secondary students shows that they prefer graphic based media.
Are we losing them because of our website set up?
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We have tossed around the idea of starting a new website under a new host which would enable a more graphic-based site that could appeal to Gen Z. We have explored the idea of expanding the community and conversation through a site that can host multiple blogs, and in that way expand the voices we give space to and hear from. We have even played with a new site name. . . Voices of Resilience.
1 Do you think Voices of Resilience is a worthwhile endeavor?
2 Are there other ways to be more effective in reaching out to post-secondary students and other young adults? What do you suggest?
3 If we move forward on this, do you have expertise you would be willing to contribute?
4 Are there other audiences we should reach out to? Those currently unreached by existing media on the topic?
Of course, all of this comes with a cost, financial and time wise. We need to also figure out how to relieve Board members of out-of-pocket expenses.
1 How could we finance the site and the people doing the work?
2 What is fair? What kinds of expectations should we place on volunteer labour?
We are open to feedback and suggestions. Please email the link below and let us know about any part of this. Nothing is fixed at this point. We simply see that after a decade with R2:1 that things have moved on. It suggests we need to evolve too. We value your insights and comments.
Thanks, Cheryl Bradbee, Chair of the Board =>E-mail
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04b - Voices of Resilience - Proposal
By Aleksandar Janicijevic, Dipl. Ing. Arch
In their last meeting the board discussed expanding our activities with the goal of appealing more to younger people. The suggested vehicle is a new website “Voices of Resilience." This does not affect the current website R2:1. The idea is to do both.
I have done research into the way we could make a new website work. I’ve concluded that one of the most attractive web platforms is called Squarespace. It allows for a very visual, graphic type of website, more appealing to web users. Especially younger ones.
I can give two examples of well-done Squarespace sites from my daughter who is a Resilience member.
Una #01. https://www.fpnexhibit.com
Una #02. https://www.positionasdesired.com
Cheryl has pointed us to a site by the UNB Student Engineers Society put together by the students. https://www.unbeus.com
The Squarespace platform is promising. It promotes client collaboration. With a user-friendly interface it allows for a creative and intuitive website design experience. This platform is designed specifically for bloggers and provides all the tools needed to launch and manage a successful blog. It also allows for email campaigns and integration with popular social media like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. It integrates email marketing, visitor site analytics, SSL security certificate and more.
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We can have as many blogs as we want on a Squarespace website which allows for more voices to contribute on a regular basis. We can create different blogs for distinct types of content including news, reviews, tutorials, collaboration, surveys and more. As a board we have discussed offering course materials and education. Squarespace would allow this.
Squarespace blogs come with an RSS feed, which means that you can power e-newsletters with them or let people feature our blog content in various ways.
While this is not an ad for Squarespace and there are certainly other platforms available, this is a platform with which some members already have experience. That makes it easier and faster to create a new site and get it up and running. My daughter will assist us in the construction of the site. You can see her site at https://www.unaart.com/design
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There is a cost involved. None of this is free. There is a cost to creation, production, and maintenance. We must either sell memberships, ask for donations, or find grants. Money must come from somewhere. Up until now R2:1 has been totally volunteer led and financed but time and financial costs are escalating for a small group of board members.
Of course, we would also ask for collaboration from all members. What should this new ‘Voices of Resilience’ look like? How should it read? What kind of images do we need? What kind of content and materials would appeal and engage our present demographic and new ones?
• Will you help?
• Do you have ideas on how we could launch this new initiative?
• Ideas for financing it?
• Ideas for content?
We need to hear from everyone on this. It is a big step, and we want to get it right. Let us know what you think.
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05 - Ocean Residency
By Una Janicijevic, multi-disciplinary artist & designer
Moku Arts Studio in California and MANGO Residencia in Buenos Aires recently ran a unique artist residency program. An international community of artists, scientists and facilitators came together for 6 weeks of conversation, experimentation and art-making with a resiliency-focused mindset. Their work has previously been recognized as part of United Nations’s Ocean Decade, and highlights the potential and impact cross-disciplinary—art and science—collaborations can have on the field of conservancy.
I had the pleasure of taking part in the residency as I return to a more active art practice, after 15+ years spent as an editorial art director. My art work centres around hand-cut collage and explores the complex and fragmented relationships between the land and generations of its human inhabitants—it’s the way I process the world around me, my path to hope and resiliency. You can see the work I produced during the residency in my portfolio and some of my more recent pieces are available as limited edition prints. |
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06 - About Yasmin Ali - Power Up
By Oruba Alwan, B.ARCH. LEED AP®. OAA Architect
I am excited to share my thoughts on Power Up: An Engineer’s Adventures into Sustainable Energy (Hodder Press, 2024) by Yasmin Ali.
Full disclosure: Yasmin is a relation. And I am proud of her. The book offers a captivating journey into the world of sustainable energy. It explores the crucial role of engineers, like Ali, in combating climate change. Her story not only highlights the pressing need for clean energy solutions but also showcases the innovation and dedication that drive this field forward. This is a must-read for anyone who is passionate about addressing climate change and advancing toward a sustainable future.
Yasmin has this to say about her own journey to clean energy, “An overriding memory from my early childhood in Baghdad, Iraq, is of the frequent power cuts. So frequent, the adults in my life barely batted an eyelid when the lights went out. It took me many more years, and much more knowledge and experience in the energy sector to see the irony of those power cuts for a country so rich in oil and sunshine. As an engineer working in energy over the past 15 years, I have developed a deep appreciation for the energy infrastructure and resources that power our lives. In my first book, Power Up, I take readers on a journey to reveal the bigger picture, from power stations hidden deep in the Scottish mountains, to individuals in rural Canada unleashing themselves from the main power grid with the help of solar panels and batteries. You will discover where we get energy from, how it is moved and used around the world – and why we need to understand the whole system if we want to transition towards a clean, green future.”
Yasmin Ali is a chemical engineer, dedicated to developing renewable energy projects. Having worked in coal and gas fired power stations, oil and gas, district heating systems and energy innovation, Yasmin transitioned away from fossil fuels into more sustainable energy systems over the course of her career. In addition, Yasmin has given over a hundred talks about engineering and energy, written for the BBC and Metro, featured in TV and radio programmes and completed a British Science Association Media Fellowship with the BBC’s Science Unit. In recognition of her public engagement work, she has been awarded and shortlisted for multiple industry awards, including the 2020 Women’s Engineering Society’s top 50 female engineers in sustainability. She currently works as a business and project development manager for RWE’s green hydrogen business in the UK.
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07 - Conclusion
This newsletter is at an end but there are more to come. Look back over this one. Did anything grab your attention? Challenge you? Or make you nod your head in agreement? Did it remind you of a story you could tell? We want to help you share your stories too. We are happy to work with you, do some editing and enable you to share what you care about. Let us know if you would like to contribute to the next newsletter. We would be delighted to work with you. |
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Resilience 2:1
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
We are a non-profit volunteer driven organization incorporated federally.
Members represent diverse group of disciplines and interests, all focused to
the issue of resilience for Canada trough a changing climate. |
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