Pragma Council was pleased to host its Spring conference at St. Paul University College on May 11, 2022, the first in person meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. It was incredible to see everyone back together again to discuss the event theme “We’ve declared a Climate Emergency. Now what?”
The event began with the “Conference Chairperson’s Welcome” from Chair Ms. Audrey Jacob, followed by an introduction to the theme by Dr. Carrie Mitchell, School of Planning. Presentations followed from Drs. Clarence Woudsma, Rebecca Saari, Jason Thistlewaite (University of Waterloo faculty) and Dustin Carey, Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The afternoon block was split into two panel discussions with several speakers. A panel of municipal practitioners was led by Sean Hertel, and composed of Devon Calder, Michael Dean (Halton Hills) and Lisa Prime (Cambridge). Audrey Jacob led a panel composed of private sector professionals, including: Jeanhy Shim, Doug Tarry and Geoff McMurdo. The discussion was well received, and catalyzed important thinking around how to implement concrete climate actions in our cities. Keynote speaker Dr. Sarah Burch, Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Governance and Innovation at the University of Waterloo provided an inspiring and thought-provoking presentation titled “Shifting our gaze on climate change - from waiting for innovation to the amplification of solutions that work”.
Kayleigh Swanson was awarded the John Horton Pragma Graduate Award and David Pau was the recipient of the John Horton Pragma Undergraduate Award.
The event concluded with an update from Dr. Markus Moos, Director School of Planning.
Kayleigh Swanson was awarded the John Horton Pragma Graduate Award and David Pau was the recipient of the John Horton Pragma Undergraduate award.
The event concluded with an update of from Dr. Markus Moos, Director School of Planning. [David Pau]
