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Ambika Opal, Manager of Global Programs and Initiatives at WISE participated in a side event at COP26 run by Indigenous Clean Energy, titled “Indigenous Renewable Energy Microgrids for Energy Transition ‘Just Climate Energy’”. Ambika shared highlights of how remote, islanded, coastal, and Indigenous communities are using renewable microgrids as a solution for community energy needs.

Ambika Opal conducted a presentation at the World Forum on Climate Justice along with other regional co-leaders of the Worldwide Teach-in on Climate Justice. Ambika shared how energy access is an intrinsic part of climate justice, and how AE4H members are working towards climate justice.

In September 2021, Dr. Jatin Nathwani and Ambika Opal facilitated an Innovation Lab for approximately 40 participants of the S-@ccess conference. This Innovation Lab saw experts working together across disciplines to design solutions to real global challenges regarding energy access.

In keeping with the ‘Innovation Lab’ framework of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, participants from the University of Waterloo and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi were selected for an event focused on sustainability topics. 

The webinar was hosted by the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE) and the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3). The featured speakers explored a range of climate solutions and recommendations as they discussed critical topics like Green Recovery and a Just Transition. This webinar was part of the Solve Climate By 2030 series led by the Bard College in the US. The series is an international movement educating university and high school students about how an ambitious Green Recovery based on local action can put us on the way to solving climate change by 2030.

UWaterloo’s Impact Alliance and Global Spark hosted a virtual solutions hackathon called the “SDG Impact Challenge''. This event partnered with three local organizations who are tackling some of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE), the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3) and Food4Kids.

Ambika Opal (WISE Manager, Global Projects and Initiatives) gave a talk at TEDxQueensU. In her presentation, she explored the idea of access to energy as a catalyst for many forms of international development and presented tangible examples from her experience at the United Nations Development Programme Cambodia and current projects at the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy.

WISE co-hosted and sponsored an event in the city of Chennai (India) with the Energy and Fuel Users’ Association of India (ENFUSE), and SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) on clean energy access.

The workshop themes consisted of:

• Carbon Dioxide Capture – Storage – Conversion,
• Electric Mobility – Technology – Infrastructure,
• Hydrogen Energy – Commercialization in Industrial Applications,
• Smart Energy Networks,
• Internet of Things (IOT),
• Solid Waste Management and Disposal – Recyclable,
• State Space Controller,
• Battery Technologies,
• Renewable Energy Integration

2019 Energy Day Event was co-hosted by the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) and the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology (CBB).

• Panel 1: Energy Services Delivery: Is there a changing of the guard?
• Panel 2: Nano-based Energy Innovations: Breakthroughs or Bust?
• Panel 3: Bioenergy Solutions: Can it shape the transition to a low carbon futue?r

WISE offered the students an opportunity to showcase their work with a poster during the innovation showcase at Energy Day (2019).