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Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Creating Resilient Futures: Climate, COVID and the Economy

The Balsillie School of International Affairs, in partnership with the Ditchley Foundation, created the first in a three-part series of ‘Critical Conversations’. This ‘Critical Conversations’ series serves as a forum which brings global thought leaders together to bridge important perspectives on intersectional issues currently challenging global world policy. This inaugural event was entitled “Building Resilient Futures: Covid, Climate and the Economy” - a discussion on possible measures to shape a future for global resilience that is economically sustainable and capable of meeting the twin threats of climate stress and the health burdens of COVID-19.

Prof. Nathwani (Executive Director, WISE) moderated a panel consisting of three speakers: (1) Diana Fox-Carney (Climate Policy Expert), (2) John Hancock (Senior Policy Adviser to the Director General, World Trade Organization), and (3) William White (Former Chairman of the OECD Economic and Development Review Committee, Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements, and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada). The dialogue at the event was based on three key themes that guided the sessions of the day: Bankability and Finance, International Competitiveness, and Climate Legitimacy. Each session had a thematic speaker who gave an overview of the topic and the key issues, a panel that discussed the topic and offered diverse perspectives and a pathway to an outcome, where roundtable participants discussed the topic in a workshop format and provided recommendations.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Global Entrepreneurship and Disruptive Innovation (GEDI) Webinar Series: The Post Covid-19 Reboot Webinar - Supply Chain Considerations

COVID-19 has shaken the world, challenging societies and altering life as we know it. But from this crisis, opportunities have emerged calling us to action as we prepare to reboot from the COVID-19 lockdown. In this series of six free, weekly, online panels, experts from the University of Waterloo and representatives from some of Canada's leading companies will share their research, real-world expertise, and experience to help identify the risks and plot the future of adapting to this new normal.

Prof. Nathwani (Executive Director, WISE) and Prof. Olaf Weber (School of Environment, Enterprise and Development) looked at restarting, rebuilding, and reimagining both local and global supply chains. Through a lens of environmental and social sustainability, they discussed changes in governance, the rise of populism, and cost vs. other drivers in building, or rebuilding, supply chains.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Webinar arranged by Canadian Association of Business Economics (CABE)

Prof. Nathwani (Executive Director, WISE) was invited to give a webinar on the topic of Covid-19 crisis leading to a clean energy future. He discussed the three dimensions of energy, environment, and economy in his talk. He also emphasized on four key, interrelated global trends that not only pose a serious threat to the long-term viability of the oil and gas sector in Canada, but also point to clear pathways for alternatives that will sustain a low-carbon energy future: (1) Divestment of fossil fuel securities and disclosures of carbon liability, (2) Decarbonization, (3) Diversification of supply, and (3) Digitalization and electrification to replace existing energy sources.

Monday, February 17, 2020

CAST-LASG Workshop

The CAST-LASG Workshop was a week-long collaboration between the Living Architecture Systems Group and the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (CAST) at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, held February 17-22, 2020. The workshop focused on the terminology and form-language of polyhedral and related geometry, culminating in the design and installation of a lightweight architectural scaffold which integrated CAST’s ongoing experiments concerning fabric as form-work for liquid-to-solid casting and shell structures. A new form-making method was advanced during the development of the scaffold installation, by which basic hexagon-to-pentagon geometries were scaled up to produce dramatic changes in surface curvature. The workshop was preceded by preparatory talks and instructional folios as well as an introductory lecture by Prof. Beesley (School of Architecture).