In the course, students are asked present industry‑ready marketing campaigns directly to industry representatives. When Rachel Saarony's turn was up, she noticed her hands trembling as she walked into the offices of Penguin Random House Canada (PRHC).

The fourth-year professional writing student was about to present a full-scale marketing plan to the country’s largest book publisher, completing the final assignment for PRWR 3004/4004 – an upper-year course designed to bring real-world publishing exposure into the classroom.

For Saarony, the moment felt significant. “I felt a lot of pressure to leave a strong impression in front of industry professionals,” she says. It was her first encounter with the publishing industry, and the stakes felt real.

That opportunity was exactly what Matthew Bucemi, director of �첥��Ƶ’s Book Publishing Specialization in the Writing Department, had in mind when he helped reshape the program in 2022. Among his efforts was the desire to create meaningful connections between academic learning and the industry realities students would face after graduation.

“My goal was for students to get a level of hands-on experience that a classroom can’t provide,” Bucemi says.

As part of that push, Bucemi drew on industry connections at Penguin Random House Canada and approached Polly Beel, director of marketing and publicity, to explore collaborations. The result was PRWR 3004/4004, a course grounded in a shared idea that students learn best when they are asked to meet professional standards and should have the opportunity to present their work beyond the classroom. “What does it feel like to really present something to senior staff at a publishing house?” says Bucemi.

First, however, it was Beel’s who would present. In January, she and members of PHRC's marketing team visited Bucemi’s class to introduce a project where students would develop original, comprehensive marketing plans for Spoiled Milk, a debut supernatural gothic horror novel scheduled for release.

While students were given broad creative freedom, Beel outlined the same expectations a marketing team like theirs would face, including deliverables, timelines and creative standards. “It reframed the project from a classroom exercise into something that felt professionally real,” says Saarony.

The class was divided into five teams, each responsible for a different piece: a preorder push, influencer outreach, paid digital advertising, organic social media content and an in-person reader event. Over the course of three months, students worked collaboratively to build a unified, multichannel strategy that blended digital marketing with immersive, experiential ideas.

The final campaign leaned heavily into the gothic atmosphere of Spoiled Milk. Elements were timed around culturally resonant moments, such as Friday the13th and Halloween, with the aim of extending the novel’s eerie tone beyond the page. One proposed initiative – dubbed a “Summer-ween” reader event – imagined bringing the book’s haunted boarding school setting into the real world.

Saarony served as one of two team leads on the influencer mailer project, which focused on creating a tactile, interactive experience for book-focused creators on TikTok and Instagram. She and her team designed a themed mailer inspired by the novel’s setting.

The package took the form of a vintage steamer trunk and included story-linked objects such as tarot cards, a custom bookmark and a painted compact mirror featuring a rotting apple. Interactive elements encouraged recipients to explore the contents over time, including hidden messages revealed with a UV Ouija planchette (also known as a spirit board pointer).

“Our goal was to give influencers something they could return to,” Saarony says, “objects they could explore, decode and interact with.”

Another student, Lauren Russell, co-led the digital ads team, which developed a cross-platform advertising strategy tailored to online book audiences. The team identified platforms such as Goodreads and Book Riot, and created a range of static and animated banner ads, alongside short-form video content for social media.

For Instagram, Russell took on an acting role, posing as a fictional student from the novel’s boarding school in a character-driven mock interview. The team also produced a TikTok-style video showcasing gothic horror recommendations, positioning Spoiled Milk within a broader reading community.

At the end of March, students visited Penguin Random House’s Toronto offices to deliver their pitch.

After months of preparation, Russell says the key was stepping into the room with confidence. “We kept reminding ourselves that we knew our work was strong,” she says. “Our job was to show it clearly and enthusiastically.”

For Saarony, the nerves subsided quickly. “Once we started, I went into autopilot,” she says. “I trusted the preparation, and it went better than I could have hoped.”

Following the pitch, PRHC staff provided detailed, industry-aligned feedback to each group. Students were encouraged to think critically about their creative choices, audience targeting and feasibility. One piece of feedback resonated strongly across the class. “We were told that the presentation we had put together was corporate level,” says Russell. “I felt like all our hard work culminated in that moment.”

With the project complete, students reflected on what they gained. For Saarony, the opportunity helped build confidence in her ability to contribute to large projects, and to lead them – which sparked a new interest. During a post-pitch conversation with PRHC’s managing editor, Saarony mentioned her curiosity about the legal side of publishing – an exchange that led to an offer for her to connect with the company’s legal team to learn more.

Russell similarly described the experience as a turning point, noting how it sharpened her leadership, communication and research skills while demystifying how much planning and coordination goes into launching a book.

For Bucemi, those outcomes reflect the program’s broader purpose. Giving students the chance to apply their skills in a real-world context helps them see how theory translates into practice, and how their interests might evolve once they engage directly with the industry. “Understanding what professional life looks like before you graduate makes a real difference,” he says.

At the same time, he was pleased when Beel noted that the students demonstrated a level of ambition and creativity that would get them a job at any company in the industry.

“The biggest thing for me is helping students get practical opportunities that will support them as they enter the job market,” he says. “My hope is that putting something like this on their resume will be a real X-factor when they're looking for a publishing job."

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Created in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the initiative brings together researchers, community organizations and international partners to build knowledge and capacity to respond to the global water crisis.

With Shooka Karimpour, associate professor at the , as academic director, the academy supports learning, strengthens global dialogue and bridges water knowledge with decision-making and public policy.

"Water insecurity means different things for different groups and different demographics," says Karimpour.

While some water challenges are shared internationally, she says, the academy also works to highlight local issues – from changing ice patterns in Canada to the impact of drought on specific communities elsewhere in the world.

That dual focus shapes everything the academy does. Its free online courses are open to learners worldwide at no cost. Offerings include “On Thin Ice: The Impacts of Climate Change on Freshwater Ice” and “An Introduction to Indigenous Relationships to Water on Turtle Island,” among others.

The courses aim to build practical knowledge of water systems, governance and sustainability at both local and global scales – whether the learner is a student, a community organizer or a policy professional.

In 2024, the academy engaged nearly 8,000 participants from 147 countries through courses, events and partnerships including United Nations conferences, international research collaborations and public exhibitions.

One of its most recent collaborations illustrates how that work translates beyond the classroom. For World Water Day 2026, the Global Water Academy partnered with the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto to present a Microplastics Discovery Station. This brought York scientists directly to the public to demonstrate how microscopic plastic particles move through aquatic ecosystems. Visitors examined water samples, identified microplastics and engaged with researchers first-hand.

For Karimpour, the event captured something central to the academy's mission: moving water science from the digital space into hands-on, in-person public engagement with communities.

There is also work happening with community-based organizations to surface stories and solutions that connect research to lived experience.

A with water activist Swani Keelson and the non-profit Global Water Promise examined how water insecurity in Ghana affects women's physical and mental health – and how limited access to clean water compounds broader inequalities, including period poverty and barriers to education.

"We are providing them with a platform and opportunity to share not only global water insecurity issues, but also innovative solutions that have been developed to mitigate this problem," says Karimpour. "Our goal is to raise awareness and ultimately inspire collective action."

That combination of training, storytelling and public programming reflects how the work aligns with York's broader sustainability agenda.

While its mandate is rooted in Sustainable Development Goal 6 – clean water and sanitation – the issues it engages consistently extend into climate resilience, health, gender equity and governance. The work around the Ghana story advances SDG 5 on gender equality, while the microplastics research supports SDG 14, life below water.

"You can't really confine the impact to one SDG because water availability is such a deep issue," says Karimpour. "It really affects and falls into a lot of other SDGs as well."

Karimpour credits strong institutional support from York, including from University leadership, as central to the academy's growth. Looking ahead, Karimpour says it will continue to build new courses and partnerships, with an emphasis on reaching communities that have the most at stake in global water insecurity.

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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For real-world action to result from academic inquiry, researchers must be able to actively share and apply their findings.

This is the focus of York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit (KMb Unit): to help scholars build relationships with community organizations, government and other non-academic partners. It supports efforts to share research in ways that are more accessible and usable beyond the University, ensuring York’s work reaches the right audiences.

For Michael Johnny, manager of KMb Unit, that work begins with communicating a simple idea.

“My definition of knowledge mobilization is that it helps take the best of what we know and makes it useful for people in our communities,” he says.

Located in the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the unit provides services and resources for collaborative projects, helps broker partnerships and offers training and strategy support for researchers, students and non-academic collaborators.

Johnny says it plays an important role because academic research does not always reach audiences in the right way.

“If everybody accessed information through academic journal articles, then we really wouldn’t need a service unit like this at York,” he says. “But it’s safe to say that different audiences like to access information in different ways.”

That means helping researchers build relationships at the front-end of the research cycle, and offering assistance in translating findings into plain language. There is also a multitude of tools and resources that can help implement research into practice.

Among the unit’s core areas of work is partnership-building. Johnny says the office regularly engages with organizations such as York Region, the City of Toronto and United Way Greater Toronto to better understand the kinds of questions and broader thematic issues that matter to them. KMb Unit then works to connect those needs with relevant York expertise.

That collaborative work also shows up in how researchers plan grant applications, with the unit supporting scholars who require a knowledge mobilization strategy for federal funding applications.

“Quite often what they are looking for is help and support around developing that strategy,” Johnny says.

The impact of the unit’s work can be seen in the long-term research partnerships it has facilitated. Johnny points to the work of Jennifer Connolly as an example – a psychology professor in York’s .

Through partnerships the unit helped facilitate in York Region, Connolly’s work took on a new direction, guiding graduate student research and overseeing collaborative projects while conducting research on gender-based violence.

Connolly works in partnership with York Regional Police and York Region’s Children’s Aid Society studying the prevention of sex trafficking. She uses her findings to develop tools and approaches for early intervention, such as the York Simcoe Sex Trafficking Screener.

“It completely changed the trajectory of her engaged scholarship,” Johnny says.

He also highlights the unit’s work with Community Music Schools of Toronto, originally based in Regent Park. After the organization approached the KMb Unit with a broad set of research questions, the unit helped coordinate an advisory group of York academics to respond.

According to Johnny, the resulting connections helped secure a $2-million endowment for the Helen Carswell Chair in Community Engaged Research in the Arts at �첥��Ƶ, which creates meaningful opportunities for York students and faculty to work on projects shaped by community-identified needs.

KMb Unit’s training has expanded over time, including the introduction of MobilizeU, a non-credit course in knowledge mobilization. Johnny describes the offering as a “cornerstone service” that helps equip York researchers, students and community partners with tools and skills to maximize the impact of their work.

The success of MobilizeU, says Johnny, is due to the work of Senior Knowledge Mobilization Specialist Krista Jensen, who envisioned the program in 2017 and launched it in 2019.

The unit has also extended its reach through Research Impact Canada, a national network that grew out of early collaboration between York and the University of Victoria. Now made up of 46 members in Canada and the U.K., the network serves as a community of practice for knowledge mobilization, with York set to host its Canadian Knowledge Mobilization Forum in July.

For Johnny, one of the biggest challenges goes back to general understanding of what knowledge mobilization is, and why it’s important.

“For a lot of people, there is an understanding that knowledge mobilization is simply a dissemination or communications-based exercise around research,” he says. “And that’s not wrong. It’s just often incomplete.”

Applying research to real-world challenges, strengthening community partnerships and increasing research visibility are all key benefits of sharing the work of York academics.

Johnny notes that since it began operating in 2006, the unit has assisted in more than 1,600 unique interactions with faculty members, 2,000 non-academic partners and 2,500 students.

For Johnny, those numbers reflect the success of the KMb Unit and speak to the University’s a broader goal: helping research move into the world in ways that are collaborative, responsive and useful.

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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Emergency management at airports is uniquely demanding because of the complex, diverse and dynamic systems involved, says Ali Asgary, professor of disaster and emergency management in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

With dense traffic, multiple vehicles and operations often unfolding during changing or extreme weather, coordinating airside and landside activity remains a major challenge.

“Even a small emergency at an airport can have significant political consequences and cascading impacts,” Asgary says. “These are the dynamics that shape airport emergencies, runway incidents and large‑scale disruptions to air transportation.”

Asgary's research has gained renewed relevance amid the March 22 Air Canada collision between an aircraft and a fire truck on a runway at LaGuardia Airport. While investigations are ongoing, the fatal incident underscores how seconds matter during runway operations.

While it’s still too early to determine what led to the tragedy, Asgary says events often involve factors that emergency managers and aviation operators routinely study: real-time hazard assessment, workloads, communication and warning systems.

“Runway incidents often involve overlapping risks, including split‑second decision‑making, heavy controller workload and limited redundancy in warning systems,” he says. “When warning systems rely on a single communication channel, missed messages can quickly escalate into serious incidents.”

Asgary is executive director of – the Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation lab at �첥��Ƶ – where researchers and students simulate disasters and test response plans before they emerge in real‑world settings.

At ADERSIM, researchers use agent-based models to simulate aviation scenarios and examine how decisions by pilots, passengers, crew and ground emergency responders influence outcomes.

The lab incorporates virtual reality to help emergency managers visualize airport events and uses AI to analyze disruption patterns. It also explores how tools such as drones could support airside emergency response and risk assessment.

ADERSIM has also developed AeroHaz, a web-mapping application that identifies major hazards for airports worldwide to support hazard awareness and planning.

“Through a combination of computer modelling, human‑in‑the‑loop simulations, extended reality and AI, we can test how emergency response systems behave when multiple risks converge and conditions change rapidly,” says Asgary. “The work of ADERSIM contributes to York's leadership in disaster and emergency management.”

Major runway incidents can yield lessons for emergency preparedness – but only if they are researched, documented and incorporated into revised procedures. The incident also highlights the need for more research into the technological and human factors driving airport safety.

“Simulation-driven research allows emergency planners and responders to review how decisions are made, how workflows unfold in crisis situations and how to improve preparedness,” says Asgary.

In addition to leading ADERSIM, Asgary is also director of CIFAL York, a UNITAR centre that connects academia with leaders and organizations to tackle global challenges through specialized training in disaster management, sustainability, health and entrepreneurship.

Together with Maleknaz Nayebi, associate professor at the and associate director of CIFAL, he is leading a project to develop AI solutions for airports to minimize risks and enhance response operations. Using AI can help predict weather conditions, coordinate workforces and more.

ADERSIM and CIFAL York also share this research through training and professional learning for airport and emergency management leaders, and through public events.

Those who are interested in learning more can attend a two-part webinar series titled Airport Operations, Passenger Management, and Technology in the Face of Geopolitical Crises. Presented by CIFAL York and ADERSIM, in collaboration with UNITAR, the event runs April 15 and 25.

CIFAL York and ADERSIM will also contribute to UNITAR’s Airports Global Training Programme, when Nayebi will host “Future-Ready Airports: Preparedness for Mega Events Through Safety, Sustainability, and Smart Innovation” on April 22 and 23 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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�첥��Ƶ has launched a new public resource designed to help people better understand electric vehicle (EV) charging and make practical decisions about where and how to charge.

The initiative, led by Hany Farag, a professor in the , is supported by a $139,294 federal grant from Natural Resources Canada through its Zero Emission Vehicle Awareness Initiative, which funds education projects that support cleaner transportation.

"The hub is meant to serve a wide range of audiences, from everyday drivers and prospective buyers to building managers and municipalities planning for more charging infrastructure," says Farag.

The is an online platform that combines plain-language explainers with interactive tools. It helps users explore common questions, such as how long charging might take in different situations or what it can cost to install a faster charger at home. It is designed as a practical starting point for anyone trying to make sense of EV charging without a technical background.

The site is organized into two main parts. The first features short explainations and briefs answering common questions about charger types, home charging and why charging speeds sometimes vary. Users can also download information as PDFs. The second section is a growing set of interactive tools that help users explore real scenarios, such as a charging simulator that estimates how a vehicle's battery level changes over time during a session.

"A key aim of the project is to also address common misconceptions that can make EV charging seem more complicated or intimidating than it needs to be," says Farag.

The hub reflects the University’s deep research strengths in clean energy systems – grounding EV charging within the broader electricity infrastructure that powers homes, buildings and communities. It supports diverse settings, including condos and apartment buildings, where planning becomes more complex when multiple residents charge simultaneously within a building's power capacity limits.

Some tools tailored to multi-unit and municipal planning are still in development, but progress is steady and intentional, says Farag. His team is actively engaging collaborators – including representatives from municipalities, dealerships and the EV charging sector – to ensure the hub is shaped by real-world needs.

Core development is on track for completion by June, with an official launch planned for March 2027.

The project is a York community effort, with Abdullah Al-Obaidi, postdoctoral fellow, and Ahmed Abdelaziz, PhD candidate, leading the algorithms and software development that powers its interactive tools. Paulina Karwowska-Desaulniers – executive director of York's SmartTO initiative – supports community engagement, events and outreach.

The hub is being developed in collaboration with Moataz Mohamed – director of the Mobilizing Innovation for Transportation Lab at McMaster University – and the City of Mississauga, alongside industry partners EVA Canada and RideAlike.

Three years ago, York's Keele Campus was announced as a sustainability-focused 'living lab' where faculty, students and campus staff tested next-generation electric commuter vehicle prototypes. The hub builds on that momentum – supporting smarter, more practical planning for campus charging infrastructure, helping students and visitors navigate on-campus EV charging with confidence and keeping York at the leading edge of sustainable campus innovation as EV demand grows.

Looking ahead, Farag says the team plans to build national awareness by sharing the hub’s mission and resources through workshops, partner networks and by collaborations across Canada, ensuring the impact extends beyond York's campuses.

“Whenever there is a chance to advertise or publicize the project for any national effort, we will definitely take that opportunity,” he says.

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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Funded by the Sustainability Innovation Fund at �첥��Ƶ, the program – called Shifting – includes two initiatives: a series of public programs focused on ecology and resilience; and, the creation of a living document that will guide the gallery’s planning, materials, transportation and waste methods.

Clara Halpern, the gallery's assistant curator, says Shifting was inspired by a desire to address climate change anxiety – including her own – by leaning into sources of hope.

Building on the gallery’s relationships with working artists, curators and writers, the first part of the initiative will feature events exploring practical pathways to climate action in the cultural sector. Alongside the launch of this new program, the exhibitions Worlds Away by Anne Duk Hee Jordan and Winter Wheat by D’Andrea Bowie, are currently on view at the gallery and offer perspectives on ecology.

Another key component will be a series of public dialogues organized by the gallery. The first event, on will feature a discussion moderated by Halpern with Kirsty Robertson, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Museums, Art and Sustainability and director of the Centre for Sustainable Curating at Western University, and conservator Kim Kraczon, whose work focuses on reducing the environmental impact of materials and methods used in conservation, art production and exhibition-making.

Insights from these events will inform the second part of Shifting: the development of a living document focused on guiding the gallery’s operations with sustainable best practices.

In recent years, Halpern notes, resources supporting responsible approaches in the arts sector have emerged from Canadian organizations such as the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts and the Centre for Sustainable Curating, as well as international groups like the Gallery Climate Coalition.

While the Goldfarb Gallery already works to mitigate the environmental impact of its activities – for example, by minimizing waste and reusing or recirculating exhibition-installation materials when possible – it has not yet developed dedicated sustainability resources.

“I wanted to create the gallery’s guidance resource document because in the field of contemporary art it can be challenging, midway through a project and under time constraints, to research different options for more sustainable choices,” says Halpern. “The idea of the document is to have resources and information close at hand at each stage of developing a project.”

Working with Rute Collaborative, a Vancouver-based consultancy that supports museums and cultural organizations working on ecological sustainability, the gallery has been advancing work on the document, structuring it around the various stages of exhibition development and project planning. The project has also benefited from dialogue with specialists on sustainability at York, in particular Associate Professor Ian Garrett who teaches ecological design for performance and is the director of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.

Discussions coming out of the speaker series will also inform guiding principles in the document, alongside insights from partners, artists, students and faculty at �첥��Ƶ.

Once finalized later this year, Halpern will begin using and sharing the document while continuing to refine the information within as new research, practices and materials emerge. She hopes in doing so, it will evolve into a resource that inspires others, beyond the Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery.

“In reckoning with the scale of the climate change crisis, it can be difficult to envision our potential to make meaningful change,” says Halpern. “The hope for this project is to not get stuck in feeling powerless, and instead make shifts and create pathways to climate action and integrating more sustainable choices in the work we do.”

Featured image: Installation view at The Goldfarb Gallery of ��’A�Ի���������Ƿɾ���'����Re-member. Photo Credit: Hao Nguyen.

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A course director in the , Marchese has taught generations of York scholars, witnessing both the University and his area of study transform around him.

His introduction to York was, fittingly, a lesson in feeling welcome. When Marchese arrived at Atkinson College to hand in his CV, an administrative assistant named Marilyn Weinperer greeted him warmly and suggested he walk down the hall to meet the department Chair. He knocked, introduced himself, and Graham Reid – then-Chair of the department – responded by inviting him downstairs for tea and cookies.

"In my dealings in the past with college and university officials, it was often much more formal than that," says Marchese. "Overall, I found the Department of Psychology at Atkinson College throughout the 1970s and ’80s to be very welcoming."

What has stayed with Marchese across five decades is York's sense of community – from the college pubs where faculty and students gathered after evening classes in the 1970s, to the classroom conversations he still looks forward to today.

"Faculty and administration have been very helpful, very supportive and available to me," he says. "Although I enter the classroom as a singular individual, all of the support systems put in place for this to happen are a collective endeavour."

The change he values most is one of expansion – in course development, faculty recruitment and interdisciplinary study.

"There is more inclusivity now, with a vigorous pursuit of diversity and equity," he says. Students and faculty from a broader range of backgrounds, cultures and lived experiences have transformed the University into what Marchese describes as "a microcosm of the larger macrocosm of Canadian society."

These days, Marchese teaches PSYC 2230: Psychology of Motivation, though, throughout his career he has covered nearly three-quarters of the undergraduate psychology curriculum, supervising honours students through their fourth-year theses along the way.

PSYC 2230, he is careful to explain, is not a self-help class.

"Some students come in believing the course will teach them how to be motivated," he says.

Instead, the curriculum explores the biological, cognitive and emotional forces that drive human behaviour: why we act, why we sometimes don't, and how thought, feeling and circumstance shape our choices.

Marchese has watched psychology evolve dramatically. In the early years, behaviourism dominated – asserting that only observable actions, not inner thoughts or feelings, could be scientifically studied. Then came the cognitive revolution, putting the inner life of the mind back at the centre of the field.

Today, brain imaging allows researchers to observe the brain in action and understand how biology and thought connect. Perhaps most meaningful to Marchese, is that the field has grown far more attuned to trauma, how that trauma ripples through communities and cultures, and how its weight falls hardest on those who have faced oppression and exploitation.

However, some of Marchese's most memorable moments have happened outside the lecture hall. Former students approach him by happenstance – sometimes a year after his class, sometimes five – to say the experience stayed with them long after graduation.

"I really appreciate it when they come forward," he says. "It takes some courage to approach a former professor and say that they made a contribution to the path you've taken since leaving their class."

When asked what he hopes his legacy will be at York, Marchese doesn't hesitate to answer.

"That I tried to be a responsible and decent individual in helping students achieve their goals – and hopefully, that students would take note of the pride I feel in being a �첥��Ƶ lecturer, engaging students in a subject, psychology, that I find endlessly fascinating," he says.

After more than half a century at York, his advice to those just starting out is equally straightforward.

"Your commitment and your persistence in undertaking university studies are vital and important. Whatever obstacles there are, there are ways of dealing with them. Don't be discouraged by setbacks ... take advantage of the opportunity in realizing your personal and professional goals."

The greeting Marchese received on his first day at Atkinson College – a stranger pointing him toward an open door, a department chair sharing tea with him – shaped the kind of educator he became. Fifty-five years later, Marchese continues to extend that same warm welcome to his students and remembers how, for him, that first day on campus was a defining moment in his career.

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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In this first video for York in Focus: Leadership Perspectives, Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Lisa Philipps shares what she’s hearing across the University, the opportunities she sees taking shape and why she feels optimistic about York's path forward.

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CIFAL York is expanding its work in climate innovation with a new focus on how AI can support real‑world solutions to some of the most pressing environmental challenges.

Since its establishment in 2020, CIFAL York, part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) global network, has been at the forefront of climate change, disaster management and sustainable development. It offers innovative approaches to climate challenges, including training on emergency management, workshops on disaster risk reduction and programs that help local leaders prepare for both climate and health crises.

With the rapid evolution of emerging technologies showing great potential to support efforts in climate solutions, the centre is now expanding its mandate. “We want CIFAL York to be a leader in exploring the intersection of AI and climate change,” says Ali Asgary, CIFAL director and professor of disaster and emergency management in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Its first step toward that work is the launch of the Climate AI Innovation Hub, an initiative designed to explore how AI can support creative approaches to addressing climate challenges. Its goal, says Asgary, is to create a network for knowledge sharing, innovation and collaboration that can achieve real-world impact.

The hub’s first initiative – a monthly speaker series running until November – sprang from the idea of leading conversations that explore what is possible with AI.

“These computational powers can help us understand and analyze changes in climate. Maybe they can even prevent them by allowing for proactive – more than reactive – approaches,” says Maleknaz Nayebi, associate director of CIFAL and assistant professor in the . “It’s not that there is one answer that can be given. For us, it’s about raising those questions. That’s how we came up with the speaker series.”

The series will showcase, for example, how AI, IoT (the Internet of Things) and satellite technologies are being used to tackle pressing environmental risks – from predicting and managing wildfires to designing low-waste, circular buildings. It will introduce participants to the broader climate innovation ecosystem and highlight the role of innovators and entrepreneurs creating scalable solutions for sustainability, resilience, circular economies and low-carbon transitions.

The series will raise awareness about climate entrepreneurship, explore sector opportunities and obstacles, and empower students, early-career professionals, founders, researchers and community innovators to take an active role in environmental research leadership.

“Our goal is to help people understand how these technologies are being developed and used, and to encourage the sharing of innovations,” Asgary explains. “We hope to inspire the next generation of climate innovators and show potential users – particularly government agencies – what tools and solutions are available to them.”

The speaker events are the hub's first step in engaging the community, and Asgary says past CIFAL series have served as a foundation for building networks of researchers and practitioners through live group discussions. Recorded content available on also becomes a knowledge repository that draws in new audiences.

“Many of our research projects in recent years have been fed by our speaker series,” says Asgary. Other outcomes have included white papers, book chapters, courses, certificate programs, short courses, community events and more.

Feedback from the first session in February suggests the new series is cultivating projects informed by the insights and networks it generates, highlighting the promise of what CIFAL aims to achieve.

“The hub is about creating connections, sparking new ideas and ultimately applying AI responsibly to make a tangible difference,” says Asgary. “At the end of the day, the goal is to contribute to solving climate change.”

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As part of the recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by �첥��Ƶ and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN), the three acknowledgements are considered a meaningful gift to guide how the University recognizes and honours the caretakers of the lands on which its campuses are located.

“These statements reflect the spirit of relationship building that guided this work,” says Audrey Rochette, assistant vice-president of Indigenous Initiatives. “This gift from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations centres community voices and the history as they want it reflected. When you hear the phrase 'Nothing about us without us,' this is an example of that."

The new acknowledgements replace previous versions used to open events, meetings and gatherings, as well as those incorporated into written materials, learning environments and University communications. 

The three versions – also available in French – include a statement for Keele and Glendon campuses, a second version for Markham Campus, a third statement representing all York locations across the Greater Toronto Area. 

York community members are encouraged to begin using the new statements in all relevant University contexts, including updating email signatures for faculty and staff. 

To help ensure consistent and appropriate use, Indigenous Initiatives�����Ի����ٳ����Division of Equity, People & Culture have developed protocols and supporting materials that outline the purpose of the statements, identify who should deliver them and offer guidance on their application.

These resources are available on a new webpage that serves as a hub for all land acknowledgement materials. The site provides the full official land acknowledgments, pronunciation examples, usage guidelines, instructions for updating email signatures – also found on York's brand webpage – and additional information to support the community in understanding and incorporating the MCFN-authored wording into daily practice. 

“Land acknowledgements are living documents. By using these new statements with care and intention, our community can now honour the work the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation invested in developing them,” says Parissa Safai, interim vice-president, Equity, People and Culture. “They reflect the partnership at the heart of our renewed MOU and our shared commitment to respectful engagement and stewardship of the territories upon which York is situated.”

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