Carbon Neutral Conversations

Exploring the potentials and possibilities

June 14th 2022. Click here to read the conversation.

What will it take to achieve carbon neutrality in Canada?

In this first e-Dialogue of the Carbon Neutral Conversation series, our research team explored Canadian governments and their possible toolkits to achieve carbon neutrality. We also shared the methodology we will be using to answer our research question, what are the governance and complementary institutional arrangements that need to be put in place in Canada to realize a carbon neutral economy by 2030, 2040 and 2050? One question we asked ourselves is whether or not governments are capable of transforming themselves or do they react only to a crisis?

Moderated by Professor Ann Dale, the virtual real-time dialogue featured expert panelists from Royal Roads University and the University of Victoria -- Professor Leslie King, Dr. Evert Lindquist, Dr. Tamara Krawchenko and Dr. Katya Rhodes.

The Carbon Neutral Conversation series will follow the substantial and critical research by the governance team throughout Realizing a carbon neutral economy: A new governance framework as it happens on the ground. Interested in learning more about governance? Visit our curated resource library. 

Moderator

Ann Dale, Professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University. Professor Dale held her university’s first Canada Research Chair in sustainable community development (2004-2014), is a Trudeau Alumna, and a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Sciences. She is a recipient of the CUFA Paz Buttedahl Distinguished Career Academic Award (2014); the Canada Council for the Arts, Molson Prize for the Social Sciences (2013) and the 2009 Bissett Award for Distinctive Contributions to the Public Sector. Her book, At the Edge: Sustainable Development in the 21st Century, received the 2001 Policy Research Initiative Award for Outstanding Research Contribution to Public Policy. Her research focuses on climate pollution, governance, research curation, sustainable community development, social capital and agency. She recently assumed directing her school as of September 2019. She brings considerable strategic policy expertise as a former executive with the Federal Government.

Professor Dale holds degrees in psychology (1975) and public administration (1994) from Carleton University, and a doctorate in Natural Resources Sciences from McGill University (1999), Dean’s Honour List.

e-Panelists

Leslie King, Professor and Program Head in the School of Environment and Sustainability and Director of the Canadian Centre for Environmental Education (CCEE) at Royal Roads University. She brings extensive interdisciplinary experience to the team. Her recent research projects include Conflicting Knowledge Systems in the Pacific Northwest, Meeting the Climate Change Challenge (MC3), Protected Areas and Poverty Reduction: A Canada Africa Research and Learning Alliance (PAPR), Arctic Climate Predictions: Pathways to Sustainable Resilient Societies (ARCPATH), and Northern Knowledge for Resilience, Sustainable Environments and Adaptation in Coastal Communities in the Circumpolar Arctic (NORSEACC). Dr. King has led synthesis processes for large complex inter-disciplinary, international research projects, including the 10-year IHDP project and Inst. Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC).

Dr. Evert Lindquist, Professor at the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria. Since 2012, Dr. Lindquist has been an Editor of the Canadian Public Administration, a peer-reviewed journal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC). Dr. Lindquist is the former President of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration and former Director of the School of Public Administration. His research interests include central decision-making, public sector reform and how governments address complex policy challenges.

Dr. Tamara Krawchenko, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Administration and a member of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) at the University of Victoria. Dr. Krawchenko studies public policy from an interdisciplinary and multi-level governance perspective at multiple scales—from international frameworks to local politics.  Her research interests include political economy and economic geography, comparative public policy, land use planning and strategic spatial planning, community and economic development, territorial policies (regional, rural, urban), and transportation and infrastructure policy. Dr. Krawchenko's multi-disciplinary research has covered topics ranging from rural development to the governance of land use, infrastructure policy, intergenerational equity and public finance. She has authored over 50 articles, books and reports.

Dr. Katya Rhodes, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Administration and a member of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at the University of Victoria. She is also a President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics. Dr. Rhodes was a Senior Economic Advisor in the B.C. Climate Action Secretariat, leading economic analyses for the CleanBC plan and taught environmental economics at Royal Roads University. She conducted research on economic efficiency, environmental effectiveness, and political acceptance of B.C.’s climate policies. Her research skills include descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, energy-economy modelling, collection and parameterization of survey data and media and content analysis. She developed clean technology and green jobs databases at the Vancouver Economic Commission, analyzed provincial policy for the Ministry of Forests, Land and Natural Resource Operations' Cumulative Effects Framework, and investigated public and stakeholder views of B.C.’s carbon tax at the Pembina Institute.