Giving Thanks in 2021

CULTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY – SUSTAINABLE HOLIDAY SERIES PART 4

While the Culture of Sustainability program continued to remain virtual over the past year due to the pandemic, we still had the opportunity to connect and support each other through virtual events, newsletters, and social media posts. We hope that these endeavours helped those within the COS community continue on their sustainability journey throughout the year. 

As another year comes to a close, we take the opportunity to express gratitude for the many individuals and organizations within the evolv1 community that have made a lasting impact throughout 2021. 

Thank you to the evolv1 Community

Thank you to all of the organizations that help make up the incredible evolv1 community. Keep reading to learn more about the different organizations that are part of evolv1. 

Sustainable Waterloo Region: A non-profit organization whose mission is to enable local organizations to convert their environmental sustainability interest into action and to build community within Waterloo Region.

The Accelerator Centre: The Accelerator Centre is an award-winning startup accelerator dedicated to building and scaling sustainable, globally competitive companies and giving startups the highest probability of long-term success.

University of Waterloo Faculty of Environment: The UW School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) develops knowledge, tools and expertise that integrate business and development activities with environmental and social objectives in order to realize a sustainable world.

VERiS: This space is the home of the Laurier research centre VERiS, the Viessman Centre for Research and Engagement in Sustainability. This research centre is designed to accelerate the transition toward a culture of sustainability across multiple spheres of society.

The Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3): Provides a focal point for climate change research, training and knowledge mobilization by contributing to advancements in climate change solutions worldwide. The Centre is an interdisciplinary hub with over 90 faculty members from all six University faculties and several external organizations, including Laurier, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Natural Resources Canada.

Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE): WISE is also UW based and offers their partners the full spectrum of energy R&D, education and training and commercialization activities to look at the energy issues facing our society. Over 100 experts are drawn from dozens of different disciplines spanning engineering, environment, science, applied health studies, math and arts. They also work closely with stakeholders, including; utilities, private-sector partners, government and the non-profit sector to ground their work in real-world issues.

TextNow: TextNow is a local startup that has grown to be one of the largest Waterloo-based tech companies. The service provided is an affordable phone service that changes the way people communicate and as an alternative to incumbent-carrier phone service.

Borealis AI: Borealis AI supports RBC’s innovation strategy through fundamental scientific study and exploration in machine learning theory and applications. The team aims to develop state-of-the-art technology and supports academic collaborations with world-class research centres in artificial intelligence.

EY: EY is a multinational professional services firm offering consulting services in strategy, HR, technology and financial services. They are a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services delivered help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. They develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In doing so, they play a critical role in building a better working world for their people and clients and for our communities.

Thank you to our Building Owner and Property Management

The Cora Group: Cora Groups Inc. is a premier developer and manager of Class A office space located in the Waterloo Region. Their properties are built for sustainability using state of the art LEED building principles.

Thank you to Sustainable Waterloo Region Sponsors

The Culture of Sustainability (COS) program is an evolvGREEN collaborative program that started out as a research project with a team from the Laurier Viessmann Centre for Engagement and Research in Sustainability (VERiS), the University of Waterloo and York University working in collaboration with Sustainable Waterloo Region. Sustainable Waterloo Region’s involvement in the COS program would not be possible without the support of our incredible grantors, funders and sponsors. A tremendous thank you to all the organizations that help make our work possible!