Category Archives: News & Updates
As some may recall, this past September, the Sustainable Waterloo Region team made some fairly significant changes to our shared identity, including a move from our first office on King St. in Uptown Waterloo to our collaborative current space in the Tannery here in downtown Kitchener. We made this original move in response to a […]
At its inception in 2008, Sustainable Waterloo Region intentionally steered clear of commenting on issues of public policy. We made a strategic decision to focus on our core service offering (the Regional Carbon Initiative) and develop valuable stakeholder relationships across all sectors and partisan lines. This approach worked well for the organization but was questioned […]
I was following a conversation on Twitter a couple of weeks ago between passionate Waterloo Region advocates, James Howe and Jason Shim. A discussion had sparked about whether an organization could rely on pro bono work and volunteers to drive their communications strategy, or whether consistent, quality communications are best left to paid professionals. Paid […]
As the winter season winds down, you may find yourself questioning if it ever really came in the first place. March 21st will mark the end of what some are calling the winter that never was. There has been a lot of chatter across the country about this unusually warm and variable season, but how does […]
In my last post, I reflected on all of the growth we’ve been experiencing at Sustainable Waterloo Region recently, and ended with some of the challenges that have emerged as a result. Today I’d like to pick up on one of those challenges: how our governance model has evolved over the past year in response […]
So, you’ve already made the decision to commit your organization to improving its operational sustainability. (And if you haven’t, well, why not?) You probably made this decision for the most altruistic of reasons – “It’s the right thing to do!”, or “Preserving the planet so future generations can enjoy the things that we do.” But […]
Last week I, along with colleagues Sarah and David, test drove a new Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle) through WISE (Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy) at the University of Waterloo. I was surprised by the general power, feel, responsiveness, and handling of the vehicle itself. Even at 110 km/h on the highway, the i-MiEV […]
Sustainable Waterloo Region, with the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, has recently launched research into the possibility of scaling up the work of SWR to regions and communities across Ontario. In the past we have informally coached communities in Niagara (the Niagara Sustainability Initiative) and Hamilton (Sustainable Hamilton), however we have yet to establish […]