Projects

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Areas of expertise

  • Regenerative and sustainable systems: capacity building, adult education/(un)learning, research, practice, and progress monitoring and reporting
  • Transformative urban/local sustainability; sustainability and climate transitions, mitigation/adaptation; sustainable community development
  • Applied social research, incl. community engagement, consultations, and partnerships, through systems and justice lenses

Select projects and milestones

Look for the green boxes below to read about my achievements and accomplishments!

NOW AVAILABLE! Check out our new book, the 5th edition of Toward Sustainable Communities: Solutions for Citizens and Their Governments!

Consultant for the Municipal Net-Zero Action Research Partnership University of Waterloo (UoW), Canada
  • Provided regional/local expertise (climate, energy, social dynamics) for the project and research protocols, mapped stakeholders
  • Conducted archival research on net-zero initiatives in BC communities
  • Conducted interviews
  • Communication liaison with local partners; meeting organisation
  • Case study write-up
Lead in university-wide consultations for the design and development of sustainability and climate learning opportunities for SFU students, staff, and faculty – for Goal 1 of SFU’s Strategic Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (2022-2023)
  • Mapped stakeholders and engaged 130+ university community members directly and hundreds indirectly
  • Conducted dozens of interviews
  • Collaborated with 8 student groups
  • Chaired and coordinated action planning and advisory groups; organised meetings and events
  • Developed a baseline survey for climate literacy
  • Analysed collected data on end-user needs, behaviour, and suggestions
  • Provided recommendations to policy-makers
  • Developed resource library with tools and best practices globally

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Co-facilitator of the global Pando Community of sustainability researchers and practitioners – and the Pando community on LinkedIn!
Lead researcher for the development of a framework for SFU’s Global Engagement, SFU International (2021-2023).
  • Conducted more than 20 focus groups in an inclusive, institution-wide stakeholder engagement process
  • Collected and analysed quantitative and qualitative data about SDG-related activities in the four functional areas of the university
  • Supported development of a comprehensive framework for the university’s international initiatives
Course facilitator and instructor, Climate Action Student Collaborative, SFU Sustainability (2021-2022).
Researcher, project “Measuring and managing living within Earth’s carrying capacity at the city scale” (Canadian federal-funded project), Centre for Ecocities, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Canada (2020-2021).
(see also publication in About page)
  • Conducted extensive global research on urban sustainability, ecocity, and urban climate frameworks and tools
  • Identified and compared 33 frameworks, along with dozens of metrics/indicators
  • Supported research on urban governance and capacity-building for climate mitigation and adaptation
  • Co-authored final report and peer-reviewed academic article
Instructor, Sustainable Development Program, SFUSD381 – Building Sustainable Communities (2016-2020) (the course included local community partnerships, e.g., with CityStudio and the City of Vancouver, photo from the 2018 Hubbub event).
  • Under my guidance, students provided systemic analyses and holistic recommendations to local policy-makers and civil society organisations about topics such as developing resilient local food and transportation systems, effective climate communication, and resilient local infrastructure.
Consultant, development of Scottsdale’s Sustainability Plan. Member of the “Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service” team, Arizona State University, USA.
  • Researched and evaluated urban sustainability plans and tools to identify best practices, in the US and globally
  • Inventoried and evaluated past and current sustainability efforts, initiatives, and indicators in Scottsdale
  • Collaborated with key municipal and other stakeholders through interviews to identify local societal trends and key sustainability opportunities and challenges
  • Drafted a Scottsdale Sustainability Scan Report and a presentation to communicate research results to diverse audiences
Urban sustainability planning and assessment: two in-depth case studies. District of North Vancouver & City of Maple Ridge, B.C. (2017-2018) (details here)
  • Analysed local sustainability transitions and societal trends using systemic tools, incl. baseline assessments & stakeholder mapping
  • Organised and coordinated participatory foresight/backcasting activities/events with City Council, senior staff, and community members
  • Researched local political and governance structures and climate-related social issues
  • Submitted policy recommendations for integrated collaborative solutions to support holistic and evidence-based policy-making
  • Developed customised frameworks for progress monitoring with contextual local sustainability indicators and data sources (metric categories covered social, economic, and environmental aspects, from natural resources, energy, housing, and transportation, to education, health, food systems, employment, governance, and culture)
Applied social research aiming to enhance sustainability and climate education, incl. on the potential of Open Online Resources and interactive educational techniques, SFU (2015-2019), seven projects that included progress monitoring, analysis of research results, and visual and text reporting.
Project exemplars here.
Read all final reports here.
Participation in the launch of Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Canadaon May 7, 2018. I briefly spoke for SDG 11, the UN Sustainable Development Goal for Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Development of a database of Open Educational Resources related to Sustainable Development and Sustainable Community Development: oer4sd.omeka.net (2017-2018).
Co-organizer of and presenter at the 4th International Urban Research Symposium, ICLEI World Congressin Seoul, South Korea.

Participation in the Leverhulme International Network “Tomorrow’s City Today – An International Comparison of Eco-City Frameworks”, with SFU’s Centre for Sustainable Community Development and Dr. Mark Roseland (2014-2015).


Supporting research and capacity building for projects BUILD UP Skills and BUILD UP portal (energy efficiency of buildings), in collaboration with SYMPRAXIS TEAM.
Research, writing, and presentation of three studies on the Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for the South Europe regions: one study for a prefecture in Cyprus, one for a region in South France, and an overall study (“REGIOCLIMA“, an INTERREG IVC project – EU Cohesion Policy).
Reforestation projects in 6 areas around Greece, in collaboration with ENGOs, local city councils and staff, corporate partners, and charitable foundations. Planting more than 110.000 trees in events with hundreds of people of all ages.
See for example the TV commercial of the reforestation project sponsored by Coca Cola 3E and another one sponsored by the National Bank of Greece.

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