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The purpose of this research was to describe oilfield workers in the Moose Mountain Provincial Park area in southeastern Saskatchewan views on climate change. This qualitative study, inspired by Grounded Theory, utilized fifteen, semi-structured interviews to analyze participants’ perspectives and experiences. For this research, climate change means, “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity and which is in addition to natural climate variability” (IPCC, 2014). This study has three main findings. First, participants have robust “sense of place” attachment that fosters environmental stewardship toward the Moose Mountain area. Second, participants hold conflicted understandings of climate change that alternate between the adoption of climate skepticism and acceptance of scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic climate change. Finally, this study demonstrates the importance of engaging in conversations with oil workers to facilitate a pluralistic narrative and navigate multiple worldviews to create understanding of a controversial topic in Saskatchewan.

Hotels are not just places where people sleep or eat; they can provide unique cultural opportunities and community experiences, and at the same time contribute to enhancing the local communities in which they are embedded. Hotels are also subject to prevailing social values and cultural shifts. Two such significant shifts now occurring are the growth of the leisure class and the demand from customers to provide greener alternatives. These shifts are challenging hoteliers to come up with ways to increase the sustainability of their operations and, ideally, as part of sustainable development, also contribute to the communities in which they are embedded. This research explores the role of sustainable hospitality and addresses the question: To what extent do hotel leaders integrate concepts of sustainability into their strategic planning process? A sustainable community development definition comprised of four conditions (scale, limits, place, and diversity) was used to guide the research and analyze findings. A multiple case-study approach was adopted. Research methods included semi-structured interviews and the use of visual explorer, a research tool where a set of images is used to support collaborative and creative conversations as well as background documentation. Three hotels in western Canada were studied. Due to the sensitive nature of the information disclosed by interviewees, hotel names, locations, and chain affiliation have been kept confidential. Research findings demonstrated that understandings of hotel sustainability were generally shallow as was the integration of sustainability initiatives into the case study strategic plans. A sustainable community development lens adapted from the scholarship of Dale, Ling, and Newman (2004 to 2015) was uniquely developed for hotel sustainability and a model subsequently derived from the case study data. This model, which integrates planning strategy imperatives with sustainability imperatives (ecological, social and economic) focuses on investment, innovation, sense of place, social capital, and leadership. Recommendations, both for practice and future applied research, include the development and implementation of a sustainability training and leadership development education program for hoteliers and the development of indicators based on the four conditions of sustainable community development (scale, limits, place, and diversity) to inform the greater understanding and implementation, as well as evaluate the sustainability of hotel organizations.

Young people’s futures are largely affected by society’s capacity and willingness to take action on climate change, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to a different climate reality. Young people are necessary collaborators and partners in solution design and decision-making, and should not be relegated to the margins. It is equally important that they are supported in enacting climate initiatives that educate, engage and encourage other young people – as well as adults – to become agents of change. Under the guise of “transformative climate change action,” this study explores motivations among young people to move from concerned observer to informed actor, and provides insight into the mechanisms and processes that contribute to the shift. These initiatives are meant to foster innovations and behavioral shifts, as well as challenge existing systems and demonstrate what transformative climate action is, conceptually and practically, on a local level in the specific context of Southern Alberta, Canada.

Peatland communities in western Canada have slowly developed over thousands of years with wildfires being a constant influence on these systems. As fires move through mature peatland communities, the aftermath is an open landscape where pioneer peatland species establish and develop. The open landscape supports the growth of successional species to create a mature forest, which is then ready for the fire interval cycle to continue. Fire cycles have been a constant on the landscape with little disruption; however, as climate change in western Canada has altered precipitation and temperature regimes, typical vegetation succession patterns that establish after peatland fires may be changing. The Chisholm fire of 2001 burned over 116,000 hectares of forest in northern Alberta, with most of the area being peatlands (treed fens). Vegetation surveys were completed throughout 2018 and 2019 within the burned peatlands of the Chisholm area and compared to an unburnt control area to identify species richness, diversity, composition and vegetation trends. I found, within the re-establishing peatland, a healthy, thriving and diverse community that is developing towards a community similar to the offsite mature treed fen. After almost 20 years of recovery, the affected vegetation community is dominated by peatland species. With temperatures and precipitation levels continually changing, the area is at a transition state in which the community may be maintained on the landscape or the area may experience a regime shift to a drier state.

China’s rapid economic growth in the past four decades has led to serious negative impacts on ambient air quality. Studies identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as the major cause of smog, which harms both human health and the environment. Nevertheless, VOC control faces tremendous challenges, especially when small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the furniture sector that account for a large percentage of VOCs in China find current, on-the-market technologies impractical and costly. To alleviate this problem, SunHub Inc. proposed a comprehensive 4-stage solution for abating VOCs at all stages of the production process. My study uses action research to assess the sustainability of SunHub’s solution and finds that it is indeed sustainable. To reach this conclusion, I conduct a two-phase case study. The first phase reviews the literature to determine the appropriate sustainability indicators for assessment, while the second phase analyzes SunHub’s documents and email correspondence with stakeholders.

Alderville is a First Nation community in southern Ontario, Canada. Recently, Alderville First Nation has emerged as a leader in clean energy. Guided by a shared community interest, Alderville has undertaken a large solar project, which is entirely owned by the community. The successful outcomes of the project to date has meant that Alderville First Nation is now positioned not only to expand their project, but also to consult with other First Nation communities regarding their own efforts to move towards sustainability. This research paper explores the movement towards sustainable community development in the First Nation community of Alderville, using a case study approach to answer questions about the ways in which these types of projects support capacity building and promote self-sufficiency in First Nations Communities. It was guided entirely by Alderville First Nation and showcases the contributions of Alderville in the field of sustainable community development. The resulting document includes a culturally relevant case study of Alderville First Nation’s solar farm that can be used to further support their own advocacy work and any work they undertake with other communities interested in moving towards similar sustainable development, as well as to provide evidence-based justification of positive outcomes that can be used to entice future investment in First Nations clean energy and other sustainable development projects. The research also shows that self-sufficiency for First Nations communities can be supported by appropriate investments in culturally relevant sustainable development models like clean energy social enterprises. The research also identified opportunities for better policy alignment to support First Nations and other Indigenous communities as they undertake sustainable community development approaches that are grounded in renewable energy.

The participants in this study were property owners who volunteered for involvement in a residential low-impact development (LID) initiative located in Toronto, Canada. The LID entailed the installation of rain gardens for the retention of storm water runoff in the front yards of the residents. Using a phenomenological approach based on individual interviews and a focus group, the study documented participants’ experiences of maintaining the rain gardens and their perceived changes in knowledge and attitudes concerning local actions that support sustainability. While much has been published on the implementation of rain gardens in North America, the assessment of people’s receptivity to this form of storm water intervention has largely gone undocumented. In the final analysis, the results of this study indicated homeowners are in favour of more nature at home, making rain gardens more accessible to the public, and replicating them as an adaptation strategy.

The Duvernay Formation of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin underlies portions of the Upper Athabasca Watershed. To access unconventional shale resources in the Duvernay Formation, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing were introduced to the area. Hydraulic fracturing requires large volumes of surface water for enhanced completions. This study examines the impacts of surface water allocations, as determined by the Alberta Desktop Method, on water availability of the Upper Athabasca Watershed, under the conditions of global climate change. Results of this study find most water allocations issued through temporary diversion licenses meet the constraints of the Alberta Desktop Method. The greatest risk for water imbalance scenarios occurs during winter months when historical surface water flows measure the lowest. Findings of this research will assist decision makers in understanding current and future water balance scenarios, and in determining appropriate and sustainable water management techniques for hydraulic fracturing operations throughout the Duvernay Formation.

This study used a qualitative approach to explore sustainability communication techniques in Jordan. To ground the research, I used the Jordan Green Building Council (JoGBC) as a case study, conducting semi-structured interviews with JoGBC’s planners and decision makers based on the following questions: how do the proponents and planners of JoGBC, as a (NGO), communicate the nature and importance of sustainable urban development to the residents of Jordan? How do these communication practices compare to other techniques shown to be effective elsewhere? The findings suggest that overall, JoGBC used a variety of communication techniques in their communication for sustainability, and these communications were also consistent with the communication techniques used in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Although the techniques used by JoGBC were created elsewhere, financial constraints were a key barrier for choosing and adopting sustainability communication by JoGBC. This study provides recommendations to improve JoGBC sustainability communications techniques, as well as sustainability communication techniques in Jordan in general.

This thesis explores the geotechnical and environmental engineering considerations in an embankment failure as they relate to highway projects founded on soft varved clays. The main objective of this thesis is to shed light on the New Liskeard, Ontario case history involving a highway embankment failure and the engineering considerations in the investigation of this failure. A re-analysis of the various investigative measures and methods that were utilized involved the review of site visit observations, laboratory test results, and instrumentation data. These provided a comprehensive picture of the failure conditions and the steps that were performed in rectifying this failure. As construction activities on varved clays continue to pose challenges for engineering design, the conclusions drawn and implications are intended to guide future research and industry practices in the construction of highway embankment on soft clays, with the goal of promoting best management practices in environmentally sustainable projects.