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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.

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.

Red Deer, Alberta hosted Canada’s largest amateur sporting event in February 2019, the Canada Winter Games (CWG). There is little research on sustainability on the scale of a national amateur sporting event or impacts within the host community. Therefore, the research questions asked: can the introduction of sustainability initiatives through a sporting event truly have a lasting impact on the future of sustainability practices in Red Deer? Pre- and post-Game interviews were conducted with the sustainability managers and individuals at organizations involved in planning the Games. The results highlight that local community members are instrumental in affecting change by setting goals and it is critical to engage in planning sustainable initiatives as early as possible. Hosting the Games served as a catalyst for a range of sustainability initiatives in the City of Red Deer, which suggests that sustainable practices are likely to grow in the community.