ANNUAL  REPORT  TO  FACULTY  COUNCIL  AND  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  2016/2017  

       

  The  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

872  885  

898   893  911  

921  

2011/12   2012/13   2013/2014  

2014/2015   2015/2016   2016/17  

TOTAL  SEED  ENROLMENT  2011/12-­‐  2016/17  

SEED’s core expertise lies across several inter-related areas: sustainability management; international development, economic development and innovation and social innovation.

 

The EcDev team sharing news of the MEDI launch and other details at the annual ECDEV conference

SUSM Student (Confirm name!) thinks the program gets a major thumbs up for reals at the Faculty Graduate Program Open house.

ENBUS 402 students explaining their research findings to EB Alum and former IC3 Associate Director Sarah Brown

 

 

 

 

 

MDP  students  starting  their  trip  in  Jamaica  

 

A  hike  into  the  “Jamaican  alps”  

Dr. Simron Singh’s Research on the Nicobar Islands presented in the President’s Office February 2017

 

 MEDI students tour Gunn Hill Cheese just south of Woodstock

 

 MDP students begin an experiential learning opportunity in Jamaica, February 2017.

 

MDP students enjoy a hike into the Jamaican “Alps”

 

A panel discussion during a campus visit with Jeffrey Sachs

 

SEED  Enrollment  numbers  and  growth  over  time  

Year*  

Undergraduate  head  counts   Graduate  head  counts    

EB   EB  2+2   INDEV   LED   MEB   SIG   MDP   MES  SM   Total  

2011-­‐12  

515    

(123  1st  years)   66  

153    

(54  1st    years)  

57   47   34  

-­‐-­‐   -­‐-­‐  

872  

2012-­‐13  

527    

(108  1st  years)   58  

139    

(31  1st  years)  

50   64   29   18  

-­‐-­‐  

885  

2013-­‐14  

526    

(107  1st  years)   57  

114  (25  1st  years)  

48   69   33   32   19  

898  

2014-­‐15  553  (134  

1st  years)   50  

126  (49  1st  years)  

41   52  -­‐-­‐  

33   38  893  

2015-­‐16  542  (99  

1st  years)   61  

136  (47  1st  years)  

36   51  -­‐-­‐  

34   51  911  

2016-­‐17  537  (120  1st  years)  

56  

148(35  1st  years)  

37  55    

(Spring  term  74)   -­‐-­‐  

33   55  921  

*Denotes IAP numbers from Fall Term, which typically have the most representative headcount for reporting purposes.

 

 

 

Faculty SEED currently has 18 (FTE) faculty members. In July 2016, two new tenure-track faculty members joined SEED. Heather Hall has expertise in economic development and entrepreneurship. Heather has significantly strengthened our research capacity in regional development, and social innovation. Kamal Habib is an expert in industrial ecology; particularly in relation to energy systems. Komal has further deepened SEED's growing expertise in the development and application of industrial ecology tools to further sustainable outcomes. In addition, SEED welcomes Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger joining us for a two-year appointment. Marie-Claire is Professor of Law and an International Advisor of the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3). She serves as C-EENRG and LCIL Fellow at the University of Cambridge and Senior Director of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL). We congratulate Olaf Weber (2016) and Larry Swatuk (2017) on obtaining full professorships. Staff We welcome Janine Dietrich to the administration team at SEED. She leads the administration and advising for our MDP, MEDI and SUSM graduate programs. Our admin team is currently made up of Marion Brown (Administrative Manager), Karen Robertson (lndev UG Advisor), Cheri Oestreich (EB UG Advisor), Teresa Wilson (Grad Advisor- MEB/MCC (geog.), Christina Pope ( on secondment while Joanne Adair was on parental leave) (Experiential Learning and Business Outreach), Grainne Ryder (lndev Field Placement Coordinator- St. Paul's), Nina Ripley- WISIR Program Director, Sharon Jones (Program Administrator for the Economic Development Program), and Michelle Madden, the Outreach Manager for the Economic Development Program (until March 2017, when she accepted a job with the Provincial government, congratulations, Michelle!).

Administrative Roles The following faculty members perform major administrative roles within the School, Faculty and University: SEED Director and Associate Director of WISE, Neil Craik; EB Program Director-Jenn Lynes; lndev Program Director -Bruce Frayne; MDP Program Director – Larry Swatuk; Associate Dean of Graduate Studies -Simron Singh; MEB Program Director-Amelia Clarke; SUSM Program Director and Grad Officer - Steve Young; MEDI Program Director Tara Vinodrai; Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives- Paul Parker. Other faculty supporting University initiatives include Sean Geobey, Director of Academic Programs for WISIR; Jason Thistlethwaite  

2016-2017 Program Updates SEED houses six distinct academic programs and one professional training program. The major program activities that occurred in 2016/2017 include cyclical reviews of each of our six programs, including hosting two site visits. The School is also in the middle of the approval process for a

Ph.D. program in sustainability management, which will provide a unique research training degree in this emerging field. Other highlights of note include four different student groups pitched ideas on Environmental Innovation:

“SEEDlings pitch their ideas at the Jack Rosen Memorial Award for Environmental Innovation” https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/news/seedlings-pitch-their-ideas-jack-rosen-memorial-award Master of Sustainability Management Program

Though a fairly new program in the faculty, the Masters in Environmental Studies in Sustainability Management attracts strong students that gain an applied research education while supporting the School’s research. Student experiences have included work research placements with municipalities or companies (through MITACS), and overseas and local field research. The program is supported with scholarships from the University of Waterloo’s Water Institute, SSHRC graduate awards, and with funds provided under professor research grants. Students in the program have published in popular press, crafted policy papers, delivered conference papers, and some have authored in peer reviewed journals. A number of graduates are continuing studies in PhD programs.

The Master of Development Practice Program

The Master of Development Practice (MDP), a 16-month professional course-based program, is part of the Global Association of MDP Programs that currently has 31 programs in 24 countries (see http://mdpglobal.org/global-mdp-association/partner-mdp-institutions/). Experiential learning and field placements are an integral component of the MDP program with an ever-growing network of partners available at grass-roots organizations to international institutions. The highlights of the past year are as follows:

All MDP students successfully completed their international field placements in countries in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia. A link to the interactive map of past placements across the Global MDP network is here: http://mdpglobal.org/global-mdp-program/field-training-overview/past-mdp-field-practicum-sites/

Sixteen students attended and presented at the 4th Annual International Conference for Sustainable Development (ICSD), 21-23 September 2016, New York. The papers presented at this meeting will appear in an edited collection entitled Water, Climate Change and ‘The Boomerang Effect’: states and societies in search of security forthcoming in 2018 from Earthscan.

In February 2017, MDP students spent five days in Jamaica learning about food systems and food security https://www.instagram.com/p/BRBYDqrjTgf/

Master of Environment and Business Program The MEB program continues to offer a professional course-based master's degree that can be completed part time in three years or full-time in one year. Five of our MEB students from the September 2016 cohort competed in the Rotman Net Impact 2017 Sustainability Innovations Case Competition, where they placed in the top three teams. https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/news/meb-students-place-top-3-case-competition Dianne Saxe, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, visited the MEB students for a special arm-chair discussion in June 2016. https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/news/dr-dianne-saxe-eco-visits-seed Environment and Business Program

Now in its 16th year, the environment and business honours co-op program currently has over 600 students, including 60+ students from Nanjing University of Finance and Economics who complete the final two years of their degree at UW through our 2+2 program. The highlight of the program for many students is the eight-month capstone project that they complete in their final year. Students work in teams with 'real-world' clients on a specific sustainability issue related to the organization. This year’s clients included Sustainable Waterloo Region, Leon’s, Live Nation, West Jet, Walker Industries and Hillside Music Festival.

https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/news/real-world-projects-celebrated-enbus-402-capstone-event

International Development Program

The INDEV Program has 23 students who are completing their eight-month field placements with World University Service of Canada partner organizations in Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania as part of their Practice Specialization. A further four students are undertaking their thesis research under the INDEV Research Specialization. The Program continues to successfully host the International Development Speakers Series, providing weekly guest lectures in the Winter Term that are open to students, the broader university community and the public. The Program has 38 first year students completing their 2017 Winter Term, which indicates strong numbers going forward.

Master of Development and Innovation (formerly Local Economic Development)

The longstanding Master of Applied Environmental Studies in Local Economic Development (LED), turned 30, and relaunched as the Master of Economic Development and Innovation, in order to recognize changes in the profession and in the evolving content of the program. The program is now a 3 terms program with a strong focus on experiential learning and using the Kitchener-Waterloo region as a living laboratory to understand the innovation ecosystem and the

underlying economic development processes that support it. Over the Fall term, students visited the Communitech Hub, the Working Centre, Lutherwood, the Mississaugas of the New Credit, and toured downtown Kitchener to learn about a range of economic development and innovation activities. As part of their course work, students worked with local community partners to find solutions to economic development challenges faced by those partners. In November 2016, the current cohort of students went to Toronto to hear from provincial policymakers and listen to an early career panel with recent alumni from the program. In November 2016, alumni from the program swept the Faculty of Environment alumni awards, receiving both the Young Alumni Achievement Award and the Alumni Achievement Award. https://uwaterloo.ca/environment/alumni-friends/alumni-awards/nirvana-champion https://uwaterloo.ca/environment/alumni-friends/alumni-awards/stephen-thompson In February 2017, students attended the Economic Developers Council of Ontario’s annual conference in Toronto: https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/news/seeds-economic-development-programs-enjoy-high-profile-edco In March 2017, the students went on a Rural Innovation Roadshow in Oxford County to learn about the opportunities and challenges faced by smaller communities https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/news/development-and-innovation-graduate-students-see As we enter the Spring term, every student in the program has lined up either an internship and applied projects with a community partners to fulfill their final capstone project degree requirement.

Economic Development Program In 2016-17, the Economic Development Program’s certification courses (Year 1 and Year 2) were offered in Waterloo, Thunder Bay and Edmonton. The Year 3 course was offered in Waterloo. Seminars were offered in Stratford (Social Media for Economic Developers), Kingston (Online Content), Toronto (Investment Readiness for Communities and Regions), Saskatoon (Economic Diversification), Yellowknife (CED fundamentals) and Waterloo (International Opportunities and Proposal Writing for Economic Developers). We also offered Writing Workshops in Waterloo, Huntsville and online. The courses and seminars had a total of 382 participants. Sharon Jones received the EDCO President’s Award.

PhD Sustainability Management

As part of the SEED strategic plan goal, this year SEED faculty began work to bring a PhD program to the School. We expect the program to admit students in September 2018.

Research Activities In 2016, Seed researchers collectively published 6 books, 19 book chapters and 45 journal articles, as well as 10 major reports to government and industry and SEED faculty made over 150 research presentations. SEED faculty continued to successfully attract research funding from

major granting agencies, government agencies and private funders, such as foundations, NGOs and industry. Partners and Outreach

In 2016-17, SEED held a number of outreach events and activities.

The Master of Environment and Business Program hosted the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Dianne Saxe to a packed assembly in June 2016.

SEED faculty and students enjoyed the annual SEED alumni mixer in Toronto in early March 2017.

The ENBUS 402 student capstone course students engaged with 23 projects, and within those projects worked with 11 companies and organizations locally, across Ontario, and national companies.

SEED has a number of key program partners including St Paul’s University College (Indev), World University Services Canada (Indev and MDP), the Global MDP Network (MDP), the Economic Developers Association of Canada (MEDI) , as well as numerous industry and government partners that support our students through project partnerships, internships, and co-op positions.