Just over a year ago, I attended the Green Carpet Series, an event promoting sustainable fashion. The evening was aimed at an audience of younger people who work in the downtown Toronto core, and who might not normally be prone to thinking about their ecological footprint. Numerous young women were lured there by the presence of George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC’s The Hour , who acted as a co-host for the fashion show (I had no idea that he’s considered such a sex symbol – I simply admire his in-depth interviews with authors, when I manage to stay up late enough to watch his show!). The fashion show featured lots of cool, environmentally-friendly fashion, including some amazing recycled dresses, along with local food, wine and biodegradable spoons and forks. The gorgeous designs of Canadian, Linda Lundström were also featured. She has been actively involved in and leading efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry.

Hello everyone. This is an exciting time for both sustainability in general and York University in particular. More and more people in North America are realizing how important it is to be aware of our ecological footprint, and to actively reduce it (check out http://oneminute.zerofootprint.net). At IRIS we are exploring ways to increase York’s sustainability profile. In this new BLOG, we will be bringing you updates of what’s going on at York. IRIS affiliates – students, faculty and staff – are constantly in touch with our many colleagues and friends both in Canada and across the world, learning about what’s going on with sustainability initiatives, and we are going to write about what we hear.

To kick off, I want to introduce the resident members of the IRIS blogging team.

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From left to right in Dalanzadgad, Mongolia: Jargal, Gail, the leader of the local herder’s group and her son, Joni, Bataar, the two other sons of the local leader, Uska, Dawn and Bagii.

by Dawn Bazely & Carol Irving
SWiM Team Project Newsletter, March 2007

Water is essential for life on earth. As global warming increases, many areas of the world will become much drier. Sonya Nergui, a Botany Professor at the National University of Mongolia (NUM), visited York University in Spring 2006. She has been charged with heading and developing NUM’s Water Research Centre in Ulaanbaatar, which will be vital in allowing Mongolia to cope with pressures on water resources.

Sonya’s visit was part of an international agreement between the National University of Mongolia and York University, Canada. In the Fall of 2005, Adrian Shubert, York University’s Associate Vice-President, International, signed the agreement in Mongolia.

The agreement also provides for student exchanges between the two universities. At York, Sonya was hosted by Prof.