Brockville Climate Action Group

Sudbury Star / Star staff / 09 June 2008

A research group based at Laurentian University will be part of a new network designed to share solutions to climate change. In a release Monday, the Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation said it plans to form the North/South Climate Change Network with the Clean Air Partnership.

“The network will create an environment where communities and stakeholder groups within Ontario can learn, share success stories and collectively advance the province’s knowledge on climate change solutions,” said Al Douglas, project co-lead.

“A large part of the work will be focused on educating municipalities on how they are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and stressing the need for adaptation in their planning.”

A $349,200 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation is helping the North/South Climate Change Network get started.

"Our government recognizes the need to support projects that focus on climate change as well as other environment issues and I am proud that we are investing in these types of opportunities right here in Sudbury,” Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci said.

Over the next 30 months, the grant will be used to create a learning environment where communities in the north and south of Ontario can share solutions to the issue of climate change, including adapting to the negative impacts of climate change.

The network will use technology such as video and teleconferencing to reach urban, northern and remote communities.

The Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation is no stranger to climate change research. It hosted the Ontario office of the Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network, from 2001 to 2007. It now houses the provincially supported Ontario Centre for Climate Impacts and Adaptation Resources.

“The (climate change network) is a natural progression for (the mining research corporation). We now want to bridge the gap between northern and southern Ontario and we’re continuing to improve the province’s preparedness for, and knowledge of climate change,” said Douglas.

The corportion’s southern Ontario counterpart — the Clean Air Partnership — is a registered charity established in 2000 at the Toronto Smog Summit. CAP’s goal is to improve local air quality and reduce greenhouse gases for healthy communities.

The Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation, founded in 1998, is a not-for-profit applied research and technical service company formed through collaboration between Laurentian University and the private and public sectors.

[ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE ]