Dr. Jennie Moore Awarded SSHRC Grant

Ecocity Centre Director Dr. Jennie Moore has been awarded a grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) through its Knowledge Synthesis Grant program. The project will explore how living within the Earth’s carrying capacity can be measured and managed at the city scale. The purpose is to understand how a handful of high-consuming cities around the world are achieving absolute reductions in energy and material throughput and how this might be translated into policy and action in Canadian cities.

Work will be conducted in conjunction with co-applicant, Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon of École de technologie supérieure at the Université du Québec. Other collaborators include UBC Professor Emeritus, W.E. Rees, originator of the ecological footprint concept and co-developer of ecological footprint analysis, David Lin of the Global Footprint Network, and Alastair Moore, a registered professional planner with expertise in creating one-planet cities and Director of think-and-do-tank One Earth.

The synthesis project will undertake a critical review of the conceptual frameworks, policy tools, and methods available to measure whether an average lifestyle in a given city or community – if adopted by everyone on Earth – would result in humanity living within Earth’s carrying capacity.

Over the next nine months, Dr. Moore and the project team will identify the economic, political, and lifestyle changes needed to measure and manage living within Earth’s carrying capacity at the city scale and assess which policy and planning frameworks have been used effectively by local governments to achieve an overall reduction in demand for nature’s services.

The project will include a literature review synthesis and engagement with practitioners and traditional knowledge holders working to advance sustainable cities and lifestyles. The final report will be posted on the Ecocity Centre website in the Spring of 2021.

Further information on the grant and program is available at the SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant website.