Ann Dale, Project Lead, Moderator

Ann Dale is a professor with the School of Environment and Sustainability, Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences at Royal Roads University and holds a Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Community Development (crcresearch.royalroads.ca). She chairs the Canadian Consortium for Sustainable Development Research (CCSDR), a consortium of all the heads of research institutes across Canada, and is active in the Canadian environmental movement. Dr. Dale chairs an organization she created, the National Environmental Treasure (the NET) and is the Executive Co-ordinator, Research and Public Policy for the Canadian Biodiversity Institute.  From 1998-2000, she led an energy efficiency program on behalf of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. Previously, she was an Executive with the Federal Government, and was one of the two public servants behind the creation of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE).

Dr. Dale is a Trudeau Fellow (www.trudeaufoundation.ca), as well as a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Sciences. She is also a Board member of the World Fisheries Trust, and the Advisory Committee to the Montreal Institute for the Environment. Dr. Dale holds degrees in psychology and public administration from Carleton University, and a doctorate in Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University. Current research areas include governance, social capital and sustainable community development, biodiversity policy, and deliberative electronic dialogues (crcresearch.royalroads.ca/edialogues). She is a recipient of the 2001 Policy Research Initiative Award for Outstanding Contribution to Public Policy for her book, At the edge: sustainable development in the 21st century.

Jim Hamilton

Jim is a seasoned consultant with extensive experience in the governance and financing of public institutions, especially in relationship to questions of sustainability. Jim's experiences stem from over twenty-five years in analyzing and advising on financial, environmental and sustainability matters while with Hamilton, Thomas and Associates Ltd and previously as a senior executive and analyst within the Treasury Board Secretariat within the Government of Canada. Included among his major contributions is co-founding the Federal Buildings Initiative within Natural Resources Canada. The Federal Buildings Initiative is a government-wide initiative to take advantage of alternative techniques to finance energy and water savings investments, which presently enjoy widespread application within provincial governments, municipalities, hospitals, schools and universities across Canada.

DR. DAVID V. J. BELL
Professor Emeritus, Senior Scholar and Former Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University

David Bell is interested in Governance for Sustainability -- the transformation in decision-making practices, policies, institutions and culture that will be necessary to support sustainability in the public and private sectors.

A political scientist by training, David was an undergraduate at York University in its earliest years, graduating with his B. A. in 1965.  He received his PhD from Harvard University in 1969, and taught at Michigan State University for 2 years before returning to York in 1971. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (1981-87) and Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies from 1992-1996 at York University. 

David is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in Environmental Studies and was until July 2003 the  Director of the York Centre for Applied Sustainability (YCAS).  This Centre, which he founded in 1996, took over the resources and equipment of the Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy when its mandate was terminated in the Fall of 1995.  (Dr. Bell was an ORTEE member).  YCAS has now evolved into the York University Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS).

David is currently the Chair of Learning for a Sustainable Future ( www.lsf-lst.ca).
He has served as a member of  the National Round Table on Environment and Economy (www.nrtee-trnee.ca) since June 2003.  From December 2002 until November 2006, David  served as  Chair Of the Board of Directors of Parc-Downsview-Park Inc. (www.pdp.ca),  a federal Crown Corporation whose mandate is to create for the people of Canada an “urban greenspace for the enjoyment of future generations” on the lands of former CFB Downsview. 

David  was a member of the Environmental Task Force of the City of Toronto (1998 – 2000) and the Toronto Sustainability Round Table (2000 – 2003).  David chaired the SRT Governance Working Group.  He was a founding member of the International Sustainability Indicators Network (ISIN). and was also Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Voluntary Challenge and Registry (VCR Inc) from 1997 until 2004.  He served for the Minister of Environment (Ontario) as Chair/facilitator of the Expert Panel on the Taro East Landfill, which released its Final Report in October, 2000. In July 2005 he was appointed Chair/facilitator of the Toward Sustainability in York Region Advisory Group which presented its Report to the York Region Council in June 2006.

Stephen Huddart

Stephen Huddart is the Program Director of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation in Montreal. The Foundation's granting derives from a mandate to fund national initiatives thatengage people in building resilient communities – and among others includesprograms in environmental and arts-infused education, technical assistance for community economic development, university-based community service learning and community leadership.
Prior to joining the Foundation, he worked as an educator and program developer specializing inhuman/animal issues – including a food certification and labeling program,animal-assisted therapy, and humane education in schools. His private sector experience includes co-founding the Alma Street Café - a community-based natural foods restaurant and jazz venue in Vancouver, and running a triple-bottom-line music and publishing company in association with children's folksinger Raffi. He is married with three children, two cats and a dog, and has a Masters degree in management from McGill University.