Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Sustainability has always been an ultimate global priority whether in the context of the United Nations or within our own country, Canada. More than just a concept, it encompasses a series of intentional actions to ensure that economic development and environmental conservation progress hand in hand, fostering the betterment of humanity over time.
One of Canada's key players for sustainability was Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), which oversees a series of clean energy technologies foundation meetings and activities but the committee and board members were officially disbanded in 2024. However, the journey to uphold sustainable development activities continues through other range of appointed stakeholders with the following initiatives:
Essential practices for sustainable development in Canada
- Meeting the needs for renewable and clean energy interest
- Review solutions for sustainable transportation system
- Practices for sustainable farming through engineering
- Effective waste management across different industries
- Ongoing research to address sustainability challenges
Support Towards Renewable and Clean Energy
According to a 2022 report by the Canadian Centre for Energy Information, 70% of Canada's electricity comes from renewable sources. While SDTC has been known for its countless activities for its purpose of meeting the needs of renewable energy, we certainly cannot miss the federal government's role in supporting renewable energy initiatives through the Clean Energy Fund (CEF).
Since its announcement by the Cabinet in January 2009, the organization has been dedicated to reducing greenhouse gases and excess emissions through various energy production and distribution. The number of clean energy projects is expected to grow with continuous funding support from the government and also major investors from different business companies.
Fast forward to today, CEF is continuously meeting with groups of engineers of different specializations (such as chemical, renewable, civil, and artificial intelligence) to design technology when handling environmental challenges that may arise.
Of course, on a province level, there are a couple of examples like the Birtle Transmission Line project featuring the collaboration between the Canadian and Manitoba governments on improving power distribution grids while reducing carbon emissions and also the establishment of the Awasis Solar Project which is located in a First Natio Reserve land in Saskatchewan.
A business partnership appointed by the local government in Saskatchewan and the First Nations Power Authority (FNPA), it plays an integral role in promoting sustainable energy (solar energy) with 33,000 solar panels.
Even though the SDTC is no longer running, there are still many recipients (appointed corporations and companies) on the federal and provincial levels to ensure the country is on the right track in terms of business fund support, project monitoring and evaluation, as well as partnerships for sustainability development.
Smart Solutions To Promote Cleaner Transportation
Transportation has been the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions. With the rise of urbanization in many cities in Canada, it also leads to an increase in personal vehicles, whether individually or family-owned.
Many policymakers and engineers are keen to make a difference through regular meeting over sustainable engineering activities and innovations in alignment with the appointed Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) initiative by the United Nations Centre for Regional Development.
Post SDTC, there is also the Net Zero Accelerator Initiative (NZA) on a larger government scale. Launched in 2020, it is an ambitious action to engage transportation companies and industrial sectors across provinces and territories in Canada to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint by 40 to 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.
On a micro scale, there is also an increase in advocates of public transportation, ride-sharing apps, and hybrid electric transportation options, and even the Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) Program. For instance, a well-known corporation like the British Columbia Ferries Services is expected to launch new battery electric ferries by 2027, which is expected to reduce 9,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
Additionally, more fund is allocated to design charging and refuelling network infrastructure for electric vehicles (EV) is built nationwide too — meeting consumers' ultimate demands in alignment with government and corporation support.
Adopt Engineering Practices For Sustainable Agriculture
Next, let's move on to talk about all things sustainable agriculture. The government is set to help farmers access the latest energy-efficient equipment through funding and also the application of agricultural science while meeting the ultimate needs of greener farming projects.
A key initiative which equips farmers in Canada with sustainable engineering activities is the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program. For example, the usage of artificial intelligence drones and robotics in precision farming can not only increase yield productivity but also review immediate data to generate a report on plant damage efficiently.
Additionally, the director and board members of the government committee will also be meeting with agriculture and environmental engineers from each foundation or several companies to introduce solar-powered or wind-powered irrigation projects that optimise water and renewable energy instead of relying on costly fuel pumping funds.
Did you know that many top Canadian engineering universities have great programs revolving around this field? Many people tend to think that the activities and technology behind agriculture engineering and environmental engineering are similar in the context of sustainable development but that's not really the case.
Review the following characteristics of these two engineering interests:
Agriculture engineering
- Develop technology and ultimate solutions for farming, forestry and food processing problems
- Design tools or projects for companies and farmers to enhance agriculture quality and productivity
Environmental engineering
- Solve broad issues on pollution, climate change conflict, and public health (macro level with companies and government)
- Carry out foundation investigations of environmental threats based on notable evidence
Another field of engineering that holds a significant role here is also genetic engineering where genetic scientists and researchers develop hybrid crops that have higher nutritional profiles, more resilient to disease or climate changes.
Important note: Engineering is more than just calculation and technology, it can drive ultimate transformation in our everyday lives, whether for directors of industrial companies or individual members of the public. So don't forget to review various engineering salaries and career opportunities in different parts of Canada.
Efficient Recycling and Waste Management Across Industries
Ensuring efficient waste management is still an ongoing initiative by the Canadian government after the dissolution of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) — whether through provincial government programs that will interest households or directors from industrial corporations.
For instance, a business agreement has been made by the province of Ontario to continuously develop their recycling project from the Blue Box Program to cover more municipalities and more waste products, especially in terms of electronic and electrical equipment and other single-use products. Additionally, there's also the agreement to execute the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) by the government of Alberta.
This project will reduce the number of landfills in the long run as it is now the producers themselves who will recycle what they produce — instead of the members of the public.
In terms of corporation initiatives, there is CarbonCure Technologies which is a clean technology company that uses captured carbon dioxide to be permanently embedded in the concrete. Furthermore, there's Geocycle Canada with an appointed board committee and directors which has sufficient funding and operational facilities to provide ultimate solutions to reduce Canadian landfills — making an impact for companies in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia.
Address Sustainability Challenges Through Research Funding
Finally, ongoing research collaboration and funding are crucial to advance initiatives of sustainable development. In terms of federal science and technology research contribution, there is the board committee of the National Research Council Canada which provided business funding for appointed local scientists and research projects' members through directors of different board meetings to watch over the following interests:
There are also initiatives set up by research institutes in collaboration with examples of higher learning corporations in the country like the Sustainable Development Research Network (SDRN) Canada and the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI).
So even if you are a first-year or final-year engineering student (undergraduate or postgraduate), you can still contribute to sustainable development through the right platform like the Canadian Engineering Grand Challenges Summit where different sustainable technology foundation appointed directors in the industry and appointed board members of the engineering academia come together in a meeting to discuss new evidence (ultimate findings) and funding ideas.
Apart from writing a report, you will work with other appointed directors or board committee members to work on webcast content (or even raise sufficient fund) for more people to watch the content and notice more of these research interests.
Your networking will lead you to meet various local and global board directors from different business companies, an appointed board minister in different government provinces or an independent foundation director and so on. As you review different case studies and projects like the one in SDTC, you will also recognize the importance of accountability and transparency when it comes to handling big sums of fund, finalization of each report and the importance of good collaboration — no conflict of interest between directors and members of corporations, the appointed auditor and the appointed engineer of each project.
From there, you can identify the current trends in the sustainability development scene in Canada as you read a wide range of reports and watch what's behind the scenes. These activities help you to discover where your true interest lies, should you want to hone your research skills, which is ultimate when you become an engineer in training in the future such as the right way to write an engineering report, or present evidence of your findings in front of board directors.
Building A Strong Engineering Foundation With Superprof
Now that you have reviewed the five important initiatives that are still being practised following the dissolution of a corporation like Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), you might want to focus more on equipping yourself with a strong foundation of sustainable engineering.
One of the best ways to do that is to hire an experienced private tutor to guide you in the area of your interest and get some insights on what it's like to work on actual sustainable development activities and projects. Depending on your learning interest and commitment, you can opt for weekly (meeting 60 minutes or 120 minutes per lesson) or monthly lessons on various topics of sustainable development (clean energy in business corporations, waste management, EST activities, artificial intelligence tools in agriculture companies etc) or specialized academic subjects like Maths, programming, or Science.
At Superprof, you can find an eligible tutor who offers face-to-face lessons or online lessons according to your learning interest.
Visit the homepage of this tutoring platform and review a wide selection of qualified tutors' profiles and learn about their industrial experience, tutoring schedule (meeting any day of the week from Monday to Wednesday to weekends,) tutoring subjects, tutoring methodology, and also hourly rates.
As you review the subsection of their profile and personal information, you can also check the average hourly rate of their lessons based on your current city before deciding on the maximum budget for your lessons. The good news? Meeting online is 20% more affordable than physical lessons, and some tutors even offer their first lesson for free!
As you master the ultimate principles and process of sustainable development, we hope it will encourage you to make an ultimate contribution to the future economically and environmentally through the participation of meaningful projects with different companies. The end of SDTC marks a new chapter for Canada's commitment to sustainable development as a whole alongside other projects like the EST with different appointed corporations.
Will you take this ultimate challenge and watch how your dreams turn into reality?
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