For the last three years, I have had the pleasure of serving as an instructor for University of Toronto Mississauga’s Masters of Science in Sustainability Management (MScSM) program. This program has been an inspiration for my professional career pathway, allowing me the opportunity to explore effective ways to share insights gained from 13+ years working in the water industry in North America to aspiring young sustainability professionals.
The Advanced Sustainability Management course is designed to provide knowledge and applications of advanced aspects and tools related to sustainability management. It includes aspects focused on carbon measurement and accounting, energy use in different industrial sectors, and water efficiency and conservation. Drawing from my years of experience in both public and private water industry settings, the focus of the water module this year was to inform students about the holistic approach to water footprint analysis in both industrial and commercial applications.
This course module on water stewardship and efficiency has evolved over the years, previously including elements focused on stormwater management, North American industry growth trends, and national challenges related to drinking water and wastewater treatment. However, designing a four-week module to encompass more than a decade of industry experience in the equivalent of 12 hours of lecture material, definitely has its drawback.
This year was going to be different. 2020 was going to be different. I had spent the Fall of 2019 designing a completely different module, taking into account, constructive feedback received from the previous two cohorts of students. I decided to draw from elements focused on water efficiency—one of the core responsibilities of my current role as program manager at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) Partners in Project Green program. Ambitiously, I wanted to build within the program group exercises, mock site audit planning and development, complex footprint calculations, review of capital implementation case studies, sectoral challenges and pitfalls. Ultimately, I wanted to link the four-week module with an existing water efficiency program (City of Guelph, Region of Peel, City of Toronto, Region of Waterloo, and York Region) to develop a business case pitch presentation for senior leaders of a selected corporation within one of Ontario’s five municipalities. There was even an established contingent of guest advisors from the Ontario water industry—stakeholders gracious enough to provide their time, knowledge, and expertise to assist groups in their pitch presentation efforts and to complete an effective water footprint analysis.