Planetary, public, and personal health, well-being, and justice
A sustainability across disciplines conference
March 9-13, 2026
Concordia University
March 17-21, 2025; Concordia University
This unique conference will provide the basis for a crucial and timely trans-disciplinary conversation and action for a path forward in this time of crisis at the intersection of health and sustainability. Featuring keynotes, panels, workshops, exhibits, and more from Concordia University faculty and students, as well as the ever-popular Careers panel, this 9th in the Sustainability across Disciplines conference series has the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability and the Loyola Sustainability Research Center partnering, for the first time, with the School of Health and Future Earth to focus the lens on cross-over between health and sustainability at all scales, from individual to planetary. The conference will take place on both campuses and some of it will also be live-streamed and recorded by Concordia's 4th Space for increased accessibility.
Schedule of events
10:00 - 11:00 AM: Keynote address from Sarah Sajedi on the environmental and health impacts of plastics. THIS EVENT WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE ONLINE.
1:15 PM - 3:45 PM: The emotional cost of enormity: When climate distress becomes futility—and how creativity can help, a workshop with Jessica Bleuer
4:00 PM -5:00 PM: Firing up action, a short film and workshop with Kat Plamondon and Alex Pace
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: At the intersection of behavioural ecology and genetics, with Sarah Turner and Marie-Julie Favé
12:00 PM to 2:00 PM: Issues in environmental science, with Sarah Turner
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Communicating climate research to policy and the public, with Damon Matthews, Peter McQueen, and Snigdhodeb Dutta
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Indigenous-led nature-based solutions align net-zero emissions and biodiversity targets in Canada, with Camilo Alejo and Damon Matthews
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Complexity, care, and collaboration: Art–science dialogues on systems, with Heather Mclaughlin, Annabelle Breault, and the ILM Collective
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: The state of Montreal's urban birds, with Mackenzie Guest and Siena Blier
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM: Careers in sustainability panel discussion and networking session, at SHIFT (LB 145)
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Leadership in Environmental and Digital Innovation for Sustainability Workshop, in ER 1428
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM: Environmental history: Past, present, and future at Concordia, with Anya Zilberstein, Rosanna Cyr, Rémi Piovesan, and Julian Rioux, in ER 1428
9:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Biodiversity Fresque with Emma Despland, in HU 115 conference room
9:45 - 10:45 AM: Undergraduate honours research for a healthy planet: Cities, spaces, places, and landscapes, in HU 115
11:00 - 12:15: Issues in biodiversity and planetary health, with Jochen Jaeger, Noa Davidai, Arielle Limoges, Isabel Drummond, and Sofia Ithaca Bandel, in HU 115
12:15 - 1:00 PM: Lunch in HU 115
1:00 - 2:30 PM: Working across complexity: Creative approaches to interdisciplinary collaboration for sustainability, with Heather McLaughlin and Annabelle Brault, in HU 115
2:45 - 3:45 PM: Issues in well-being and justice, with Dalia Assi, Andrée Tremblay, Catherine Rokakis, Audrey Basic, and Lisa Ofili in HU 125
4:00 - 5:00 PM: Sustainable peer-based leisure activity: Drawing insight from TBI-Health, with Shawn Wilkinson, Elizabeth Teel, Enrico Quilico, Pascal Brodeur, and Eric Tessier, in HU 125
We acknowledge that Concordia University is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which we gather today. Tiohtià:ke/Montréal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community.
If you are not joining from Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, you can learn more about the land you are on here.
Contact us
For more information, contact Rebecca Tittler.
This event is brought to you by the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability and the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre in partnership with the School of Health, with generous support from Future Earth and the Department of Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, and with in-kind support from the Office of Sustainability and the Student Success Centre at Concordia University.
This event will contribute to Concordia's Sustainability Action Plan by increasing the visibility of sustainability research at Concordia.
All participants are expected to treat each other with consideration and respect. Please review the detailed code of conduct.
Territorial acknowledgement
Concordia University and most of the participants in this event will be located in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), on the unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation, one of the founding nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. If you are not in Tiohtià:ke, you can find out whose land you are on.
