2026 SEA Annual Sustainability Conference
About this Event
The Sustainable Engineers Association (SEA) at the University of Toronto proudly presents its 2026 Sustainability Conference on Oct. 24, one of U of T's largest student-led sustainability events. Bringing together students, academics, professionals, and industry leaders, the conference explores pressing challenges at the intersection of technology, policy, and sustainability.
This year’s theme, “Below the Surface: Uncovering the Hidden Systems of Sustainability,” explores the interconnected systems shaping our environmental decisions. Learn how interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative thinking, and community-driven solutions can transform the way we approach sustainability and create meaningful, lasting change.
Why attend?
- Learn: Gain fresh perspectives from bold keynotes and interactive panel discussions led by researchers, policymakers, engineers, and sustainability leaders
- Connect: Network with employers and industry professionals at our Sustainability Career Fair and gain insider information into sustainable career opportunities
- Explore: Discover how sustainability intersects with engineering, technology, infrastructure, policy, entrepreneurship, business, social justice, finance, and beyond
Who should attend?
Whether you're passionate about green infrastructure, exploring sustainability career opportunities, or curious about how sustainability connects with your field, this conference is for you!
Join a diverse community of students, community leaders, and academics to exchange ideas, gain new perspectives, and explore solutions to today's most pressing sustainability challenges. All learners are welcome, from high school students to undergraduates and graduate students, alongside professionals interested in sustainability, innovation, and systems change.
Make the most of a day of discovery, collaboration, and networking on Saturday, October 24, 2026! Fully catered breakfast, lunch, and refreshments are included with every ticket!
Agenda
🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AM
Registration
Info: Bring your purchased conference ticket to the venue to pick up your lanyard and register for the day. Start the day with our included breakfast!
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:15 AM
Opening Ceremonies
Host: Lawson Climate Institute
Info: Hear from our SEA conference team, organization president, and generous sponsors who helped organize your conference day.
🕑: 09:25 AM - 10:25 AM
Visionary Communities: An Alternative Approach to Fostering Climate Action
Host: Professor John Robinson
Info: John Robinson is a Professor Emeritus at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto, where he is Senior Advisor to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability.
Prof. Robinson’s research focuses on sustainable buildings, neighbourhoods, and cities; climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability; participatory backcasting and scenario analysis; transdisciplinary knowledge co-production; sustainability transitions
and transformations; art and sustainability; the role of the university in sustainability transitions; and the history and philosophy of sustainability.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Panel I - Rethinking AI for Designing Sustainable and Equitable Systems
Host: Dr. Maria Vamvalis
Info: This panel will bring together diverse voices from academia, policy, and social impact to explore how the rapidly evolving field of AI is reshaping our ecological footprint—from water consumption to energy demand—and our approach to designing equitable climate solutions. Panelists will examine the intersection of AI literacy, climate justice, policy frameworks, and community empowerment, asking how and whether systems-level change can ensure that AI technologies are developed in ways that reflect the sustainability needs and priorities of communities. Our Panelists: Dr. Maria Vamvalis, Director @ The Critical Thinking Consortium; Naolo Charles, Founder & Executive Director @ Black Environmental Initiative; Alex Tveit, Co-Founder & CEO @ Sustainable Impact Foundation; Taneea S Agrawaal, PhD Candidate in Computer Science @ U of T (Moderator).
🕑: 11:20 AM - 12:05 PM
Climate Finance: How Capital Decides What Gets Built
Host: Wendy Potomski
Info: Wendy Potomski is a CFA charterholder and Executive Director of the Global Climate Finance Accelerator, a not-for-profit climate finance organization that works adjacent to the University of Toronto. She is also a Sessional Lecturer in the School of the Environment, where she teaches climate finance. Her career sits at the point where climate technology meets capital, helping ventures and their investors move first-of-a-kind projects from demonstration to commercial scale. Through Brookstone Strategy, which she founded in 2013, she advises senior management, executives, and boards on navigating regulatory change, strategic shifts, and industry disruption. She has spent nearly three decades at the intersection of finance and the energy transition, bridging financial performance and sustainability goals and helping organizations manage the risks of a carbon-constrained economy.
🕑: 12:10 PM - 02:10 PM
Lunch Break & Career Fair
Info: The Sustainability Career Fair is a structured networking lunch where employers and university departments connect directly with students. It is designed to create real opportunities to network with industry professionals, gain career insights, and learn about sustainability pathways. Companies/departments attending include Ecobee, Dillon Consulting Limited, Mott MacDonald, the Master of Science in Sustainability Management Program (UTM), the Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences (UTSC), and many more!
🕑: 02:20 PM - 03:05 PM
Panel II - Building Climate Resilience through Community-Centered Solutions
Host: Jennifer Taves
Info: Panellists will bring diverse perspectives on how community-centred solutions can strengthen climate resilience through the lens of systems design. They will explore how engineers, businesses, governments, and institutions can work together to build sustainable solutions, while highlighting the role of communities in driving lasting and transformative change. By bridging individual and collective responsibility, the panel will examine how resilient systems can be designed with greater consideration of the social and technological contexts in which sustainable solutions are embedded. Our Panelists: Jennifer Taves, Senior Manager @ Toronto and Region Conservation Authority; Mick Prieur, Senior Technical Director @ Cement Association of Canada; Dr. Sanjida Moury, Senior Engineer @ Toronto Transit Commission; Daniel J. Tse, Climate Change and Sustainability Consultant @ Stantec.
🕑: 03:10 PM - 03:55 PM
Sustainable Entrepreneur Spotlight
Host: Mohammad Tahvili
Info: Mo (Mohammad Tahvili) is an entrepreneur, founder, and entrepreneurship program leader working at the intersection of technology, business, and impact. Through building and operating ventures across marketing services, sustainable corporate catering, AI-powered diversity management, and SaaS for innovation ecosystems, Mo brings a hands-on perspective to entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation.
His work focuses on helping founders and small business owners turn ideas into viable, sustainable ventures while strengthening the ecosystems that support entrepreneurship. Having built businesses himself, Mo speaks candidly about the realities behind entrepreneurship, from validating ideas and finding customers to pricing, managing resources, navigating uncertainty, and making difficult decisions as a founder.
Mo is particularly interested in how entrepreneurship can create economic mobility and address complex social and environmental challenges.
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM
Closing Keynote - Green Infrastructure and Climate Change Models
Host: Chris Despins
Info: Chris Despins is a Climate Change Adaptation Advisor at the Region of Peel, where he translates climate risk information into strategies that strengthen the resilience of Peel's infrastructure and services. His previous roles in Vancouver and the UK span green infrastructure, sustainable urban water management and flood resilience, including contributing to the development of Vancouver’s award-winning Rain City Strategy. He holds professional engineering designations in Canada as a P.Eng. with Professional Engineers Ontario and in the UK as a Chartered Engineer and is a member of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).
🕑: 04:50 PM - 05:00 PM
Closing Ceremonies
Host: Sustainable Engineers Association
Info: A big thank you from SEA for attending our conference!
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 17.31
