Upcoming Events
2024 Bay Area Climate Forum
May 7, 2024 from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
The Rock Garden at the Royal Botanical Gardens
In-person tickets are sold out, but you can still join us by registering to watch the Zoom livestream!
Join us for an inspiring call to action with keynote speaker Jennifer Keesmaat as we explore how cities and local communities can collaborate to build thriving, resilient and climate-friendly cities. The 2024 Bay Area Climate Forum will be an opportunity to hear from local leaders on the scale of change required, the efforts already underway, and the pathways forward. Whether you’re a policymaker, changemaker, business leader, or concerned resident, this event promises to inspire, inform, and empower you to be part of the solution.
The forum will also be broadcast by Cable14 and YourTV Burlington after the event! Cogeco subscribers can watch on YourTV, Channel 100 or Channel 700.
Thank you to our Sponsors for making this event possible.
Presenting Sponsor: Alinea Land Corporation
Major Sponsor: Hamilton Industrial Environmental Association
Forum Supporters: Friendlier, Hamilton Community Enterprises, Landwise, and Realtors Association Hamilton-Burlington
Past Events
Residential Retrofits Panel Discussion February 27, 2024
This online webinar featured a lively discussion where experts shared insights on home energy efficiency. Geared towards Burlington and Hamilton homeowners and renters, attendees learned about the relationships between buildings and climate, how to make homes more energy efficient, how to finance home energy upgrades, and how the Cities of Hamilton and Burlington are supporting GHG emissions reductions in residential buildings. The panel featured the IESO, Green Venture, City of Burlington & City of Hamilton! The event culminated in a Q&A session where attendees had their questions answered live by the panelists.
Thank you to our Sponsor, Burlington Hydro, for making this event possible.
2023: Your City, Taking Climate Action
Lowering GHG emissions will require changes to new and existing buildings, transportation networks, and local industry across the Hamilton Burlington “Bay Area”. Advancing local climate policy will also make a positive difference.
On April 13 at 7:00pm, BACCC hosted “Your City, Taking Climate Action” where we heard from Lynda Lukasik and Trevor Imhoff from the City of Hamilton, and Lynn Robichaud and Fleur Storace-Hogan from the City of Burlington, about the latest climate initiatives our cities have charted on our path toward a low-carbon future for the Bay Area.
2022: BACCC Book Club
The BACCC Book Club took place between January 17th and March 18th 2022. Over two months, BACCC staff promoted a reading list of ten books on climate action to residents of Burlington and Hamilton. Six of these books were geared toward an adult audience, and four toward children and young readers. This program was run in partnership with the Hamilton Public Library, and two local bookstores: A Different Drummer Books in Burlington, and J.H. Gordon Books in Hamilton.
2022: Ask Me Anything About Climate Action
On March 9th at 7:00pm, BACCC hosted “Ask Me Anything About Climate Action” on Facebook Live. During this one-hour, free virtual event, residents asked questions directly to representatives from the Cities of Hamilton and Burlington about how our municipalities are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2021: Around the Kitchen Table
The Hamilton-Burlington Bay Area can be a thriving, net zero carbon community by 2050. This requires an all-hands-on-deck approach to transforming how we live, how we move, how we build and renovate, and how we power industry. It matters how we communicate the changes necessary to lower our greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why, on March 9th, 2021, more than 600 people from across Hamilton and Burlington registered for “Around the Kitchen Table” to learn how to have better climate conversations. Keynote Katharine Hayhoe and our panel of experts shared their expertise on how we can build bridges with others to support climate action across our region.
2020: Bay Area Climate Change Council Forum
On February 25, 2020, BACCC hosted its annual forum on climate action in the Hamilton and Burlington area. Along with the Centre for Climate Change Management, BACCC hosted guest speaker, Mark Jaccard, author of The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success at the Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation at Mohawk College. Attendees heard from Mark Jaccard and the city councillors from Hamilton and Burlington. The event featured workshops, updates and discussions with BACCC.
2019: Cities in Action: Bay Area Climate Change Summit
From March 25-28th, the Centre for Climate Change Management hosted a 4-day summit on climate change at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario. The event offered an opportunity to hear from community, national and international leaders taking action to tackle climate change and create opportunities locally. Attendees learned about advancements in the fight against climate change in the areas of business and the economy, transportation and health, energy and community resilience. Participants were equipped with concrete, tangible strategies they could employ in their organizations and in their day-to-day life. The first day theme was: “Cities in Action – Climate Hope in Action”, the second day focused on “Climate and the Economy”, and featured Keynote Speaker – Glen Hodgson, International Economist and ConsultantGlen. The event also featured speakers Melissa Mirowski, Head of Sustainability, Ikea Canada, Drew Hauser, Director, McCallum Sather Architects and Tony Cupido, Research Chair in Sustainability at Mohawk.
2018: Bay Area Climate Change Summit
The first Bay Area Climate Change Summit “Taking Action Together Today, for a Better Tomorrow” was held on March 7 and 8, 2018 at the Royal Botanical Gardens. The summit consisted of two parts – an evening keynote presentation and a full-day conference. Approximately 90 participants attended the evening event on March 7, which featured a keynote presentation by Sebastian Damm Wray, Development Manager for Copenhagen-based Quercus Group, entitled “How Denmark is enlisting people and business to combat climate change.” Approximately 80 people attended the full-day conference on March 8, which featured a number of presentations, panel discussions and opportunities for community engagement. Included were featured presentations and discussions by representatives from the cities of Hamilton, Burlington and London, EllisDon, IKEA Canada, the Bay Area Restoration Council, Environment Hamilton, Burlington Green, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Intact Centre of Climate Change, Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow and Copenhagen-based Quercus Group. During the conference the Bay Area Climate Change Partnership (BACCP) initiative was launched; local, regional and national action on climate change was highlighted; and participants had the opportunity to provide input into the BACCP climate action planning and actions.
BACCC Event Protocol
Invitations to speak at BACCC events will be sent to elected officials on account of their role, not their party, politics, or views.
Invitations to speak at events are one form of engagement with elected officials in decision-making roles. BACCC will seek participation from government decision makers as part of its advocacy efforts with the government of the day. These invitations are part of an ongoing conversation with decision makers so that our priorities and recommendations can be expressed and received. It is part of our mission to ensure our collective voice is heard at all levels of government.
As a non-partisan organization, BACCC will not signal partisan leanings by who it invites or does not invite to its events.
As a non-partisan organization, BACCC will not signal partisan leanings by a public endorsement of any political party or elected official.
Within THREE (3) months of a scheduled election, BACCC will not invite any political candidates seeking election to formally speak at BACCC events.
BACCC events will be organized in a way that promotes an ongoing conversation with decision makers, with a view to ensuring ongoing engagement with BACCC, so that our priorities and recommendations can be expressed and received.
BACCC events will be organized in a way that allows attendees to submit questions for an allocated question and answer (Q&A) period. All elected officials will be invited to join the moderated Q&A period, as part of their invitation to offer live remarks at BACCC events. Elected officials who are unable to attend the moderated Q&A will be asked to submit video remarks in advance to BACCC staff, instead of providing live remarks at the event. Any video remarks will be limited to a greeting and welcome message. Video remarks involving track records (past or future climate initiatives) are considered remarks beyond a greeting or welcome message, and will not be accepted.
