September 10, 2025
The Smart Prosperity Institute is proud to be part of uOttawa’s Institute of the Environment, which offers graduate courses in environmental sustainability. In line with our mandate to support and promote the next generation of researchers, we invited recent graduates of the Master’s of Environmental Sustainability program to share their final major research projects, in their own words.
This blog post is the fourth in our Graduate Student Spotlight series, featuring completed projects from Rhona Sinamtwa, Thanuji Ranasingha, Iona Kearns, Jay Batu, Alessia Czerwinski, and Mariana Carrillo Miranda.
My research project explores the role and effectiveness of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) in Tanzania’s coffee sector, with a broader interest in understanding what sustainability looks like in practice within the Global South. The paper conducted a systematic review of the literature and reports on coffee and VSS, focusing on how these standards impact market access and climate resilience for producers. It also examined how VSS are being adopted in Tanzania, analyzing challenges and outcomes for farmers, cooperatives, and exporters. Using a coded table and targeted case study insights, the study shed light on both the potential benefits and the limitations of these voluntary frameworks in supporting sustainable development at the local level.
This initial study opens up several promising directions for future research. There is potential to build on the literature review by incorporating more participatory and comparative case study methods that elevate producer perspectives. In addition to deepening theoretical insights, the paper offers practical recommendations for adapting VSS frameworks in Tanzania to other cash crops, contributing to the development of sustainability models that are more context-sensitive, equitable, and locally driven.
South and Southeast Asia have experienced a growing number of climate change-related disasters in recent years, with flooding identified as the most prevalent and destructive. Watershed management can be considered one of the most effective approaches for mitigating the impacts of flood-related disasters exacerbated by climate change. However, any approaches that exclude communities in decision-making and planning are unlikely to be sustainable. Thus, the active involvement of local communities is essential for effective watershed management.
My research explores the role of community-based watershed management (CBWM) in enhancing flood resilience in South and Southeast Asian communities. However, it does not limit itself to South and Southeast Asia. It analyses beyond these two regions and also seeks opportunities in the Canadian context. For example, Ottawa Riverkeeper has identified that the capacity of communities to sustainably manage healthy watersheds, especially in community-based water quality monitoring and citizen science initiatives, can contribute to climate resilience.
Given the increasing frequency and severity of floods, there is a growing shift toward nature-based solutions for flood management. Nonetheless, the traditional CBWM model alone is insufficient to address the current challenges. Therefore, this study advocates for integrating CBWM with urban flood management and disaster risk reduction strategies.
Thus, my study concludes that CBWM, combined with disaster risk management, is an integrated flood mitigation approach for enhancing climate resilience in communities. Additionally, the study recommends implementing a risk identification and assessment tool and strengthening the role of local governments for further climate adaptation and resilience efforts. My future research and interests also focus on navigating through this field and seeking solutions.
This major research paper examines the current extent to which climate change is considered within the Canadian federal Fisheries Act and proposes opportunities for ‘future-proofing’ environmental law to enhance the resilience of prescribed or authorized works which impact freshwater fish habitat. The Fisheries Act is Canada’s strongest aquatic habitat protection legislation, but it lacks explicit reference to climate change, weakening its ability to effectively protect fish and fish habitat in a changing climate. A policy scan was conducted, which revealed that the 2019 ‘modernization’ amendments increased the prevalence of climate change-adjacent terminology used within the Act; however, explicit mention of climate change remains absent from the Act itself, as well as from a selection of relevant supporting regulations.
A case study of submissions to the 2024 five-year statutory review of the Fisheries Act demonstrated the positions of various stakeholder groups on the strengths and weaknesses of the Fisheries Act and highlighted instances where the inclusion of climate change could benefit, or potentially weaken, the existing provisions. This research project proposes six main recommendations, aimed to further modernize the Act. These include: 1) incorporate explicit climate change language into the Act, specifically in its definitions, decision-making considerations, and factors for the creation of regulations related to fish and fish habitat protection; 2) strengthen the purpose statement of the Act and add a preamble to clarify DFO’s position on climate change; 3) fully implement the public registry to improve transparency; 4) promote principled flexibility through adaptive management plans; 5) consider present and future climate impacts when setting objectives and designing habitat offsetting, restoration, and conservation projects; and lastly 6) promote stronger collaboration across levels of government in Canada as well as strengthen international relationships.
Economic theory has shown that output-based pricing systems (OBPS) can effectively reduce emissions, and modelling has supported this with empirical evidence in the Canadian setting. The survival of this component of Canada's climate strategy is critically important, though key questions remain about how Canadian industry is responding to OBPS in practice. This study addressed this research gap by administering a first-of-its-kind survey to Canadian OBPS facilities, with sixty facilities being assessed. Facility-level behaviour and decision-making in response to OBPS is important to consider when evaluating the effectiveness of these policies, as ultimately, decisions around investment and abatement occur at the micro-level. This research complements the macro-level evidence by providing direct testimony from industrial facilities.
The findings show a high variation among OBPS facilities on whether they respond to the marginal price incentive under OBPS and whether they incorporate the emissions performance standard into financial analysis, highlighting a divergence in behaviour from that expected by economic theory. Credit trading markets across Canadian OBPS' appear to be functioning, though the presence of transaction costs may be a limiting factor. Most facilities report low confidence in long-term carbon pricing trajectories, showing uncertainty among facilities that may be hampering investment. The findings show that OBPS is largely effective in improving facility environmental performance, though shorter-term efficiency improvements are favoured over longer-term decarbonization. It also shows a mostly positive or neutral impact on business performance, showing that adverse competitiveness impacts are being mitigated.
The incomplete combustion of fine particulate matter produces black carbon (BC), an atmospheric pollutant that has a major direct and indirect impact on the climate, environment, and human health. The Arctic region is especially impacted by climate change, in part due to BC emissions. Canada has a major obligation to cut its emissions as a key member of the Arctic Council, with its majority of emissions stemming from transportation. Although Canada has been reporting on BC for a number of years, the corresponding regulations to tackle this problem are lacking or not enforced. This paper, through a systematic literature review of academic and grey literature, provides a snapshot of the sources and impacts of BC emissions as well as the current relevant Canadian regulations. These current regulations were analysed for their successes and their gaps pertaining to regulating BC within the transportation sector. Finally, recommendations are provided based on relevant international regulations and the established gaps. These recommendations include urban planning modifications to reduce the impact of BC emissions, increased collaboration with Canada’s partners such as the United States, and opportunities for growth inspired by existing projects.
This research examines Quebec’s potential to develop a domestic forest carbon offset protocol centred on improved forest management (IFM) and conservation. Currently, the province relies on credits from U.S.-based projects to meet compliance needs through the linked cap-and-trade system with California. Over the past decade, Quebec entities have retired 26 Mt of these credits - representing approximately CAD 500 million - under the California Air Resources Board’s U.S. Forest Protocol, which has faced extensive criticism for its upfront crediting and baseline design weaknesses.
In light of the scale and credibility concerns surrounding Quebec’s reliance on U.S.-based forest offsets, there is a clear case for exploring alternatives. This paper assesses the feasibility of a provincial forest offset protocol, drawing on literature on offset costs, the potential of IFM and old-growth conservation in Quebec, and historical transaction data. Based on an analysis, it estimates that if Quebec could generate 1 Mt of credits per year through IFM and conservation, the province could theoretically meet roughly 33% of its annual offset demand. At recent offset prices, this would represent about $227 million retained in the province over the next decade.
Unlocking this potential will require addressing the allocation of carbon rights ownership on public lands and establishing a protocol design that balances economic incentives with environmental integrity. By doing so, Quebec could retain financial investment within the province, support sustainable forestry and contribute to national mitigation goals.
The Smart Prosperity Institute would like to thank participating students for sharing their work — we look forward to following their future impact in the environment-economy field!
To explore last year’s student research projects, click here. To learn more about the uOttawa Institute of the Environment, check out their website here.
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