Bio

John Robinson is a Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the School of the Environment, at the University of Toronto; and an Honorary Professor with the Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability at The University of British Columbia. At the University of Toronto, he is Presidential Advisor and Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability.

In 2019, Dr. Robinson was Visiting Professor on Transdisciplinary Sustainability at Utrecht University. In 2018, he was awarded the Green Ribbon Award – Faculty, by the University of Toronto Sustainability Office, for contributions to sustainability at U of T. In the same year, he received a Clean 50 Award, in the Education and Thought Leadership category, by the Delta Management Group, for his contributions to university sustainability.

In 2012 Dr. Robinson received the Metro Vancouver Architecture Canada Architecture Advocacy Award and was named Environmental Scientist of the Year by Canadian Geographic magazine. In 2011, he received the Canada Green Building Council Education Leadership Award, and in 2010 he was given BC Hydro’s inaugural Larry Bell Award for advancing energy conservation in British Columbia. Dr. Robinson was a Fellow of the Trudeau Foundation from 2008-10, and, as a Lead Author, he contributed to the 1995, 2001 and 2007 reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore.

Research Interests

Prof. Robinson’s research focuses on sustainable buildings and cities; climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability; participatory backcasting and futures studies; urban living labs; sustainability transitions and transformations; art and sustainability, community engagement and transdisciplinary knowledge co-production; the role of universities in sustainability transitions; and the history and philosophy of sustainability.