Q&A: Carleton researcher Daniel Rosenbloom talks Canada’s first research chair on sustainability transitions

A new sustainability research position at Carleton University will be the first of its kind in Canada.

Carleton’s Rosamond Ivey research chair in sustainability transitions was created following a $2.5-million donation from the Ivey Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting Canada’s transition to a net-zero carbon emissions future.

Daniel Rosenbloom, an assistant professor and researcher in Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration, was appointed to be the research chairperson. His work is focused on addressing sustainability and climate change. 

The Charlatan sat down with Rosenbloom to discuss his research and the impact of the new research chair in sustainability transitions.

The Charlatan (TC): What can you tell us about your research?

Daniel Rosenbloom (DR): I’ve always been interested in sustainability within the environment. What attracted me to go into a bachelor’s degree in psychology was to seek answers for why we, collectively and individually, make poor environmental choices. Why are the challenges so tricky to navigate? 

I looked at the individual level, trying to understand what motivates us. Psychology pointed to the elephant in the room being that systems condition our behaviour. Rules govern those systems and those rules are established by public policy.

TC: How urgent is it for our society to take steps toward sustainability?

DR: We’re already breaching 1.3 C average temperature rise across the globe, making the speed of the sustainability transition even more important. We need to do more and do it faster than we had ever envisioned previously.

TC: At the Ivey research chair launch event, you said you hope to develop a “world-class hub” for sustainability transitions research and policy. What does that look like?

DR: There are three key planks to the research. The first plank is about decision-making, identifying how we get to net-zero and which solutions we should be investing in. I’ve been working on creating assessment styles to help inform government decision-makers.

The second plank is about the different policy instruments we can use to achieve desired goals. For example, phase-outs, where we phase out the old to bring in, develop and support the new, like wind and solar power or electric vehicles.

The third plank is the rich international scholarly network and academic community who are studying sustainability transitions. When I say we want to set up an international hub, part of that is establishing a Canadian network to bring scholars from across the country together to address these challenges together.

TC: What were some challenges you came across when identifying these “planks” of your research?

DR: You can think about this from a micro or macro perspective. The macro challenges are getting funding and resourcing those projects. From a micro perspective, it could be conceptualizing the different pathways towards sustainability we need to pursue.

TC: What impact will this research have on Canada’s sustainability goals and policy? 

DR: I am very much a practice-oriented scholar. I want to see real impact from what I do. Ultimately, the goal of the research I am conducting is to make those real impacts on the ground. This means moving our systems of consumption and production of electricity, heating and more from where they are today to a more sustainable tomorrow.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Featured graphic by Alisha Velji.