Virtual lab enabled by gift in honour of celebrated architect and philanthropist Phyllis Lambert

MONTREAL | TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE KANIEN’KEHÁ:KA FIRST NATION – The David Suzuki Foundation announced the creation of Canada’s first virtual climate lab today, in honour of architect and philanthropist Phyllis Lambert’s 95th birthday. The lab is enabled by a special gift from her brother Charles Bronfman and his children, Stephen and Ellen.

With projects targeted initially at Quebec audiences, the lab will connect and nurture creative communities to help heal and renew human habitats, protect and replenish the biosphere and advocate for climate justice for all.

Lab projects currently include urban forestation and equity research, investigations into legal innovation for planetary health, a book project mapping environmental justice stories and an art activism exhibition.

“We are thrilled to launch the lab with this gift in Phyllis Lambert’s honour,” said David Suzuki Foundation Quebec and Atlantic Canada director Sabaa Khan, who will direct the lab. “Her life’s work in the built environment has been so clearly guided by her activism for equity, commitment to our common cultural heritage and advocacy to shape the places where we live. Her legacy is perfectly aligned with the lab’s mission.”

Khan explained that considerations around justice and systemic discrimination are often marginalized in crafting climate and environmental policy. As a result, communities most vulnerable to climate catastrophes and environmental degradation face increased risks. The lab’s focus on spurring collective, creative and community-based action to tackle climate change will leave no one behind.

Speaking on behalf of his family, Stephen Bronfman said, “My aunt is the model for my sister and me, as well as countless others, of a socially engaged leader who tirelessly and effectively advocates for a better world. In all of her many causes, her position is founded on sound principles and solid evidence. Our hope is that the Climate Conscience Lab team will apply these same humanist values and professional rigour to its work.”

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For more information or a media interview, please contact:

Brendan Glauser, bglauser@davidsuzuki.org, (604) 356-8829

About:

Phyllis Lambert is founding director emeritus of the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, an international research centre and museum founded in 1979 on the conviction that architecture is a public concern. She is recognized internationally for her contribution in advancing the contemporary built environment, concern for the social issues of urban conservation and elevating the role of architecture in the public realm.

The David Suzuki Foundation (DavidSuzuki.org | @DavidSuzukiFdn) is a leading Canadian environmental non-profit organization, founded in 1990. We operate in English and French, with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. We collaborate with all people in Canada, including governments, businesses, Indigenous leadership and communities and individuals to find solutions to create a sustainable Canada through scientific research, traditional ecological knowledge, communications and public engagement, and innovative policy and legal solutions. Our mission is to protect nature’s diversity and the well-being of all life, now and for the future. We envision a day where we all act on the understanding that we are one with nature.