BEC

International use of the Biosphere Eco-City approach is welcomed. Ottawa BEC has participated in international events since 2011. This included presentations on BEC at international conferences in Canada, France and the United Arab Emirates. Also, Ottawa BEC conducted three guided sustainability tours for international visitors in Ottawa. As well, it […]

The Biosphere Eco-City (BEC) initiative is happy to share ideas and information on the BEC approach with cities across Canada. For example, it advised Ryerson University to help produce the Toronto Sustainability Tour (link at bottom of home page). As well, Ottawa BEC partnered with Water Rangers to produce a […]

There are many ways to coordinate a Biosphere Eco-City There is no standard way to set up or coordinate a Biosphere Eco-City. It all depends on what works best in the local circumstances. As well, the BEC approach can be tested first through a project, without setting up a Biosphere […]

DIAGRAM OF BIOSPHERE ECO-CITY MODEL The goal of BEC is to create a culture of sustainability A goal of a Biosphere Eco-City (BEC) is to create a Culture of Sustainability that will be seen in the work and lives of everyone. To do this BEC uses Themes, Tools and Processes […]

Science, Education, Communication and Culture are Processes that can improve the effectiveness of projects for any Theme of Sustainability. Although these Processes are common features of modern life, it might be worthwhile to create committees to ensure that BEC activities in a city are using them to best advantage. Below […]

Engagement includes Understanding, Involvement, Innovation and Sharing Tools make it easier to engage people in activities for sustainability. They use BEC Themes to focus discussions and actions. All Tools address four aspects of engagement: Understanding (of sustainability) Involvement (in an activity) Innovation (building on previous work) Sharing (of lessons and […]

“Themes make sustainability easy to understand” Ten Themes include all areas of direct action for sustainability. They are: Because Themes are concrete and relate to a specific area of activity, they make sustainability easy to understand. Yet they are broad enough to bring together people to discuss common areas of […]

A functional region is based on human activities; an ecological region is based on nature A city is a functional region where human processes can dominate ecological ones. The ecological region (see explanation below), in which the city was established, still exists. But its ecosystems have been changed by human […]

A Biosphere Eco-City (BEC) contains an urban core and the surrounding rural area with which it has regular interaction. A BEC is a functional region, in which human processes are prevalent, but in which ecological processes are also present (see Functional Region vs Ecological Region). The rural area will normally […]