People

Director

Manuel Riemer
Community Psychology and Sustainability Science, Wilfrid Laurier University
Director, Viessmann Centre for Engagement and Research in Sustainability
Director, Community, Environment and Justice Research Group

Co Directors

Bianca Dreyer - European Research Stream (VMCE)
PhD Student, Community Psychology
Member, Waterloo Region Blue Dot Movement

Randy Sa'd - Flourishing Enterprise Stream
Community Fellow
Refocus; Flourishing Enterprise Institute (FEI)

Simon Coulombe - Wellbeing Stream
Research Fellow
Assistant Professor Industrial Relations, Social Sciences, Université Laval

The Viessmann Centre for Engagement and Research in Sustainability is supported by a strong team and diverse board providing a variety of important perspectives.

Harald Prell - General Manager for North America, Viessmann Group (Retired 2022)
VERiS would like to acknowledge and note its appreciation of Harald Prell, GM Viessmann Canada. Harald has been with Viessmann Canada for 21 years and a VERiS board member since 2014. He is a generous presence contributing time and feedback on the centre’s direction, scope and focus. Harald’s energy, drive and passion for sustainability, and how it relates to cooperative relationships between human need and long-term thriving for all, has been a great presence on the board. Harald has been a friend and champion of VERiS on the board and in the wider community. His collegial good spirit will certainly be missed. We wish him well and full enjoyment of his time with family, friends and touring out on the open road. 

The following Board members have been confirmed to date.

Fellows

Paul Parker, Senior Research Fellow - University of Waterloo
Felix Munger, Research Fellow - Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention
Joel Marcus, Research Fellow - York University
Peter Jones, Research Fellow - Ontario College of Art and Design University
Sean Geobey, Research Fellow - University of Waterloo
Simon Coulombe, Research Fellow - Laval University
David Mather, Junior Research Fellow - University of Waterloo
Tim Posselt, Junior Fellow - Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg
Ash Dennett, Community Fellow - Sustainable Waterloo Region
Claire Bennett, Community Fellow - City of Kitchener
Randy Sa'd, Community Fellow - Refocus; Flourishing Enterprise Institute
Tova Davidson, Community Fellow - Sustainable Waterloo Region

Partners and Collaborators

Testimonials

…The work done in this project not only supports our efforts to help individual organizations reduce their impact on the environment, it has brought a fuller understanding to the community climate action work, including integration of the human element of climate change, and the braiding in of justice and equity into our carbon reduction planning.

Tova Davidson, Executive Director Sustainable Waterloo Region, VERiS Community Fellow and VERiS Board Member.

 
…VERiS has allowed me to further my passion in community psychology and sustainability through applied community-engaged research with diverse stakeholder groups. Most importantly, VERiS has provided me a sense of community where I can collaborate and learn with like-minded people.

Jennifer Dobai, Masters Student WLU, VERiS Research Assistant.
 

The deep partnership I have established with VERiS has allowed me to align credible, applied academic research with efforts to test disruptive management innovations in practice. The foundation of trust, integrity and openness that underpins our relationship has made our collaboration highly functional and effective.

Randy Sa’D – Founder & Executive Director of REFOCUS; VERiS Community Fellow and Executive Director, Flourishing Enterprise Institute.

 
The VERiS centre at Laurier is highly regarded in the scholarly and regional communities as a leading, credible source of high-quality research and action in sustainability. Their ‘culture of sustainability’ work at the evolv1 net-positive energy building, their fostering of the Flourishing Enterprise Institute, and their leadership on developing TEAMCA focused on municipalities are all projects that have advanced engagement in sustainability, and had a positive, real impact on people.

Dr. Barry Colbert, Associate Professor, Lazaridis School of Business & Director, The Co-operators Centre for Business & Sustainability; VERiS Board Member  

 
….My association with VERiS has challenged me in highly useful and unforeseen ways, to go beyond my initial comfort zones as a community-based scholar-activist, and to build on existing leading research to strengthen my own scholarship and applied community research practice.

Kai Reimer-Watts, PhD Student Fellow, Graduate Research Assistant.

 
…It is critical for scholars and municipal policymakers to work to redress these injustices, and to use anti-racist and decolonial approaches to advance equity and social justice in the municipal planning process… I am grateful to be working with my colleagues Drs. Manuel Riemer and Cheryl Teelucksingh on our project which aims to decolonize climate change action in Kitchener by establishing partnerships with some of the City's key municipal planners, as well as Indigenous and Black organizations in the area. …

Dr. Miguel Sioui, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography WLU, VERiS Faculty Member.