On June 11, Jürgen took the train to Vancouver, British Columbia for the last outreach trip during his stay at the Center for European Studies and EU Center. He was invited by Kurt Huebner, the Jean Monnet Chair for European Integration and Global Political Economy, to give a talk at the Institute for European Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
Jürgen decided to take advantage of the nice summer weather and brought his bicycle on the train from Seattle. After arriving at the Pacific Central rail station in Vancouver, he biked about 10 miles from the station to the UBC campus, which is located at the western end of the Burrard Peninsula. On his way to UBC, Jürgen enjoyed a pleasant ride along the Vancouver seafront, passing Granville Island, several nice beaches, and the Pacific Spirit regional park.
Institute for European Studies at UBC
In the evening of the same day, Jürgen met over dinner with Kurt Huebner and researchers at the UBC for a discussion about climate and energy policy in Canada and British Columbia. British Columbia was the first province in Canada to introduce a carbon tax in 2008 and its experience has influenced the discussion on carbon pricing in the state of Washington.
The next day Jürgen presented the latest developments in EU climate policy and legislation at a lunch seminar at the Institute for European Studies. Most of the seminar participants were researchers at the UBC with a background in European affairs. They asked many pertinent questions which contributed to a quality discussion about the state of play of EU politics.
After the talk, Jürgen met with Sara Muir-Owen from the The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. The Institute is led by the University of Victoria in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Northern British Columbia. It sponsors research on how climate change impacts mitigation and adaptation solutions and advises on these issues to government, industry, and the general public in the province.
Since it began in 2008, PICS has launched a number of programs and activities that involve UBC faculty, students, research and activities.
We’ve reached the end of Jürgen’s time with us at the Center for Western European Studies, he is now heading back to Brussels to continue his work as a policy officer at the EU Commission. We’ll have a recap of his year next week!