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On April 1, 2010, The Sustainability Leadership Exchange (SLX) will take place at the MaRS Discovery District. The SLX will bring Canadian business leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and investors together to explore what sustainable business means in practice.

The Sustainability Leadership Exchange will take place on April 1st in Toronto. This event will create an interactive exchange of ideas and practices between business leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and investors. MaRS Discovery District will be presenting at the event along with Green Enterprise Ontario and InCourage.

The Sustainable Cities Challenge took place on May 18th, 2010 at the Royal York Hotel which featured a panel discussion from industry experts as well as a keynote speech by Peter Robinson, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation. Tom Rand, MaRS Cleantech Practice Lead was amongst the panelists.

The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre is hosting Soo Sustainable event which will take place from Sept. 22 to 28 and is aimed at making citizens and businesses aware of the opportunities available to community sustainability and alternative energy. Jon Dogterom, Cleantech Practice Lead at MaRS Discovery District will lead a discussion on Cleantech trends and opportunities in Canada.

Clean Tech Funding\n\nIf you have a new, innovative technology that helps address climate change or promotes clean water, land or air, then Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) wants to hear from you.(\n\nSDTC supports late-stage development and pre-commercial demonstration of clean technologies by Canadian companies.( (The Statement of Interest (SOI) is an initial application used for preliminary screening and is subject to a competitive review process by SDTC and a panel of independent experts. ( (Applications are evaluated on the basis of their fit with SDTC's mandate, selection criteria, and the quality of technology, marketing and business capabilities. ( (IMPORTANT - Prior to submitting an application and to ensure a good fit:\n\n 1. First review the "Application Advice" section and subsections on SDTC's web site, starting at http://www.sdtc.ca/en/funding/advice/index.htm.\n 2. Register for one of their free online webinars or workshop to learn more - see http://sdtc.ca/en/news/events/200803-61120.htm for details. \n 3. Then discuss your proposed project with one of their Applications Managers.\n

MaRS Innovation and The University of Toronto (U of T) announce that they have entered into an agreement to collaboratively commercialize a novel sustained release formulation of nitric oxide (NO) for applications in wound healing, including diabetic ulcers.

In Municipal Mind, Toronto's Poet Laureate offers a blueprint for building sustainable cities in a global era, predicated on city soul. By weaving bold and savvy strategies for urban creativity and civic prosperity together with a reasoned appeal for mutual respect, understanding and interaction among citizens, he persuades us that - in the delicate balancing of universal values and individual needs - cities can do far, far, better. Municipal Mind offers up a whole new way of civic being and thinking that puts wonder before commerce and nothing before human encounter.

Worldchanging is poised to be the Whole Earth Catalog for this millennium. Written by leading new thinkers who believe that the means for building a better future lie all around us, Worldchanging is packed with the information, resources, reviews, and ideas that give readers the tools they need to make a difference. Brought together by Alex Steffen, co-founder of the popular and award-winning web site Worldchanging.com, this team of top-notch writers includes Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity, Geekcorps founder Ethan Zuckerman, sustainable food expert Anna Lappé, and many others. Renowned designer Stefan Sagmeister brings his extraordinary talents to Worldchanging, resulting in a book that will challenge readers to personally redefine the conversation about the future.

The authors of this book present true and unique (mainstream) business models that have changed the world. In three parts, they present "Building Innovative Enterprises," "Creating the Markets of the Future," and "Leading Sustainable and Scalable Change." Case studies from for-profit and nonprofit social organizations are also discussed, including Whole Foods, One Laptop Per Child, Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8.

OCETA accelerates the commercialization and market adoption of clean technologies and environmentally sustainable solutions. OCETA provides technical and business services to support technology entrepreneurs and start-up companies with commercializing and bringing their innovations to market. These services include: * Business mentoring and coaching: Strengthening management capability, strategic planning, route to market, IP strategy and protection. * Business networks: Connecting entrepreneurs to networks of established peers, mentors and experts. * Technology: Providing 3rd party assessment, demonstration, verification, scale-up and deployment. * Financing: Finding access to capital and improving investment readiness. * Marketing: Assisting in market niche identification and segmentation and export assistance.

Shawn Lesser states "The Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA) have nominated 185 companies for 2011 GCCA Later Stage Award by 30 cleantech clusters from around the world."  The following 6 MaRS Cleantech clients have been nominated:  NIMTech, Hydrostor, Temporal Power, Hydrogenics, Morgan Solar and Sustainable Energy Technologies.

Business leaders discuss strategies for achieving a healthy balance between environmental sustainability and economic growth at Creating Business Value with Integrated Sustainability, hosted by The Conference Board of Canada. Event takes place Oct 29-30, Tom Rand, MaRS Clean Tech Practice lead will be speaking at the event. Oct 27, 2009

The UAE's Ministry of Economy (MoE) and Canada's MaRS Discovery District of Toronto, Ontario, and Sustainable Development Technology - Canada (SDTC) signed separate memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to enhance business ties. The strategic partnership is aimed at fostering innovation and accelerating growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in accordance with the UAE's strategy to build competitive knowledge-based economy. 

The UAE's Ministry of Economy and Canada's MaRS Discovery District of Toronto, Ontario, and Sustainable Development Technology - Canada (SDTC) signed separate memorandums of understanding (MoU) to establish strategic partnerships, the WAM news agency reported.

The following six start-ups will comprise JOLT's first summer cohort: Prof (interactive social education platform), Vennpage (infographics), ShelfLife (social commerce for fans of collectibles), SlingRide (social network for booking rideshare trips), Greengage Mobile (social platform encouraging eco-sustainable practices in the workplace) and tout.it  (social media platform for sports fans).

E(3) Canadian Roundtables will take place May 26, 2010. The event will feature a panel of thought leaders sharing their vision for a sustainable energy future for Canada. Tom Rand, Cleantech Advisor at the MaRS Discovery District will be speaking at the event.

Statement from the White House on the new Innovation Policy.  It is very comprehensive, covering everything from R+D, to regional clusters, to the Office of Social Innovation. A lot of smart people worked on this document. The grand challenges listed at the end are especially interesting.

Over the next decade, two out of every three companies will face the challenge of their corporate lives: redefining their core business. Buffeted by global competition and facing an uncertain future, more and more executives will realize that they must make fundamental changes in their core even as they continue delivering the goods and services that keep them in business today. "Unstoppable" shows these managers how to look deep within their organizations to find undervalued, unrecognized, or underutilized assets that can serve as new platforms for sustainable growth. Drawing on more than thirty interviews with CEOs from companies such as De Beers, American Express, and Samsung, it shows readers how to recognize when the core needs reinvention and how to deploy the "hidden assets" that can be the basis for tomorrow's growth. Building on the author's previous books, "Profit from the Core" and "Beyond the Core", this book shows how any company in crisis can transform itself to become truly unstoppable.

Shawn Lesser of Sustainable World Capital scoured the world looking for leading cleantech economic development regions. MaRS Discovery District ranked 4th in a list of ten World Cleantech Clusters. MaRS is the largest cleantech deal-flow engine in Canada. Cluster success stories include: Morgan Solar, NIMTec, Hybrid Energy Technologies, and SkyMeter.