Yannick Beaudoin

Yannick Beaudoin is Director-General for Ontario and Northern Canada with the David Suzuki Foundation. He brings a ‘new economics for transition’ lens to the organization to enable the transformation of Canada towards social and ecological sustainability. Until recently, he was Chief Scientist of GRID-Arendal, a center collaborating with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, located in Norway, which provided him with the opportunity to explore stories of sustainability in all corners of the world. He applies a science of change and participatory social processes to a variety of themes that include: adaptation to uncertain climate futures; embedding of local, traditional and indigenous knowledge in policy-, decision- and choice-making; enabling conversations and innovation for new development and economic paradigms; promoting a transition to a sustainable relationship between society and Nature. Activities involve working with governments, local communities, industry, academia and other actors to design societal systems, processes and approaches that increase human well-being while preserving and enhancing Nature. Most recently, Yannick has been facilitating conversations with decision makers around the world, highlighting various examples of beyond-GDP economics and post-extractivistic development paradigms. Yannick holds a Phd in Marine Geology from the University of Toronto and an Masters in Economics for Transition from Schumacher College/University of Plymouth in the UK.