Dr. Yannick Beaudoin

Director-General, Ontario and Northern Canada with the David Suzuki Foundation

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, located in Norway. From circular economy to the SDGs, he has worked to enable placed-based sustainability approaches all over the world. He applies an art 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; 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 across Canada, highlighting various examples of beyond-GDP economics. Yannick holds a Phd in Marine Geology from the University of Toronto and a Masters in Economics for Transition from Schumacher College/University of Plymouth in the UK.