Summary
York University
CIFAL York was established in 2020 to provide a range of learning opportunities and facilitate knowledge sharing between public servants and leaders of the Western Hemisphere to strengthening their capacities, improving the decision-making process and encouraging sustainable development.
The capacity development activities of the Centre will focus on diversity and inclusion, health, entrepreneurship and economic development, and in integrating the Sustainable Development Goals in academic institutions.
Created in 1959, York is Canada's third largest university – with over 56,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 11 faculties - and is a global leader in interdisciplinary teaching and research committed to the public good. York hosts 25 innovative and collaborative research centres, with strengths in vision and space sciences, history and refugee studies, health, the environment, climate change, sustainability and digital media. York University has established its reputation worldwide with 280 international partnerships and nearly 9,000 international students from 178 countries.
CIFAL York Director
Dr. Ali Asgary
Dr. Ali Asgary
Professor of Disaster & Emergency Management, and Associate Director of Y-EMERGE & Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation (ADERSIM).
Dr. Asgary is an expert in disaster, emergency, and business continuity management. He has been actively involved in research, teaching, and professional activities in these fields since 1993. His research has been published in leading disaster and emergency management journals including Disasters, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, International Journal of Disaster Science, Disaster Prevention and Management, Environmental Hazards, International Journal of Emergency Management, International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, and International Journal of Emergency Services among others. He was among the funding faculty members who started the first university program in Disaster and Emergency Management in Canada at Brandon University in 2003 and later among the funding faculty members who started Disaster and Emergency Management at York University. Dr. Asgary served as the IAEM Canada president between 2007-2009 and as a board member of IAEM during the same period. He has led as a PI, Co-PI, and collaborator in many research projects funded by different agencies including NSERC, GEOIDE, SSHRC, PreCarn, CIHR, NFRF, ORF, Transport Canada, Public Safety Canada, Welcome Trust, IDRC, and DRDC. Since 2015 Dr. Asgary has been the executive director of York University's Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid-response Simulation (ADERSIM). His research interests include post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, business continuity and risk assessment, disaster and emergency simulations and modeling, applications of AI, VR, AR, and MR, and geomatics in disaster and emergency management, and cost-benefit analysis and decision-making under uncertainty.
CIFAL York Associate Director
Dr. Idil Boran
Dr. Idil Boran
Professor, Applied Environmental Governance & Public Policy, Department of Philosophy.
Dr. Boran serves in multiple significant roles, notably as the Lead Researcher for the Synergies of Planetary Health Research Initiative & Lab at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University. Additionally, they hold the position of Professor in Applied Environmental Governance and coordinate the Certificate Program in Practical Ethics within the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies at York University. Further, they serve as the Associate Director at CIFAL York and hold the position of Non-resident Associate Researcher at the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik in Bonn, Germany. Their specializations encompass various aspects of global climate governance, environmental governance, sustainability, and climate adaptation, among others. Moreover, they have a diverse teaching portfolio covering subjects such as equity, social justice, sustainable development, and the history of political and intergovernmental organizations.
Contact Information
UNITAR