After a rainy summer transitioned into one of Ontario’s driest and warmest Octobers on record, Brock’s UNESCO Chair Liette Vasseur is highlighting the important role that precipitation and colder temperatures play in maintaining ecological balance.

Vasseur, who holds the UNESCO Chair in Community Sustainability: From Local to Global, is once again hosting the Sustainability Poetry Contest to engage communities in conversations about sustainability and the impacts of climate change.

“Climate change projections suggest warmer overall temperatures in the winter which means less snow and diminishing glacial ice, both of which are needed to replenish the soil and local waterways and protect plants from winter damage,” says the Professor of Biological Sciences.

From now until Friday, Feb. 14, Niagara residents can submit a poem or two under the themes of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and the International Year of Peace and Trust. These themes are guided by resolutions made annually by the United Nations’ General Assembly to raise awareness and prompt action on priority issues impacting the world.

Vasseur says glaciers and other landmasses that channel rainfall, snowmelt and runoff act as important stores for freshwater. While there are no glaciers in southern Ontario, she says reduced local snow and ice “drastically drives ecosystem stressors.”

“The snow accumulated in the winter on the escarpment, for example, followed by a spring melt, acts as an irrigation source for our vineyards and orchards down below,” she says. “If you have no snow, or alternatively have torrential rain, that causes either erosion and drought or flooding, both of which are problematic in their own way.”

She also pointed to the important role of snow and ice in protecting the Niagara’s perennial plants.

“If it’s quite warm in the winter with no snow and we experience an abrupt cold snap, there is no cover protection for the plants which causes stress, at best, or total plant loss, at worst — which is especially problematic as we rely so heavily on our agrifood industry here in the region,” she said.

Ensuring that individuals can effectively drive change in their own communities is another important theme this year, Vasseur says.

“People living in areas experiencing conflict do not have the ability to think about sustainability because they are just trying to survive,” she says. “This is exacerbated by climate change and, in many regions, a lack of clean water, which is why is it so important to strive for peace, so everyone has the ability to think meaningfully about sustainable development and sustainability initiatives that will make their communities safe and enduring places to live into the future.”

Poems can be submitted in English or French to the UNESCO Chair’s website until 5 p.m. on Feb. 14. Prizes, such as books and gift cards, will be awarded to the winners and all poems will be published in an ebook compilation.

Participating poets will also be celebrated at a Poetry Day Celebration on Friday, March 21. More details about the event, including the location and program, will be available closer to the date and can be found on the Sustainability Poetry Contest website and ExperienceBU.