Mike Smith-Cairns

Day 1 Speaker

Equipping the Workforce for a Low-Carbon Economy

Mike is a post-secondary educator and academic leader with over 15 years of experience across four BC institutions. He currently serves as Department Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies at Langara College, overseeing programs that include Canadian Studies, Classical Studies, Environmental Studies, Family Studies, Latin American Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Women Studies. His work focuses on sustainability, applied learning, and connecting academic programs to real-world challenges. 

Recently, he served as a member of Langara’s Strategic Planning Advisory Committee helping define and embed Indigenization; Equity, Diversity, and Justice; and Sustainability as foundational institutional principles. 

An active member of Langara’s Sustainability Committee, he advocated for the signing of the UN Accord, committing the College to advancing sustainability across campus operations in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He manages the Sustainability Leaders Program that provides students with opportunities to engage in hands-on sustainability projects that connect academic learning with real-world applications through “Langara as a Living Lab”. 

His research highlights the importance of travel design and community engagement for the development of sustainable urban transportation systems and healthy, liveable communities. Previously, he was Partner at HASTe, a worker’s cooperative whose mandate was to connect kids, schools, and communities through walking and cycling. 

Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography (UVic), and a Master of Urban Studies from SFU.