Charles Hostovsky
Dr.Hostovsky is first known as an excellent teacher in environmental management who is passionate and stimulating environmental management. The knowledge imparted by Dr. Hostovsky, through his teachings and professional experiences, helped students to gain a better understanding and appreciation of geography as a discipline. He draws on his experiences to interweave a picture of practical and theoretical conceptualizations that make him an ideal practitioner-educator.For example, Stoney Creek Open Spaces and Natural Areas Environmental Study (SCONES) was developed as part of a course project that Dr.Hostovsky taught at Ryerson University. Students were involved with undertaking the first stage of natural heritage scoping which was to be adopted into the City of Stoney Creek’s Official Plan. SCONES promotes biodiversity taking into account the United Nations policies for protecting World Biosphere Reserves, the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy, the Carolinian Canada Program, the Provincial Policy Statement on Natural Heritage, the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Regional Official Plan. The results of their efforts guided policies that were taken into consideration to identify major policy areas and that are now part of the City of Hamilton’s Official Plan. His teaching has been most influential on students who have followed a career path in the environmental field.
Dr.Hostovsky is known as well for his role as an outstanding practitioner of geography. He has promoted geography in the public and private sector as a planner, consultant, environmentalist and lecturer. At the federal level, Dr.Hostovsky has been involved with numerous environmental impact assessments, such as Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management, where his main contribution was modeling. He was also involved with the environmental screening of a truck wash facility in the Hamilton Harbour for the Hamilton Port Authority. Recently, Dr.Hostovsky’s name was in the news in connection with a municipal level environmental assessment for an Etobicoke sanitary sewer.
During his employment at the Ministry of the Environment, Dr.Hostovsky developed policies to make public liaison committees a standard practice. His involvement in this regard has led to the creation of an Alternative Dispute Resolution program within the Environment Assessment Branch of the Ministry of the Environment, which has come to be a vital component of staff training. As well, alternative dispute resolution skills are now a part of job descriptions from the Environmental Assessment Branch. These skills have earned Dr.Hosovsky a reputation of an excellent environmental facilitator. Among his many projects, he was a facilitator for Indian Northern Affairs, a project to develop a National Remediation Strategy and Development of Emergency Response Procedures.
Such dedication to the discipline and to his students has made Dr.Hostovsky an inspiration. It is with great pleasure that we honour him with the CAG Award for Geography in the Service of Government or Business.
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