Franz Hartmann

Franz Hartmann is the executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA), a Toronto-based advocacy group determined to build a green Toronto. He has been active in green issues since 1990, when he first volunteered at TEA. In 1998, after eight years of studying and participating in urban environmental politics in Toronto, he received his PhD in Environmental Politics from York University. The same year, he also became the environmental advisor to Councillor Jack Layton. Since then, Franz has been involved in advocating green energy, smog and waste management, and green economy solutions at the municipal and federal levels. Highlights include helping write the City of Toronto's first ever Environmental Plan and helping develop a Kyoto Implementation Strategy for Canada. Franz has extensive background in the climate change and smog files. Over the years, he has taught at the University of Toronto's Centre for the Environment.