Eau daCité

prioritizes blue spaces in the

context of sustainable development.

Our Story

Eau daCité’s is a social enterprise. Our vision is to reconnect cities, citizens, and companies to their original source of urbanization: waterways, by having the audacity to prioritize blue spaces in the context of sustainable development. Eau daCité exists to promote waterway literacy, activate sustainable development and connect social ecological transformation.

In 2019, Eau daCité began as a one-day, family-friendly, and free Waterway Festival that engaged over 250 people. Through a playful approach applied to a “very-Montréal” method of gathering: a festival, this project utilized arts and culture to highlight local climate change concerns. We repackaged ocean health issues in an appealing and accessible format.

The pandemic served as a catalyst to transform the event into an entrepreneurial venture. We saw a need for a more human approach to biological diversity and sustainable development for urban community members and their local bodies of water.

In order to build a more ocean-conscious future we need to help foster a blue generation. We must prioritize ocean and waterway health, literacy, and support the future of biological diversity with a distinctly human connection to our local waterways. 

Our Values

Audacity. Reciprocity. Authenticity. Creativity.

Our Approach

Eau daCité participated in the Be Radicle circular economy business accelerator, and have applied this architecture to our organization. Proceeds from the revenue-generating activities and through the Consultation4aCause program are redistributed to our suite of community initiatives. 

Our Team

  • Cyrielle Noël

    FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR

    Cyrielle Noël is one of only a few Canadian spatial planners with an expertise is in marine and coastal planning. She is from the river island of Tiohtiá:ke (Montréal) which has contributed to a research interest in island geographies and has informed her perspective as soulful thalassophile. She is an enterprising environmental interdisciplinarian and founded Eau daCité in 2019.

    As a recipient of a full Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, Cyrielle graduated with merit from Radboud University with a Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning, and from Cardiff University with a Master of Science in European Spatial Planning and Environmental Policy. Her thesis explored the scope for closer integration between marine spatial planning and coastal zone management practices within the context of sustainable development. Cyrielle has developed a global perspective, having worked on projects in Barbados, Cambodia, Mauritius, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

    Cyrielle enjoys volunteering with the Global Shapers, and is a board member for the Foundation of Environmental Stewarship. For her contributions in sustsinable development she was featured on the Corporate Knights’ 30 under 30 list and was a recipient of the CBC’s Black Changemaker award. In her free time, she enjoys connecting with nature by snowboarding, caving, and fishing.

  • Georgina Faber

    OPERATING DIRECTOR & LEAD CONSULTANT

    Georgina Faber is an environmental advocate with a diverse professional background. She serves the Operating Director & Lead Consultant of Eau daCité. Having worked in various fields surrounding ethics and sustainability, she has developed a passion for environmental advocacy and projects.

    These interests were first peaked in France while interning for an ethical fashion company where she learned the creation of a garment from the design to manufacturing to distribution, with the utmost in ethical and sustainable practices, and even contributing to editing their business’ ethical charter. As a keen knitter, this opportunity led her to teaching herself how to repurpose knitted items by breaking them down to their fibers and using those fibers to create smaller functional knitted items such as hats, scarves and mitts. Channeling all of this experience and knowledge she continued to apply her skills and creativity while working for the sustainable skincare company Étymologie, where she focused mainly on sales and marketing and refining their brand message.

    She continued to demonstrate this passion through her volunteer efforts as a tour facilitator with Heritage Montreal, exploring the urban history of her home city, and as an ocean conservation ambassador with Ocean Wise’s 2020 Ocean Bridge Program. Georgina currently works as the sponsorship coordinator for the McGill University student union, and also enjoys discovering the green and blue space her home city of Montreal has to offer while taking her headstrong dog for endless walks.

  • Kira Clingen

    DESIGNER & CREATIVE CONSULTANT

    Kira Clingen is a landscape designer and climate change design researcher. She is currently a Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where she teaches Climate by Design, a required course that explores the agency of design in the climate crisis. She is also a Research Associate at the Office for Urbanization, where she is the project lead on Compound Vulnerabilities: The Case of Cape Ann, a climate change scenario planning project.

    She holds a Master’s in Landscape Architecture and Master’s in Design Studies in Risk and Resilience from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where she graduated with distinction. She also holds a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and B.A. in Environmental Policy Studies and Asian Studies.

    Kira’s interest in coastal climate adaptation evolved from her childhood in Massachusetts, where she observed first-hand processes of erosion and sunny day flooding. She was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study small-scale climate adaptation in Mauritius and Myanmar from 2016 to 2017. While living in Boston, she enjoys surfing, biking, and drawing the coastline.