Introduction
Community engagement is integral to how UBC fulfills its academic mission. Engagement gives UBC real-world relevance when researchers and students collaborate and learn from people in communities to serve community interests.
UBC’s Office of Community Engagement (CE) is a team of six staff members and two students. Since 2013, CE has been working to support reciprocal engagement between UBC faculty and staff and their local, regional and national community partners. While CE’s programs and goals evolve, a few constants define why we do this work, how we approach it, and the areas we focus on. Here’s an overview:
- Why? To ensure UBC research and education remains accessible and relevant to real-world needs, so together we can create positive, meaningful, and lasting change in communities.
- How? By applying principles of reciprocity, respect, transparency, and flexibility to all CE’s programs and relationships. We also use an adaptive strategy to stay current and responsive to emerging issues while maintaining focus on long-term goals.
- What? CE delivers programming to make it easier for UBC and community partners to engage in ways that: enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good.
This report is designed to give the reader a taste of what CE’s areas of work look like in practice, through the eyes of program users and partners. The report includes many numbers, but they tell only part of the story. Engagement is deeply relational. How many people we support or how much funding we disperse does not matter if it’s not done usefully and respectfully. The stories woven throughout this report—through videos, podcasts, articles, and testimonials—demonstrate how we work relationally and center people in all we do. We hope this report illustrates both the quantitative and qualitative impact of our work, showing the transformative power of collaboration.
None of this would be possible without the incredible networks supporting the office—within UBC, from external communities, and in our personal lives. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to and shaped these initiatives.
Thank you for reading.
— Katie McCallum, Director, UBC Community Engagement
Highlights
In 2024, the office engaged more than 1,600 faculty, staff, students, and community partners through funding, programs, and events.
- Community-University Engagement Support Fund: Awarded over $700,000 to 30 community-university partnerships. Since 2018, it has invested $3.2 million in 142 partnerships, involving collaborators from 18 UBC faculties across Vancouver and Okanagan.
- Partnership Recognition & Exploration Fund: Supported 31 partnerships, with 75% funding new collaborations and 20% supporting Okanagan projects. Since 2017, it has invested $643,000 in 427 partnerships between UBC faculty, staff, students, and community partners, with half of the funding benefiting IBPOC-led organizations.
- Community Engagement Network: Hosted seven events focused on reconciliation, reciprocal engagement, and community building in collaboration with 11 UBC departments. It was a key contributor to UBC Reads Sustainability with Jody Wilson-Raybould. Launched the Stories of Partnership series, featuring the Faculty of Management, UBCO Library, Asian Canadian Research & Engagement, Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies, the Centre for Migration Studies, and their partners.
- UBC Connects at Robson Square: Welcomed 10,000 attendees to 40 events in partnership with five faculties, three portfolios, 49 departments, and more than 50 organizations. Recent events have focused on critical topics such as the BC election, housing affordability, migration, and health equity.
- Partnering in Research Workshops: Delivered eight professional development sessions for community-engaged researchers, drawing over 800 participants from Canada, the U.S., and Australia.
- Community Partner Help Desk: Worked with over 100 external partners, connecting them with six portfolios and nine faculties across UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
- Honoraria Toolkit: Developed UBC’s first toolkit to simplify honoraria payments, offering clear instructions and practical tips to strengthen partnerships and recognize the contributions of community partners.
- Communications: Expanded awareness and engagement across our funding and programs. The CUES Fund received 53% more applications, and 78% of funding supported new collaborations, CE events saw over 2,500 registrants, and 15 of our stories were featured on UBC’s homepage.
- Engaged Team: Fostered collaboration and mutual learning through initiatives such as building key community-university partnerships, connecting with community engagement practitioners at other post-secondary institutions, presenting to local and national audiences, and volunteering.
The 2023-24 Community-University Engagement Support (CUES) Fund Awards Over $700,000 to 30 Community-University Partnerships
This spring, the CUES Fund welcomed 23 first-time grantees—a testament to the fund’s growing reach and impact. Seeing the surge in new applicants this fall for the 2024-2025 cycle is a reminder of just how much demand there is for accessible funding that bridges communities and universities in meaningful ways.
“I just want to give a huge shout-out to the CUES funding program. The application process is refreshingly straightforward—so much simpler than something like SSHRC or other funding processes. What’s really special is that it puts the funding directly into the hands of the community. My community partner was amazed that we could make adjustments to the project without needing to jump through administrative hoops. The flexibility and support provided by CUES truly prioritize what works best for the community and the project. That level of trust and responsiveness is rare, and it really surprises and supports communities to lead initiatives in ways that are meaningful to them.”
— Dr. Christine Schreyer, Director of the Institute for Community Engaged Research (ICER), UBC Okanagan
“This funding will help us ensure that the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area is established in a manner that incorporates all of our families’ voices, values, and perspectives.”
— Sean O’Rourke, Lands Manager for the Kanaka Bar Indian Band
2023-24 CUES Fund Summary
- $707,166 awarded to 30 projects
- Funding provided for 5 Indigenous-led projects
- Representation from 9 faculties across the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses
- 5 projects involving student co-applicants
- Projects spanning from Vancouver Island (Courtenay, Sidney), to Metro Vancouver (Vancouver, North Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Richmond), and extending to Kelowna, Lytton, and Terrace
Since 2018, the CUES Fund has awarded $3,215,900 to 142 community-university partnerships, engaging UBC partners from 18 faculties across both Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
About CE’s Funds
Supported by UBC’s Academic Excellence Fund, the CUES and PRE Funds are central to the university’s academic mission, advancing Strategy 20: Co-ordinated Engagement by providing financial resources for community-university partnerships that benefit communities across BC and advance collaborative research, teaching and learning.
Click here to view the list of 2023-24 CUES Fund projects and recipients
| Project Title | Community Partner | UBC Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility and Disability Justice Training Modules | City of Kelowna | Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan |
| Appreciating Snk?caskáxa as Tmix? with Community Stewardship | For the Ferals Wild Horse Society | Faculty of Education, UBC Okanagan |
| Assessing and Enhancing Food Security Among New Immigrants: A Community-Engaged Approach | Kingdom Acts Foundation | African Studies Minor Program, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| BCC3 Healthy Aging Talks – Communicating Personalized Research Results Back to the Community | Ribbon Community (formerly known as AIDS Vancouver) | Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Breaking Barriers: Bridging Language Gaps in Research and Knowledge Translation | Afro-Canadian Positive Network of BC (ACP Net) | Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Building Capacity in Caregivers of Neurodivergent Children: A Caregiver-Clinician Facilitated Group Program to Support Mental Well-Being | BC Centre for Ability | School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Vancouver |
| Building Inclusive Communities of Practice: Dialogue and Engagement for Health and Social Service Integration in Northern and Remote Communities | Terrace Women’s Resource Centre Society | School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Vancouver |
| Compassionate Palliative and Hospice Care for People with Neuro-Behavioral and Neuro-Developmental Complexity in BC | The Pacific Autism Family Network | Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Development of a Culturally Resonant Clinical Intervention and Research Agenda to Support Punjabi Men who use Substances | Moving Forward Family Services | Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Exploring K’omoks Long-term Indigenous Fishering and Management Practices for Herring and Salmon | K’ómoks First Nation | Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| FC3: Healthy Waters, Healthy People / False Creek Water Quality Community Science in Action | Raincoast Conservation Foundation | UBC Civil Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Vancouver |
| Land Management at T’eqt’aqtn (Kanaka Bar) | Kanaka Bar Indian Band | Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, UBC Vancouver |
| Providing a BC-Wide Community-based Peer-support Program for People with Brain Injury | BC Brain Injury Association | Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Provincial Tuition Waiver Mentorship Program | Aunt Leah’s Independent LifeSkills Society | Provost and Vice-President Academic, UBC Vancouver |
| Public Libraries and Accessibility: Community Action for Inclusive Spaces | Okanagan Regional Library | Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UBC Okanagan |
| Queer and IBPOC-centric Affirmative and Competent Healthcare Training | This Space Belongs to You Society (This Space) | School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan and Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan |
| Reaching and Serving People with Prediabetes | YMCA of Southern Interior BC | School of Health and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan |
| Recipes from the Neighbourhood House: Celebrating Food Heritages of the Downtown Eastside | Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House | Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| Revitalizing Sts’ailes Land Stewardship and Soil Management to Reintroduce Traditional Food in Forest Gardens | Sts’ailes’ Xwilexmet Department | Faculty of Land and Food Systems, UBC Vancouver |
| Roots Mental Health for Low Income Parents and Caregivers | Centre for Family Equity | School of Social Work, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| SCOPE Social and Civic Opportunities: Pathways to Equity Program | MOSAIC BC | Centre for Migration Studies (CMS), Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Short-term Housing Initiative | Hogan’s Alley Society via Multilingual Understanding and Shared Education Society (MUSE) | Vancouver School of Economics, UBC Black Graduate Student Network, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| “Speaking our Mother Tongue Makes Us Stronger”: Empowering Heritage Language Teaching and Learning Through the Cultural-Creative Performative Arts | National Pilipino Canadian Cultural Centre (NPC3) Society | Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| Strengthening Health Resources for Immigrants and Newcomers in Greater Vancouver Through Cross Cultural Health Brokers: Grassroots Innovation to Meet Community Need | Umbrella Multicultural Health Coop | Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Strengthening Kinship Care in British Columbia (BC): Leveraging Research and Advocacy for Comprehensive Supports for Children, Youth, and Families | Fairness for Children Raised by Relatives Association | Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| Supporting Food Security, Nutrition, and a Positive Relationship with Food in the Middle Years: An Afterschool Community Participatory Action Project | City of Surrey | Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Supporting Grief and Bereavement Programming in the DTES | Carnegie Community Centre | Faculty of Medicine, UBC Vancouver |
| Syilx-led Perspectives on Climate Justice | IndigenEYEZ: A Project of MakeWay Charitable Society | Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UBC Okanagan |
| Tending Together | Hives for Humanity Society | School of Information, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver |
| YCAP CAREs | Be the Change Earth Alliance | Sustainability Hub, Provost and Vice-President Academic, UBC Vancouver |
Engagement Story: Community-University Engagement Support Fund
Breathing Life Back Into Their Language
Today, fewer than 47 native speakers of ʔayʔaǰuθəm remain, all of whom are over the age of 60. To help preserve their traditional language, four sister nations—Klahoose, Tla’amin, Homalco, and K’ómoks—are working alongside researchers from UBC and the University of Alberta to develop an ʔayʔaǰuθəm e-dictionary.
In CE’s first podcast ever, we spoke with Koosen Pielle of the Tla’amin Nation (tiskʷət region, Powell River) and Dr. Marianne Huijsmans, U of A Assistant Professor and UBC Linguistics alumna, about their seven-year collaboration on the e-dictionary project.
The Partnership Recognition & Exploration (PRE) Fund Supports 31 Community-University Partnerships
This year, three-quarters of PRE funding supported brand-new partnerships, with one-fifth directed to projects in the Okanagan! It has been incredibly rewarding to see these grants address critical gaps and spark new collaborations in community-university engagement.
“Thank you to the CE office for your wonderful support of community projects like this. The fund is flexible, easy for partners to apply for and access, and it truly does support the on-the-ground work that meaningfully connects our campus to the city we love. Thank you for all the work you do to make it possible!”
— Matt Hume, Student Learning Coordinator, Peer Climate Advocacy in Vancouver’s DTES Through Pop-Up Cool Down Stations & Kits
“Thank you — this provided a really critical boost of funding to help us host our event on our desired timeline. We really appreciated the responsiveness and quick turnaround.”
— Anna Santo, UBC Student in the Department of Forest Resources Management in the Faculty of Science, Joint Nations Grizzly Bear Summit
2024 PRE Fund Summary
Since 2017, the PRE Fund has invested more than $643,873 in 427 community-university partnerships, with approximately 50% of the funding supporting IBPOC-led community organizations.
- $47,000 awarded to 31 projects
- Funding provided for 9 Indigenous-led projects
- Representation from 14 faculties across Vancouver and Okanagan campuses
- 14 projects involving student co-applicants
- Projects spanning from Vancouver Island (Powell River), to Metro Vancouver (Vancouver, North Vancouver, Maple Ridge), the Okanagan (Kelowna, Vernon), Quesnel Lake, Fort St. James, Grande Cache, and Watson Lake.
Click here to view the list of 2024 PRE Fund projects and recipients
| Project Title | Community Partner | UBC Partner |
|---|---|---|
| A decade after the Mount Polley Mine Disaster: Reflections on response, resistance, and repair – A Special Issue of BC Studies, Year 2 | IndigenEYEZ | Peter A. Allard School of Law |
| Building Burn Survivor Community Network | Canadian Burn Survivors | School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science |
| Caring for Our təmtumɩš (Men) | Tla’amin Nation | Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| Chinatown Seniors Oral History Project | Asian Environmental Association (hua foundation) – Chinatown Together initiative | Faculty of Applied Science, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture |
| Community Voices on News Coverage of Police Violence in Vancouver, Canada: Challenging Complacency and Seeking Healing | The Unlocking the Gates Services Society | Faculty of Applied Science |
| Documenting vocabulary in the Muskeg Seepee dialect | Mountain Metis Community Association | Faculty of Arts |
| Empowerment Through Education: Bridging Cultures and Supporting Communities | Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice | Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory |
| Intertidal Kinning – Connecting to the Fraser Estuary | Other Sights for Artists’ Projects Association | Fraser Estuary Research Collaborative (FERC) – UBC Sustainability Scholars, School of Creative Writing |
| Joint Nations Grizzly Bear Summit | Okanagan Nation Alliance (representing Okanagan Indian Band, Osoyoos Indian Band, Penticton Indian Band, Upper Nicola Band, Lower Similkameen Indian Bands, and Westbank First Nation, and Colville Confederated Tribes) | Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability |
| Light Up Kelowna-Art Walk: Design and Development of Large Scale Public Media Art Sound and Light Infrastructure | Arts Council of the Okanagan (ARTSCO) | Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies |
| Palabras Madres/Mother Words: Bridging Peoples and Territories Through Poetry by Contemporary Indigenous Writers in Translation (Argentina – Chile – Canada) | Canada Habla Español.org | Faculty of Arts, Department of French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies |
| Peer Climate Advocacy in Vancouver’s DTES Through Pop-Up Cool Down Stations & Kits | EMBERS Eastside Works | Learning Exchange |
| Robots for Outreach at Southlands Elementary | Vancouver School Board | Department of Computer Science |
| Strengthening Sustainable Communities: Youth Eco-Art and UBCO Land-Revitalization Initiative | Rotary Centre for the Arts | Faculty of Education |
| Squamish Nation Inclusive Education Expert Group | Squamish Nation | Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education |
| Zine Workshop & Queer Zine Fair | Kelowna Museums Society | Okanagan Library |
| A Collaborative Community-University Partnership to Explore the Factors to Help Facilitate Physical Activity in Saulteau First Nations | Saulteau First Nations Health Centre | Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver |
| Anti-Extractivist Worldmaking in Kaska Dena Traditional Territory | Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society | Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Vancouver |
| Awareness Sessions for Refugee Women on Psycho-Social Trauma | Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) Society | Faculty of Applied Science, Vancouver |
| Bridging Gaps in Patient Care: An Interactive Learning Session | Provincial Health Services Authority | Faculty of Applied Science, Vancouver |
| Chinatown Celebration Society: Planning for an Equitable and Accessible Fire Dragon Festival | Chinatown Celebration Society | Centre for Asian Canadian Research, Faculty of Arts, Vancouver |
| Community Cafés Serving Older Adults | ASK Friendship Society | School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science, Vancouver |
| Community Seed Stewardship | FarmFolk CityFolk Society | Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, UBC Farm, Vancouver |
| Creatrix Rising Exploring Stories Through Art | Archway Society for Domestic Peace | Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, Okanagan |
| Exploring Sustainable Revitalization of Cantonese as a Heritage Language in Vancouver’s Chinatown | Wongs’ Benevolent Association | Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, Vancouver |
| Exploring the Intersections of Immigration Policy, Racism, and Precarity for Migrant Care Workers | Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers’ and Caregivers’ Rights | Department Sociology, Faculty of Arts, Vancouver |
| Okanagan Bat and Nocturnal Insect Survey | Bat Education and Ecological Protection Society (BEEPS) | Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, Okanagan |
| Program Evaluation of a Provincial Pediatric Brain Injury Program | BC Centre for Accessibility | Faculty of Applied Science, Vancouver |
| Seven Generations of Food: Indigenous Foodways Reclamation in Practice in an Urban Métis Community | Kelowna Métis Association | Interdisciplinary Studies – Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Okanagan |
| The Susk’uz Keyohwhudachun Headdress Project | Maiyoo Keyoh Society | Faculty of Science, Vancouver |
| Workshop Series with CityHive: Understanding Barriers for Youth in Civic Engagement | CityHive Youth Engagement Society (CityHive) | Faculty of Applied Science, Vancouver |
Engagement Story: Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund
From Oral Tradition to Comics
A partnership between the Homalco First Nation, UBC’s Comic Studies Cluster, and Education Without Borders is bringing together a team of Indigenous graphic artists to create a series of short comics based on archival recordings of Elders from the Homalco First Nation.
To learn more, CE interviewed Homalco member and the project’s lead, Tchadas Leo, Dr. Elizabeth Nijdam, the director of UBC’s Comic Studies Cluster, Cecil Hershler, chair of Education Without Borders, and Alina Pete, a Cree cartoonist and one of the artists hired to work on this project.
Click here to read the full story
The Community Engagement Network (CEN) Organizes Meaningful Learning Opportunities for Staff
Lead by a cross-campus advisory, the CEN continues to serve as a great space for building community among staff and increasing capacity for reciprocal, community-led engagement at UBC as we gathered staff from both campuses multiple times in 2024, both virtually and in-person.
Continuing CE’s commitment to reconciliation this year, the CEN organized a visit to the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, maintained a recommendation that Weaving Relations is an essential course for community engagement practitioners, and was a key collaborator on a UBC Reads Sustainability initiative with 13 different UBC departments across 4 faculties and both campuses to host Jody Wilson-Raybould for a powerful talk inspired by her book True Reconciliation. These experiences have sparked meaningful conversations about how to integrate Indigenous ways of knowing into community engagement. Additionally, for the September CEN meet-up, we were particularly thrilled to support a newly opened, Indigenous-owned business on Campus, the Cedar Cafe at MoA.
Top Reasons UBC Staff Attend CEN Sessions
- To hear examples of how other units are approaching this work.
- To gain knowledge and practical resources.
- To network and connect with others doing similar work at UBC.
2024 Events Summary
- Seven events, 225 attendees.
- 100% of attendees agree that CEN events are a valuable use of their time.
- A large majority of staff (>75%) report learning or unlearning something in each CEN session that enhances their community engagement practice.
“My biggest learning was that the units that are doing really good things started exactly where I am now — wondering how to get started. That honestly helped me move past “uncertainty paralysis”. Everyone basically said they felt this way at the beginning too – that made me feel normal instead of feeling like I was somehow failing because my unit isn’t further ahead. It gave me the confidence to take a deep breath and heed the advice to ‘start anywhere, start somewhere but start’. It was liberating and exciting.”
— UBC staff attendee of the March ‘24 session
New ‘Stories of Partnerships’ Series Centers Community Partner Voices
This summer, CE launched the ‘Stories of Partnerships’ series, a long-awaited opportunity to learn directly from community partners about what makes partnerships truly reciprocal.
2024 Featured Partnerships:
“Listening to the interactions of other community members regarding their projects, both positive and constructive, has significantly influenced my approach to my current CUES-funded project. Their insights, especially at this early stage, will enhance the quality and effectiveness of my own work.”
— Community partner who attended our Oct ‘24 session at UBCO
Listen to the CEN’s Stories of Partnership between AMSSA & UBC’s Centre for Migration Studies
Thanks to CE’s partnerships with UBCO Studios, Arts IT, Asian Canadian & Asian Migration (ACAM) Studies, and our technically skilled Work Learn students, we successfully recorded each event. We are now developing a collection of Stories of Partnership podcasts, set to be released in 2025.
Engagement Story: Community Engagement Network
Meet the CEN: UBC’s Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement
The Meet the CEN interview featuring the staff behind UBC’s Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement gained widespread attention, appearing on the front page of ubc.ca and in UBC Today, and it quickly became CE’s most popular LinkedIn post to date! It was later highlighted by Brand and Marketing during Asian History Month.
Expect more Meet the CEN videos in 2025!
In 2024, CE released one Meet the CEN interview. However, this fall, we’ve been producing five more videos for early 2025 and collaborating with UBCO Studios to highlight CEN members at UBC Okanagan.
UBC Connects at Robson Square Completes Its Two-Year Pilot
Concluding in January, the program’s pilot was an outstanding success. Over the past two years, UBC students, faculty and staff collaborated with more than 50 community partner organizations to host 40 events, drawing over 10,000 attendees to UBC Robson Square.
The pilot wrapped up with the following January events:
“UBC Connects provided … an opportunity to host a community event that brought together voices from intersecting departments, organizations, and universities. We [value] this opportunity, as many community organizations do not have the funding to put on these events, but would like the ability to reach a wider audience and connect more with the community of Vancouver and beyond.”
— Samantha Young, Project Coordinator, UBC Transformative Health and Justice Research Cluster
UBC Connects Relaunches In the Fall
Starting in October, CE relaunched the program with 4 events that collectively welcomed more than 300 participants, including members of the public, UBC students, faculty, and professionals:
These events were brought to life through partnerships with the Department of Political Science and UBC Government Relations; the Housing Research Collaborative at the Peter A. Allard School of Law; UBC Health and the Public Scholars Initiative in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies; and the Centre for Migration Studies in the Faculty of Arts.
The revamped program continues to partner with UBC faculty and staff to share groundbreaking research and spark thought-provoking discussions with diverse communities across Metro Vancouver. A full slate of 12 events for 2024-25 has been scheduled and applications are being received for events in 2025/26.
Engagement Resource: Partnering in Research
New Guide for Honoraria Payments to Community Partners
Community Engagement has developed UBC’s first how-to toolkit for processing honoraria payments to community partners. This practical guide simplifies UBC’s payment processes into clear instructions, offering tips on fostering strong community partnerships. It strengthens community-university connections and expresses gratitude for the vital contributions of our partners.
Rewatch ‘Demystifying UBC’s Financial System: Supporting Fair and Timely Payments for Community Partners’ Workshop
In the November 7, 2024, Partnering in Research workshop, Ryan Brown (UBC Community Engagement) and Sam Filipenko (UBC Indigenous Research Support Initiative) addressed misconceptions about UBC’s financial system and shared tips for navigating payments, overcoming challenges, and ensuring equitable, timely compensation to strengthen community-university relationships.
Partnering in Research Draws Over 800 Participants From Canada, the U.S., and Australia for Its Series of Professional Development Workshops
This year, CE collaborated with UBC’s Knowledge Exchange Unit to offer eight professional development workshops specifically tailored for community-engaged researchers. The response to these workshops was overwhelming—each one sold out, required a waitlist, and collectively attracted over 800 participants.
2024 Workshops
- Decolonizing and Engaging in Research by Way of Graphic Recording
- How to Keep the Lights On: Strategic and Financial Planning for Sustainability in Community Engaged Research
- Crafting a Compelling Narrative: How to Tell Your Research Story (offered again due to popular demand)
- Demystifying UBC’s Financial System: Supporting Fair and Timely Payments for Community Partners
New ‘Challenges in Partnered Research’ Interview Series
In July, alongside the workshops, Partnering in Research launched a new series of expert interviews. This series highlights changemakers in collaborative research, exploring shared challenges and innovative solutions.
2024 Interviews
- Dr. Henry Yu (Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement) and Dr. Vicky Bungay (Centre for Research in Community Engagement and Gender Equity) discuss achieving sustainability in engaged research.
- Dr. Elizabeth “Biz” Nijdam (Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies), Gabriele Dumpys Woolever (Centre for Migration Studies), and Dr. Patricia Janssen (UBC School of Population and Public Health) examine the power of storytelling in collaborative research.
- Dr. Heather Gainforth (School of Health and Exercise Sciences, UBC Okanagan) addresses navigating conflict in partnered research.
Engagement Resource: Partnering in Research
Rewatch ‘Defining and Describing Community Engaged Scholarship for Promotion and Tenure’ Workshop
On May 21, 2024, Dr. Emily Janke, Director of the Institute for Community and Economic Engagement at UNC Greensboro, led an insightful workshop on effectively presenting community-engaged scholarship. The session focused on articulating outputs, outcomes, and processes to enhance recognition and appreciation during promotion and tenure evaluations.
This sold-out workshop attracted 144 participants, including faculty, staff, students, and external partners from across Canada, the U.S., and even Australia.
Community Partner Help Desk Supports Over 100 Requests from External Partners to Engage with UBC
This year, the Community Partner Help Desk worked with over 100 community partners, connecting them with six different portfolios and nine faculties across UBC Vancouver and Okanagan. The departments and centres we serve most are within the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Medicine, the Provost office, Vice President Health, and other units in Vice President External Relations.
Common requests included access to published research, introductions to researchers for partnership opportunities and speaking engagements, inquiries about accreditation, youth group tours of UBC, hiring students, and recruiting volunteers. The Community Engagement Network was essential in being able to respond quickly and thoughtfully, ensuring partners received the support and connections they needed.
CE collaborated more closely with the Vice-President, Research & Innovation offices on both campuses this year to develop research partnerships, two of which secured funding, while others are still in progress. Working with the UBCO VPRI team has expanded research opportunities—for example, we connected a Vancouver organization with the UBCO Faculty of Management.
The Community Partner Help Desk makes it easier for community organizations, non-profits, groups, and individuals to access information, support, and resources for engaging with UBC.
Help Desk Services
- Help people navigate the university (like a concierge service)
- Facilitate connections to people and units at UBC
- Identify programs and resources that support the work of local non-profits and community groups
“I thank Kat for all her help in getting Fairness acquainted with UBC in the research realm… you have provided so many opportunities for not only my personal growth as President of Fairness but opportunities for our society on the whole.”
— Shari Monsma, President of Fairness for Children Raised by Relatives via LinkedIn, Sept ‘24
Engagement Story
Feeding the Community: How Little Mountain Neighbourhood House and the UBC Farm Practicum Are Tackling Food Insecurity
Each year, students in UBC Farm’s Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture donate hundreds of kilograms of fresh, organic produce to Vancouver’s Little Mountain Neighbourhood House Food Hub.
To learn more, Work Learn student Jadi Ng spoke with key stakeholders who shared insights into the partnership’s origins, its mutual benefits, and its impact on student growth and community leadership.
Engagement with UBC’s New President Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon
Introducing UBC’s New President to Local Community Leaders
Meetings with Vantage Point, United Way BC, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, and BC Business Council were great opportunities to introduce UBC’s President, Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon, to local voices and priorities; starting long-term work to build new relationships that can help shape UBC’s role as a key community partner for British Columbians.
The Community Engagement Table Meets with UBC’s President
The June 2024 meeting of the Community Engagement Table with Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon was a standout moment this year. It was a great opportunity to share the incredible work happening across both campuses. The President’s recognition of the Table’s accomplishments to date and how central CE is to UBC’s academic mission felt both inspiring and energizing for the work ahead.
Engagement Story: Community-University Engagement Support Fund
Indigenous Leadership in Wildfire Management: Implementing Lessons Learned from Secwepemcúl’ecw
In response to record-breaking wildfire seasons that have devastated BC and disproportionately impacted Indigenous communities, UBC and the Secwepemcúl’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society have partnered to address barriers and strengthen Indigenous leadership in wildfire management and resilience.
Read the report with project co-leads Sarah Dickson-Hoyle, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UBC’s Faculty of Forestry, and Char John, Natural Resource Community Coordinator with the Secwepemcúl’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society.
Amplifying Community Engagement Through CE’s Communications
Effective communications play a vital role in elevating CE’s profile, expanding awareness, and ensuring our programs reach and support diverse communities. In 2024, funding programs were oversubscribed, with the CUES Fund receiving 53% more applications and 78% of funding supporting new collaborations. CE events drew over 2,500 registrants, and a new LinkedIn page quickly grew to 1,200+ followers.
This year, we have also made significant strides in telling stories that illustrate how reciprocal engagement is advancing UBC’s institutional priorities and creating impact across the province. In 2024, we published 24 stories, with 15 featured on UBC’s homepage, ensuring broad visibility for community-university initiatives. Our focus remained on inclusive storytelling that amplifies community partner voices.
A key highlight was CE’s expansion into podcasting, featuring partnerships from our funding programs and the Stories of Partnership series. Exploring the potential of this format to amplify community voices has been exciting, especially as it has resonated strongly with Indigenous partners.
“I’ve appreciated this process and being able to dynamically tell my story as the final reporting. I appreciated how flexible this funding was, and to be able to just show up here and put my energy into telling a story rather than writing yet another professional document. I felt really inspired hearing the podcast that you created out of UBC funded projects with other indigenous communities, and this supported me to feel a sense of community and that I wasn’t standing alone. I knew others had walked in this path before me and that I could just trust that it was going to be okay even though it is an unusual process. It’s more vulnerable to show up like this so gunalchéesh to you both for being really flexible about the whole process because I’m trying to save my energy everywhere I can.”
— K’èdukà Jack, the Executive Director of the Children of the Taku Society and CUES Fund recipient, talking about her experience on our podcast Lingít: a Love Language for Community.
Most Popular Posts in 2024
- UBC Awards Over $700,000 to 30 Community-University Partnerships Through the 2023-24 Community-University Engagement Support Fund
- Meet the CEN: UBC’s Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement
- Meet the Summer Recipients of UBC’s 2024 Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund
- Breathing life back into their language: A collaborative e-dictionary project with Klahoose, Tla’amin, Homalco, and K’ómoks Nations
- From Oral Tradition to Comics: Homalco First Nation Partner with UBC and Education Without Borders to Create Graphic Novel Based on the Stories of their Elders
CE Is Now on LinkedIn
In late 2023, CE left X/Twitter due to rising hate speech and declining engagement. Instead, we launched a new LinkedIn page that better suits our work.
2024 LinkedIn Stats:
- Gained 1,200 followers.
- Content received 72,000 views.
- Posts saw 4,200 engagements.
- Most popular post featured the Meet the CEN interview with UBC’s Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement.
Email Newsletters
CE’s newsletter raises awareness of engagement programs and community-university initiatives, reaching over 2,000 subscribers, including community partners, UBC faculty, staff, students, and the Community Engagement Network.
- 10 newsletters sent
- 36% growth in subscribers
- 49% average open rate
- 9% average click rate
Oliver Completed his MA in Communications
In November 2024, CE’s Communications Strategist Oliver earned an MA in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University.
His thesis, How Can Canadian Universities Tell Stories About Indigenous Engagement That Amplify Indigenous Voices and Advance Indigenous Objectives, analyzes how Canada’s largest universities represent Indigenous engagement in their public communications. Through analysis of university websites and interviews with communicators and Indigenous engagement leads, his research evaluates how well these stories align with principles of reciprocal Indigenous engagement.
Engagement Story: Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund
Exploring the Future of STEAM: UBCO’s Expo of Awesome Inspires the Next Generation
In May 2024, the Expo of Awesome, a dynamic collaboration between UBC Okanagan and STEAM Ecosystems BC, celebrated the ingenuity and curiosity of young minds, bringing over 1,000 participants to campus for an engaging exploration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM).
Read the report with project co-lead Rebecca McCullough, iSTAND Program Manager in the Faculty of Health and Social Development.
Engaged Team: Building Relationships and Knowledge Exchange
CE tries its best throughout the year to show up at other people’s events, be in community, spend time generating ideas and sharing our learnings with colleagues from other post-secondary institutions. Below are a few examples of how we’ve worked in a relational way this year.
Relationship Building
Flavours of Hope and UBC Food Services
A highlight was partnering Flavours of Hope with UBC Food Services. Starting at a community event showcasing newcomer women-led food businesses, the collaboration led to UBC purchasing products from three businesses and featuring them in the Local Spotlight program on campus.
United Way BC and Office of Regional and International Community Engagement (ORICE)
CE is proud to continue our decade-long partnership with the United Way Public Policy Institute and strengthen ties with units in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Reviewing applications from non-profit leaders provides valuable insights into pressing local policy issues for CE and SPPGA staff. This year, the ORICE director attended final presentations, leading to four UBC student experiential education projects with BC non-profits.
Vancouver Local Immigration Partnership
CE’s involvement in this regional network of immigrant-serving agencies stems from the 2021 President’s Roundtable on UBC’s Role in Immigration and Settlement. In collaboration with the UBC Centre for Migration Studies, we’ve gained insights into the impacts of federal policy on immigrants and support organizations. In 2024, this work fostered new partnerships with Options BC, ResoSante, and Vancouver Community College, and several other connections through the Community Partner Help Desk.
UBC’s Intergenerational March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day
On Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Oliver, Lucy, and Kat volunteered at UBC’s Orange Shirt Day March, assisting with setup and event photography. The day provided a powerful opportunity for reflection and learning from Elders, survivors of Indian Residential Schools, and their children, fostering connections and deepening our understanding of reconciliation.
Global Connections With Post-Secondary Institutions
Community-university engagement practitioners span the globe, and CE gains and shares valuable insights with colleagues each year. In 2024, we connected with CE offices and practitioners from the University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, University of Calgary, MacEwan University, University of Victoria, University College London, and Azim Premji University.
Knowledge Exchange
January 15 + September 23 | Presentations to Community Campus Engage (CCE) Canada’s Professional Peer Network
In January, Ryan and Shayla presented Community Engaged Funding Design at UBC: Principles-Driven Community Engagement Funding, showcasing UBC’s innovative, principles-driven funding approach to a national audience. In September, Kat and Oliver delivered UBC’s Community Engagement Network: Fostering Connection and Strengthening Capacity for Community-University Partnerships, highlighting CEN’s development, reconciliation priorities, storytelling initiatives, and the shift from X/Twitter to LinkedIn for social engagement.
June 6 | Panel at Vantage Point’s B.C. Non-Profit Leadership Conference
Kat co-presented on nonprofit access to research and university partnerships with Annika Rosanowski (Mitacs), Heather De Forest (SFU Libraries), and Karen Chu (UBC), highlighting initiatives like the Community Scholars Program and Mitacs Funding.
Working with UBC Students Through the Work Learn Program
Community Engagement has the BEST student staff! This year, undergraduate students Kaialuna, Lisa, Alana, Jadi, and Lucy have been integral parts of the team and truly wonderful individuals to work with.
Read About CE’s Students’ Experiences
Lisa Kariuki, Communications and Engagement Assistant from May 2022 to April 2024.
Lisa, an International Relations student who graduated in Spring 2024, reflects on her experiences and responsibilities during her time with our office. She shares key learnings, highlights her favorite projects, and offers valuable advice for future Work Learn students on making the most of their Community Engagement experience.
Kaialuna Scarpetta-Lee, Communications Assistant from September 2023 to April 2024.
Kaialuna, a Media Studies student graduating in 2026, shares insights from their experiences and responsibilities during their term. They reflect on key learnings, discuss their favorite projects, and provide valuable advice for future Work Learn students on making the most of their Community Engagement experience.
Thank you for reading our report!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to and shaped this year’s initiatives.
