Meet the 2025 Recipients of UBC’s Community-University Engagement Support Fund 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Abaantu: Festival of Stories will encompass a week-long festival, alongside creation of a literary and creative anthology, that transcends borders: between nations, between African and BIPOC creativity and broader BC society, between forms of creative expression, and between UBC and the wider community. Celebrating African and Black culture, and infusing a wider spectrum of voices, the event and anthology will feature written and spoken word, music, film, visual art, and fusions between – as well lively intellectual, creative, and cultural exchange, and the creation of community. 

The main event will be held in Kelowna in September 2026, at UBCO and in the wider community, with readings, panel discussions, and classroom visits continued at UBC Vancouver the next week. 

The festival will bring African literary and cultural artists to BC to amplify African voices and collaborate with Canadian writers, storytellers, spoken word artists, musicians, visual artists, and cultural producers. Readings, spoken word, visual art, film, and music will coincide with large community and campus events, panel discussions, and classroom visits. Children’s and Elders’ events – including those with Indigenous communities with which Africa Ubuntu (AUA) is already building relations and co-creating events – will engage a wider spectrum of people. 

The anthology will transcend borders and genres, featuring short stories, poetry, QR codes to spoken word, music, and film, and visual art, primarily by artists from Africa and BC’s Black diaspora.  

Together, these internationalizing, decolonizing initiatives and intellectual and creative collaborations will build community across many borders, while creating original, published work alongside experiences that inspire and strengthen community. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Through our Social Enterprise, the Binners Project (BP) we provide back-of-house waste sorting services at residential and commercial sites across Vancouver, offering binners the opportunity to showcase their expertise and earn a supplementary income.  For some of these sites, we offer data collection services to clients where binners weigh and report on waste before and after sorting. This allows us to provide reports to clients on diversion rates and the composition of their waste streams.  

Currently, data collection shifts are limited to a small pool of binners who have shown capacity to conduct the work effectively based on the current process. Our current method has also regularly shown discrepancies in the data collected which impacts our ability to effectively report back to our clients. 

BP would like to work closely with the UBC Learning Exchange (LE) given the long history of working together on a range of projects and activities. Most recently, through the CLimate Equity Action and Resilience (CLEAR) project, BP has supported this collaborative initiative between the UBC Sustainability Hub, and others to build a network to increase climate resilience and advance environmental justice by facilitating more equitable community participation in shaping municipal climate policy. 

The purpose of this project is to collaborate together to review and analyze the current data collection method, conduct consultations with binners and project staff to refine the current collection techniques and provide recommendations for a revised system including possible technological solutions which would make the data collection work more accessible as well as more reliable. The LE will facilitate connections to faculty – professors and their students in curricular projects to support:  

1. learning and testing information systems that could support current or future data collection methods,  

2. conduct an environmental scan of other cities’ waste auditing efforts to discover lessons learned and or innovative waste auditing practices.  

The LE will also provide access to technology, space and digital skill development to support binners’ adoption of new methods and support test runs for collection and reporting purposes, while orienting and supporting faculty and student involvement. This work could also help support further involvement of a Sustainability Scholar, in collaboration with the Sustainability Hub, to help implement and support the new auditing process and inform the CLEAR project. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

As partners, G’aahlandee Xaadee, a Haida Dance Group, and UBC will bring KidsAction Coaching (KAC) to Prince Rupert BC. KAC is an evidence-informed coaching approach to support physical activity (PA) for children with disabilities. Co-developed with the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council (I•SPARC) and Special Olympics BC to incorporate Indigenous cultural safety and align with existing community programs, KAC enhances PA programs to help get kids with disabilities moving and feeling accepted, included and celebrated. We work with communities to customize programs to suit each child’s abilities and needs and to empower them to reach meaningful goals. Coach-supported home practice promotes family engaged physical literacy and added benefits. 

Our team studies the barriers these families face and has co-developed and implemented custom plans with 17 organizations in 3 provinces. Rural/remote communities, including predominantly Indigenous ones like Prince Rupert, face added barriers (e.g., little/no access to therapy, disability experts or affordable programs). As the community with the highest child poverty rate in urban areas of BC (23% vs BC mean of 14%), 1 cost (e.g., childcare, transport, food) can prevent families from taking part.  

Indigenous cultural dance brings people together, strengthens ties to culture, and builds links between Indigenous communities. For example, the Coastal Dance Festival and All Native Basketball Tournament celebrate dance groups from across Northern BC, offering time to network, see friends and family, and celebrate Indigenous culture. Along with supporting PA, partnering with dance groups to implement KAC can strengthen relationships between communities and capacity to advocate for resources and supports for children with disabilities. 

KAC and G’aahlandee Xaadee have 3 objectives: 

1. Integrate KAC into at least 2 of Prince Rupert’s Indigenous cultural and recreation programs, making community-led adaptations as needed; 

2. Walk alongside families and PA leaders to improve the approach for inclusive, culturally relevant PA participation; and 

3. Co-develop a sustainability plan for community partners to maintain and scale up the benefits of KAC beyond Prince Rupert after the funding period. 

Outcomes will inform ways to optimize support for remote Indigenous communities during community-led implementation, and to expand KAC resources for Indigenous cultural PA programs across BC. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process. 

This project is an extension of the longstanding relationship between PACE Society and UBC’s An Evaluation of Sex Workers Health Access (AESHA) Project. Providing Advocacy Counselling and Education (PACE) Society is a peer-driven non-profit organization in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside that seeks to reduce the harm and isolation associated with sex work through education, support, and advocacy. AESHA is a community-based research project hosted by UBC and led by Dr. Andrea Krusi. PACE and the AESHA Project have been collaborating as community partners since 2010, particularly on projects that explore arts-based approaches to engaged research and advocacy.  

In recent years, PACE has strengthened its commitment to centering the experiences of BIPOC community members and has developed a BIPOC Sex Work Advisory Committee (SWAC). The BIPOC SWAC provides oversight and direction on the organization’s governance including advocacy, strategic planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Guided by the ideas and creativity of the SWAC, additional supports are needed to expand PACE’s arts-based programming and meet the needs of BIPOC members, including capacity for artistic creation, skill sharing and arts-based methods for knowledge translation. With the support of AESHA team members, this collaboration seeks to increase opportunity for artistic capacity, skill sharing and knowledge exchange among BIPOC community members connected to PACE and/or AESHA, through hands-on learning, skill-building workshops and access to arts-based supplies.  

The project will culminate with a public art event and dialogue session, where UBC community members will be invited to learn from BIPOC artists about the needs and priorities of their communities, as well as the benefits of arts-based capacity building and research methods. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Malahat Nation is partnering with UBC and BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) researchers to document and identify pollution sources closing shellfish harvesting areas in their community. Malahat has a laboratory building and is seeking funding to purchase start-up equipment and supplies. Our current research grants do not cover these expenses. We intend to use these funds to support equipping Malahat’s laboratory and transfer technology from our research to Malahat. Currently, there are no shellfish focused Indigenous community laboratories in BC. In Canada, only federal laboratories test for shellfish biotoxins. Their mandate tests commercial shellfish with lacking funds to test Indigenous shellfish for community food harvesting. This inequity in resource distribution has been in place for decades.  

This project will build capacity for Malahat to do their own testing, training and education for community members, and support research needs. 

Partnerships with Malahat Nation include WATCH (We All Take Care of the Harvest) and GEMSTONE (Genomic Environmental Microbial Sources Tracking of Oceans, Nature and Environment). The WATCH project involved phytoplankton marine water sampling in shellfish harvesting areas in Malahat. This enabled Malahat to document and trend harmful algal blooms occurrence in shellfish harvesting areas. Harmful blooms containing biotoxins contaminate shellfish leading to risks for Paralytic, Amnesic or Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. Phytoplankton monitoring of the marine waters is only the first step. The next step in this process is to test shellfish meats for biotoxins, requiring a community focused Indigenous testing laboratory in Malahat.  

GEMSTONE launched in 2024 to identify sources of fecal coliforms closing harvesting areas. Are they human? bird? or cow? GEMSTONE aims to create a tool-kit approach allowing testing to occur in communities. Malahat is the first industry co-applicant ever awarded funding by Genome BC for one of their agricultural grants. GEMSTONE will start sampling within Malahat shellfish harvesting areas beginning this October 2024, with testing being conducted at BCCDC laboratories. Because of needs recognized in WATCH, Malahat prioritized funding laboratory space. They are ready to fill their empty laboratory and start this important work. Should Malahat capacity be built early on, they could more fully participate in the research activities. This project will serve to equip the first Indigenous-led community-based shellfish testing in Canada. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

We plan to gather a network of community researchers, academics, and museum professionals to meet in the Summer of 2025 for a 3-day retreat/workshop. The goal of the workshop will be to a) re-establish existing relationships between institutional and community partners and b) develop a set of goals and pillars to guide the project and apply for grant funding in 2025-2026.  

The ultimate goal of the project is to evaluate and understand the uses and community needs for information resources that provide access to heritage belongings in the Northwest Coast – with the key case study being the Reciprocal Research Network Community website (RRN). The RRN was co-developed in 2006-2010 between the Museum of Anthropology, Musqueam Indian Band, Stó-lō Nation and Tribal Council and the U’Mista Cultural Centre.  

The RRN is a well-used database for research on belongings held in institutions, but it does not currently include archival documents, media, language resources or educational tools. With this workshop we will establish an advisory committee and build relationships and determine priorities moving forward, in a good way.  

We will bring a group of 15-20 community liaisons, museum workers, and academics together in Vancouver/Musqueam. With support from CUES, we will be able to host visitors for the workshop and provide a much needed venue for discussion and guidance on these important topics of access to belongings and heritage. The workshop will be a time to listen, reflect, and imagine how to move forward.

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

The Jordan River Watershed Awareness Coalition (JRWAC) is a collaborative, community-led environmental justice not-for-profit dedicated to understanding and raising awareness about the complex factors that threaten life in the Jordan River.  

After nearly a decade of community research and advocacy, JRWAC realized its biggest challenge—and greatest opportunity—is the widespread lack of awareness about the watershed’s tragic story, despite thousands of tourists and recreationalists visiting the area daily. 

Founded on the core principles of learning, listening, and sharing, JRWAC is seeking funding for a film project to raise awareness about environmental injustices within the watershed. The funding plan is straightforward: utilize the skills and knowledge of Indigenous and racialized knowledge holders and story-teller community to create a high-quality, meaningful short film that tells the compelling story of the Jordan River.   

Since 2021, Dr. Douglas Harris and I (Dr. Neil Nunn) have collaborated with JRWAC, using their knowledge and materials to better understand the history of destruction in the watershed. Reciprocating JRWAC’s support of our research, we are committed to reciprocating their efforts to create multimedia educational content that advances their core mission. Engaging a network of knowledge holders and film-makers, the budget for the film is simple and pays participants at standard market rates for their services. 

This initiative is co-lead by Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones, whose ancestors saw the Diitiida as a seasonal fishing ground for millennia.  

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

This collaborative project between the Carrier Sekani First Nation and UBC’s Northern Medical Program will  develop and deliver a culturally grounded trauma-informed training program for service providers who work within the Carrier and Sekani world and individuals impacted by trauma.   

This initiative responds to the Carrier Sekani community’s need to enhance services for Indigenous peoples by addressing the often-overlooked impacts of intergenerational trauma. It builds on the existing Nowh Guna’ Carrier Culture Training and integrates the First Peoples Principles of Learning, focusing on experiential learning, storytelling, and reflection to harmonize traditional Indigenous knowledge with Western methods.  

The workshop will begin with a trauma-focused day where participants explore the effects of trauma on individuals, families, and communities through culturally appropriate activities, such as grounding exercises, storytelling, and creating sacred spaces with ceremonial objects and rituals. Subsequent sessions will cover healing topics like decolonization, allyship, and lateral kindness while incorporating traditional practices: drumming, cleansing ceremonies, and mindfulness. The goal is to foster resilience and promote holistic healing by blending traditional Indigenous teachings with modern therapeutic approaches.  

The Carrier Sekani First Nation will lead the development and delivery of this initiative, ensuring the program reflects their community values and needs. We will integrate diverse perspectives by engaging elders, youth, and other community members, ensuring the program embodies the community’s collective wisdom and experiences. The UBC Northern Medical Program will support curriculum development and assist with program evaluation.  

The program’s effectiveness will be measured through a pilot study to assess the changes in perceived confidence and abilities in cultural safety practices, empathy, and trauma-informed care before and after the training. We will use a mixed-methods approach integrated with Kirkness and Barnhardt’s “4 Rs” framework to ensure our research is conducted respectfully.   

Our goals are to improve healthcare outcomes by enhancing the quality of care for Indigenous peoples, strengthen community partnerships through ongoing collaboration between UBC and Carrier Sekani First Nation, and promote equity in healthcare by addressing the specific needs and priorities identified by the community. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Participation in outdoor recreational activities contributes to physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of all, including people with mobility limitations (PWML). Accessibility issues may exclude PWML from these activities or prevent independent participation. Adaptive devices (ADs) can enable such participation in activities like adaptive cycling or paddling, but their high cost and scarcity, combined with the high rates of disability unemployment and poverty, present significant barriers.  

Our community based team, led by Tanelle Bolt from RAD Recreational Adapted Society Society (RAD) aims to address these barriers and foster social inclusion by establishing a sustainable, community-driven adaptive equipment rental program at UBC to share ADs at a nominal fee. RAD Society has successfully implemented a similar  model in the City of Langford, offering a range of equipment for beaches, water, trails, and other outdoor activities. Users can take the equipment wherever they choose, enabling full participation in outdoor recreational activities.  

The project will also involve researchers from Kinesiology and Occupational Therapy, who will aim to:

1. understand AD users needs,  

2. continuously evaluate user experiences and provide feedback to improve the program. 

Furthermore, we will engage student volunteers from occupational therapy, physical therapy, and kinesiology, integrating experiential learning opportunities that involve direct interaction with ADs and their users. 

Through promotion of the AD loan program and demonstration of the different ADs available, we aim to reduce stigma and challenge the attitudinal barriers that often affect PWML.   

Ultimately, our goal is to develop a sustainable and accessible program that enhances the outdoor activity experiences for PWML in the UBC community and beyond. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

The UBC Dept of Theatre & Film and Pacific Theatre are partnering to explore how to integrate trauma-informed practices into a theatre production for both creative team and the audience.  

Art’s value is often that it invites us to confront difficult truths. How do we take care of creatives and audiences alike when confronting challenging or provocative material? An actor may be asked to perform a scene in which the character experiences physical abuse which could trigger a traumatic response if they have personal experience of this. For an audience member, specific images, actions or words can trigger a traumatic memory and/or unresolved issues. The emergent field of trauma-informed theatre practice seek to create a safe, stable working environment, by testing tools for navigating how to engage with trauma when activated. 

Using Pacific Theatre’s upcoming production of Meeting by Katherine Gauthier as a case study, we will implement a series of trauma-informed practices and develop ways to measure their success for both the creative team and audiences. Meeting focuses on a Sex Addicts Anonymous Support Group, in which the characters discuss various issues related to their experiences around sex and sexuality including, sex addiction, porn addiction, co-dependency, child abuse and pedophilia.   

Funding from CUES would go towards all extra expenses related to creating a trauma-informed practice, including: an Intimacy Director (a specialist in staging/choreographing intimate moments between actors and providing resources for working on potentially triggering material); an Active Listener (present at each performance with resources to share with any audience members who find the show upsetting/triggering); and a “Talk Forward”, a post show auxiliary event.  

Talk Forwards will feature a facilitator with a background in counselling/therapy facilitating a discussion with a guest speaker. Our guest speakers will be experts on the various themes in the play based on their training and/or lived-experiences. Guest speakers will include psychologists and counsellors specializing in sexual health; experts in restorative justice aimed at preventing recidivism; and group therapy counsellors. 

Pacific will use these findings to collaborate with the UBC Theatre to develop a set of tools to use in our training of BFA and MFA students, focused on equipping them to safety engage with material that might activate trauma in them, collaborators, and audiences. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Damayan BC aims to fill the gaps in existing government policies and programs that disproportionately impact BIPOC migrant worker communities. Building upon our previous year’s project, we acknowledge that many of the international student communities we have worked in move on to also become migrant workers that are overrepresented in select industries (service, construction, agriculture, healthcare).  

We seek to amplify their voices and advocate for meaningful change through a more comprehensive campaign. We will continue to foster a sense of community among temporary foreign workers, providing platforms for them to share their stories, concerns, and aspirations. Our campaign will challenge harmful racist narratives against migrant workers by highlighting their invaluable contributions to our communities and economy. We want to amplify the pockets of victories of migrant worker grassroots organizing and advocacy, learn from their strategies, and replicate effective models across our communities. 

We plan to partner with organizations and institutions working towards migrant justice, including different Filipino community organizations such as Sulong UBC (to connect UBC students on campus to helping us deliver and execute this project across the province), Anakbayan BC (to connect with migrant youth generally in high schools and other community spaces), Migrante BC (in working with international students, newcomers, migrant workers), and Gabriela BC (on reaching migrant women that work a variety of health care jobs, custodial jobs, and food industry jobs). Different activities with these partners include having a health campaign to make physical health more accessible to migrant workers that are working physically laborious jobs, building communities within caregivers and learn about their working conditions, and to do educational workshops that discuss rights in the workplace as well as tenant rights for newcomers.  

In this project, we will run educational workshops, trainings, synthesize research from community town halls and build collective power across migrant workers through campaigning, advocacy work, and working with different community organizations.   

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

In collaboration with the Transformative Health and Justice Research Cluster (THJRC), Gallery Gachet will offer exhibitions and public programs to further illuminate the importance and intersections of public health and safety in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) and beyond, Blackness and sexuality, and decolonization and the contemporary state of marginality. This multi-part project engages diverse community members to introduce them to the works of marginalized artists and thinkers. 

Emblematic Elusions, a three-month exhibit, brings together Black artists and academics from across Canada, the US, and the wider Black diaspora to engage in critical speculation on the state of Blackness as it pertains to Black sexuality and the post-colonial landscape. Drawing off of Kechiche and Sharpley-Whiting’s film and literary works on ‘Black Venus’ as an emblem of Black sexualization, we explore how sexuality pathologizes Blackness and marks Black bodies as a ‘diminished other’, and propose the erotic as a tool for individual and collective liberation.  

A culminating symposium brings together Black artists, academics, and health practitioners to generate and disseminate dialogue on Black gender and sexuality studies and Black women’s public health and research. Alongside this symposium, an interactive art and zine creation workshop, hosted at the Enterprising Women Making Art’s space in the DTES, encourages community participation from Black and Indigenous women. 

The final component, Neuroaesthics and Neurodecolonization, offers a dialogue series with notable guest faculty, including Donna Haraway and Naomi Klein, and will culminate in a public panel. Through this series, we interrogate how we may begin to decolonize the brain, reclaim neuroplasticity, and advance neuroaesthetics to counter the hegemonic forces of cognitive capitalism. Neurodecolonization intersects with critiques of cognitive capitalism, which commodifies mental labour and knowledge production, often reinforcing existing power structures. Neurodecolonization resists the exploitation of cognitive and cultural resources by promoting more equitable and culturally sensitive approaches to education, labour, and mental health. 

Connecting the related areas of Black sexuality and neurodecolonization builds global awareness of the efforts of BIPOC scholars and artists while introducing Canada-based scholars to emerging areas to which they can contribute. This project allows the development of a shared language that can lead to global innovation in approaching neurodecolonization.  

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

BC Transplant (BCT) is collaborating with the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Practice Innovation (Practice Innovation) to enhance knowledge and awareness of organ donation and transplantation through community pharmacies. Approximately 600 British Columbians are on the transplant waitlist, emphasizing importance of encouraging conversations about registering as an organ donor. This project will provide an opportunity to overcome cultural barriers to organ donation, which disproportionately impact donation rates in specific ethnocultural populations. 

Community pharmacists, trusted and highly accessible healthcare professionals, practice in pharmacies across the province’s urban, rural, and remote areas. This project aims to establish collaborative relationships between Practice Innovation, and community pharmacies through BCT’s Volunteer Program, which consists of transplant recipients, living donors and donor family members. An educational program will be co-developed with input from volunteers, researchers, and pharmacists. The program aims to empower pharmacists to engage with the public at their pharmacies about organ donation and provide accurate information on registering as an organ donor. British Columbians will feel supported to ask questions about organ donation in the safe environment of their community pharmacy. The urgency and importance of this initiative cannot be overstated, as it has the potential to directly impact and save lives in our community. 

BC Transplant will engage volunteers from underserved communities, including rural and remote areas of the province, as well as underserved populations such as South Asian, Indigenous, and Black communities to share their lived experiences as part of the training program. Practice Innovation will recruit pharmacists to co-develop the educational program, deliver it to pharmacists across the province, and evaluate its effectiveness. 

Community pharmacists have demonstrated positive attitude towards organ donation and readiness to enhance their understanding. They can help bridge the knowledge gap and encourage more people to register as organ donors, leading to a societal shift in perceptions of organ donation. 

A pilot study showed incorporating organ donation education into regular pharmacy services increased donor registration rates among participants. This emphasizes the potential for pharmacy-based programs to influence donation rates, leading to more lives saved through transplants. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

This project leverages the longstanding partnership between UBCO and the Métis Community Services Society of BC (MCSBC) in Kelowna. Entrusted by Métis citizens, MCSBC delivers comprehensive, family-centered services, with a focus on Indigenous populations, particularly the Métis in the Okanagan. Our approach honors Métis culture, fosters pride in our history, and leverages the strengths and knowledge within Métis families.  

In 2022, as part of previous research, MCSBC community members identified mental health and wellness as a priority and expressed interest in leveraging digital technologies to address these issues. In response, MSCBC collaborated with Dr. Charlotte Jones (Professor: Medicine) and Dr. Viviane Josewski (Assistant Professor: Nursing) to conduct a scoping review of literature from Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada focused on Indigenous-led technologies promoting mental health and wellness. The unique review employs an Indigenous determinants of health model acknowledging interconnections between mental health, land, culture and community. 

The current project aims to engage with and discuss the review’s findings with the wider MCSBC community to mobilize knowledge for envisioning culturally grounded technology-enabled pathways for mental health and wellness. CUES funding will support us in hosting several community-based knowledge exchange and mobilization events including Elder-facilitated sharing circles, creation of art focused on resilience and strength, and active engagement with Indigenous-led mental health and wellness technologies identified in our scoping review. These activities are designed to explore the meaning of mental health and wellbeing for participants, their families and community and to generate ideas around how technology can support these aspirations.  

Our goal is to foster deep knowledge exchange and inspire fresh imagination for envisioning technology-enabled pathways for meeting community-specific mental health and wellness needs. Information collected will include photographs, written reflections, drawings, audio and graphic recordings of circle discussions (thematically analyzed using collective, consensus-driven methods). Insights gained will guide development of community-based programs at MCSBC and help shape a collaborative research agenda focused on co-designing culturally safe, technology-enabled mental health and interventions responsive to the needs and ideas of the community. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Our proposed project focuses on enhancing the collaboration between Little Mountain Neighbourhood House (LMNH) and UBC Farm to support impactful student learning opportunities through engagement in local food security initiatives focused on decolonization. The project involves a series of activities designed to foster student skill development by way of reciprocal exchanges between LMNHS and UBC Farm partners, collaboration with sniw̓ Indigenous consultants and the Musqueam Nation, guidance from Master Gardeners, and engagement with community partners.  

Planned Activities: 

Resources to support the Yard Gardens and Riley Park Community Garden: CUES funds will provide resources for the Yard Garden Harvest Project and Riley Park Community Garden programs, providing opportunities for families, seniors, and individuals to grow and access food alongside UBC students. This work includes partnering with sniw̓ Indigenous consultants, members of the Musqueam Nation, and Master Gardeners to:  

1. redesign the Learning Garden at what is colonially-known as Riley Park, to work alongside community members in the effort to return culturally and ecologically important plant species to the land,  

2. engage with the land in ways that reflect Indigenous land practices.   

Weekly Food Distribution Program Operations: The Food Distribution Hub will be supported by UBC Farm Practicum students and receive produce from the UBC Farm, distributing fruits and vegetables to Riley Park families. The Food Distribution Program showcases community-oriented and dignity-first approaches, which align with UBC Farm values. 

Community Engagement Events: The project partners will participate in the UBC Office of Community Engagement’s Stories of Partnership series  

Goals and Accomplishments: 

By undertaking this partnership work, we will achieve:  

• Empowerment through Education: We hope to empower UBC students and community members by providing them with practical skills in gardening, cooking, food distribution, and meaningful action toward reconciliation.  

• Strengthened Community Bonds: Through regular engagement and collaborative activities, we aim to strengthen the bonds between LMNHS, UBC Farm, local Indigenous partners, and community members.  

• Role-modelling of our Collaboration: Profiling this work will deepen existing relationships between the students and project partners, and will serve as a model to others who might be considering similar engagements founded in principles of reciprocity, transparency, diversity, and inclusion.  

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Through this community engagement initiative, Poetic Justice Foundation, Belonging Matters Consulting, and UBC Okanagan will organize community events on anti-racist and anti-casteist narratives with, and alongside multi-faith, multi-lingual South Asian communities residing in the Okanagan, BC. Specifically, the community-university partnership will combine efforts to raise awareness about the intersectional experience of race and caste in workplaces, educational and social spaces, and promote reciprocal learning through community speaker events, a travelling exhibit and teach-in activities alongside diverse communities including domestic and international students and young professionals in the Okanagan.  

These efforts create spaces to listen, learn and speak about the experience of race- and caste-based discrimination in B.C., and in turn, support South Asian communities in mitigating harms, empower youth and young professionals in telling their stories, and promote advocacy in the building of the South Asian Canadian Museum in BC. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

This project will strengthen the connection between the Haida Gwaii (HGM) and Beaty Biodiversity (BBM) museums and explore the development of land-based, educational and research opportunities for staff, students and community members focused on natural history collections and biodiversity science.   

HGM, an award-winning heritage center, showcases the living culture of the Haida people. Offering a look into Haida Gwaii culture from diverse perspectives combining Haida knowledge, western science, art and politics providing diverse ways of understanding Haida Gwaii. The BBM holds UBC’s biological collections with two million specimens organized in six collections. These collections are cared for by curators with subject matter expertise and support a range of biodiversity research.  

The HGM and BBM have collaborated since 2023 on a new undergraduate biodiversity course. Important to this course is to acknowledge the colonial history of collections and explore their future potential. This course amplifies Indigenous museum scholars, nation-led museum and cultural centers, and community-led biodiversity research. HGM has emphasized that being on the land is a powerful way to understand biodiversity of a place. HGM has also identified a need for support in curation of the natural history collection at HGM.  

The ‘Making Connections’ project will lay the foundation for HGM and BBM to establish land-based educational experiences and research opportunities on Haida Gwaii for students, BBM and HGM staff, and Haida community members, providing opportunities to learn and practice a range of natural history museum skills with outputs (e.g. specimens and data) that support HGM work.  

An immersive field school would provide engaged research opportunities – the work of BBM and HGM staff would be rooted in Haida community priorities, and provide engaged learning for BBM and HGM staff, students and community, and promote public engagement opportunities at both museums with occasions for community to take part in and learn about the work and findings of the field school.  

This project will build relationships as the HGM and BBM explore opportunities for meaningful museum work and community driven biodiversity research. Funds will support travel as well as compensation for hosts, knowledge holders, and to support community events.

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Over 1 in 5 adults in BC live with chronic pain, which can adversely impact physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. Unfortunately, access to effective pain treatment and support is often limited. Pain BC is a non-profit organization and national leader in providing pain education and psychosocial resources for those living with chronic pain—including peer-facilitated online support groups.  

In 2023, Dr. Holtzman’s Health Psychology Lab entered into a collaboration with Pain BC to conduct a longitudinal investigation into the impact of these online support groups on participants’ wellbeing over time, and have since collected data spanning a 12-month period.  

Importantly, Pain BC does not have an existing budget to support staff and facilitator engagement with research. The goals of this project are:  

1. to allow Pain BC staff to continue to engage with this research by compensating them for their time (e.g., administrative tasks, meetings, interpreting study results) and to expand UBC student involvement in this research,  

2. to implement research findings into ongoing groups led by facilitators with lived experience, and 

to facilitate interdisciplinary knowledge translation by communicating research results and the importance of peer support for pain to trainees in other healthcare professions (e.g., medical students and Master of Social Work students). 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

The Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) provides temporary health coverage to refugees and other vulnerable migrants (e.g., victims of human trafficking or domestic violence) who are not yet eligible for provincial health insurance. Access to healthcare, especially medications, is critical for refugees who often arrive with complex health needs and in family units with children. Unfortunately, medication access is often delayed and sometimes inaccessible due to:

1. refugees’ limited knowledge in navigating the Canadian healthcare system
2. cultural and language barriers
3. social isolation,
4. negative social determinants of health,
5. long wait-times for medical appointments

This is further compounded by the limited integration of the IFHP into standard pharmacy and medicine curricula, leading to a lack of awareness among healthcare providers (e.g., physicians, pharmacists) about the best ways to offer care under this program. 

Given the past policy changes to the IFHP and pre-existing challenges refugees already experience when settling in British Columbia, our project aims to accomplish two key deliverables:  

1. identify and provide recommendations for addressing gaps or barriers to medication access through the IFHP, and  

2. collaboratively create targeted educational materials and resources for healthcare providers on how to best support IFHP-eligible patients to access medications.  

Building on the insights gained from an initial literature review, which highlighted key gaps in knowledge and practice, an environmental scan in the form of semi-structured interviews will explore the systemic and practical challenges healthcare providers face when supporting IFHP-eligible patients. This partnership with Umbrella Multicultural Health Co-op will enable direct and targeted action to the healthcare providers who serve refugee populations. This collaboration will also enable effective reach to pharmacists and physicians who are experienced in caring for patients with IFHP coverage.  

Through community consultations (e.g., focus groups, lunch events), and shared expertise from Umbrella Co-op and other health authorities, we plan to create practice-focused educational materials designed to provide healthcare providers with tools to effectively support their patients. These project goals reinforce our partnership’s vision and mission statements, as we aim to enhance the delivery of holistic and culturally-sensitive healthcare to refugee communities. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Health Together, a UBC-based initiative led by Dr. Farah Shroff from UBC Faculty of Medicine (and which Professor Pina is a member), is co-leading a project to improve the health and mother tongue language retention of immigrants and refugees in Canada through the transformative power of music. 

Our partner, MOSAIC (Multi-lingual Orientation Service Association for Immigrant Communities), has identified that immigrants often experience isolation, anxiety, and depression due to limited social networks and challenges in a new environment. This project seeks to bridge that gap by creating opportunities for immigrant and refugee communities to connect with local musicians, express their cultural heritage, and explore new musical experiences while assessing the program’s impact on mental health and language retention. 

We begin this larger project with an early focus on Syrian immigrants and engage participants in workshops, rehearsals, and performances designed to encourage mother-tongue musical collaboration. By exploring their musical traditions and new genres, participants will cultivate cultural exchange, build social connections, and foster creative expression and language retention.  

Key collaborators include Ibrahim Saker and Hala Maghamez, Syrian oud players with eight years of experience in British Columbia, and Dr. Curtis Andrews, an ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist with extensive experience working across cultures. Ibrahim and Hala’s refugee experience and expertise in Middle Eastern music will create a supportive environment. A former UBC Public Scholar, Dr. Andrews, a UBC ethnomusicology graduate, deeply understands diverse musical traditions and cross-cultural project management.  

To assess the program’s impact, baseline data on participants’ mental health and mother-tongue fluency will be collected and compared with post-program data, allowing us to measure wellbeing and language retention changes. 

This project builds on our strong partnership with MOSAIC, Canada’s largest immigrant and refugee resettlement organization, which will help identify participants through its extensive network in Greater Vancouver and beyond.  

This initiative aims to help immigrants and refugees reconnect with their cultural roots, share their  talents, and improve their health and language retention through music. The findings from this research will provide valuable insights for enhancing similar programs in the future. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Indigenous patients in Canada face significant disparities in eye health, experiencing higher rates of visual impairment due to uncorrected vision errors and conditions like diabetes. This stems from unique systemic barriers to eye care that remain inadequately investigated or addressed. Our project seeks to address these gaps within the local Downtown Eastside (DTES) community through an approach led by Indigenous patients. 

The DTES Eye Clinic, a non-profit extension of Vancouver Coastal Health, is dedicated to providing accessible and culturally informed eye care to marginalized communities in the DTES. A significant proportion of the clinic’s referrals comes from local Indigenous health centres, such as Kílala Lelum Health Centre, Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society, and Lu’ma Medical Centre. Our project is led by Indigenous patients of the clinic and supported by an Indigenous Elder, healthcare providers, and researchers. 

Through knowledge-sharing focus groups led by our Elder and featuring insights from those of us who are patient partners, we aim to better understand experiences within the eye health care system. These discussions will guide the development and implementation of initiatives prioritized by those of us who are patient partners to address the barriers we face. For example, one idea involves organizing a drop-in clinic day at an Indigenous health centre to provide eye screenings, prescription eyewear, and referrals to the DTES Eye Clinic for follow-up care. Importantly, our approach remains flexible, allowing these initiatives to evolve as more insight emerges from our discussions. 

We are committed to fostering lasting relationships between all members of our team, particularly between those of us who are non-Indigenous healthcare providers and researchers and those of us who are Indigenous Elders and patient partners, ensuring continuous assessment and enhancement of initiatives even beyond the project’s formal timeline. Additionally, we aim to responsibly share the knowledge gained with both the local community and the broader eye care provider network. 

Ultimately, by identifying and addressing eye care barriers, our overarching objective is to improve eye health and well-being among Indigenous peoples, and by extension, the underserved DTES community, in ways that are meaningful to patients. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Slow Fashion Season is a project that brings together the Vancouver and UBC communities to explore sustainable fashion through exciting events like exhibitions, workshops, panels, clothing swaps, and a fashion show. It connects students, local artisans, professional designers, and community members to find creative, low-impact alternatives to fast fashion. The focus is on circularity, repair, and community-driven solutions. We are currently executing Slow Fashion Season 2025 with limited resources, using this experience to refine our approach, using the CUES Grant to support an even bigger and better Slow Fashion Season in 2026. 

The project is co-led by Germaine Koh, Assistant Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Arts, and DreamStill Technologies, a Vancouver-based social enterprise tackling textile waste through technology and community engagement. DreamStill is developing an AI-driven sorting system to automate the labor-intensive process of categorizing textiles, which currently involves over 400 types of material. In collaboration with the UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering Capstone Team, DreamStill is also designing a mobile app that empowers users to prevent textile waste by providing relevant information about their item and resale and recycling options in the region through a simple photograph of their garment. 

Other key UBC partners for this initiative include: UBC Arts and Culture District, SEEDS Sustainability Program, and the Alma Mater Society’s Sustainability Office. External industry collaborators could include Pattern Nation, Remake, Aid to Artisans, and Donna and Laura Gomez from the former Eco Fashion Week. 

Indigenous holders of Coast Salish textile traditions will also be invited to be involved, emphasizing the intersection of cultural knowledge and sustainable fashion. Slow Fashion Season will take place in Spring 2026 as an alternative to Vancouver Fashion Week, aiming to fill the gap left by the decommissioned Eco Fashion Week while raising the profile of sustainable fashion in academia and industry. The plan includes: 

• Workshops: A blend of hands-on sessions (e.g., upcycling and mending) and educational discussions addressing textile industry issues like waste and human rights violations. Workshops will highlight cultural and traditional practices in sustainable fashion. 

• Guest Lectures: Engaging industry professionals who have visited the outcomes of the rag industry in Vancouver or in South Africa will provide insights, inspire students, and strengthen community-industry connections. 

• An Exhibition: Hosted at the student-run Hatch Art Gallery for 2025 (2026 venue to be confirmed), this week-long display will showcase sustainable designs and sustainable fashion or textile reduction 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

We aim to work on a collaborative project to address Musqueam food sovereignty, Land-based wellness, and land stewardship. Musqueam’s partnership with the Centre for Land-Based Education, Research and Wellness aims to tackle food insecurity in our community. Our project seeks to enhance access to healthy and affordable food for people facing food insecurity through various initiatives. At the heart of our food security program lies the concept of land-based wellness and social determinants of health, where we believe access to nutritious food is a fundamental human right. We aim to build a more equitable and community-driven sustainable food system. 

To achieve our goal, we plan to deliver health and wellness workshops that provide opportunities to learn about traditional medicines, food preparation, and nutritional literacy. Our primary goals are to promote healthy cooking and eating habits, increase the consumption of vegetables, and gather, store, and prepare medicines. Additionally, we will offer medicine walking, medicine-making workshops and tours to introduce community members to healthy land-based activities and build skills in land stewardship. 

Food security is a top priority for the Musqueam community, as traditional food systems are closely tied to the land, food, and culture. The Musqueam Garden is a crucial part of this connection, as the practices associated with food harvesting, preparation, sharing, and eating help revitalize indigenous culture, language, and identity.  

Over the past four years, the Musqueam and xʷc̓ic̓əsəm  at UBC Farm have worked together to enhance the Musqueam Garden food production. This initiative evolved from previous collaborations involving UBC, Dr. Eduardo Jovel, UBC’s Centre for Indigenous Land-Based Education, Research, and Wellness, the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and the Musqueam community. The project has received support from UBC faculty, staff, students, and members of the Musqueam community. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

78% of Canadian youth report that climate change impacts their overall mental health (Galway and Field, 2023). However, BC’s education system does not provide youth with socio-emotional or action-oriented education on climate change and climate justice. 

Student Leadership for Change (SLC) is a library of learning resources that provide students with a guided inquiry into 40+ ecosocial issues covering topics such as climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, toxins, social justice, over-consumption, conservation and reconnection. Pedagogically, SLC integrates place-based, experiential learning in community with online research and in-class reflective dialogue to cultivate essential critical thinking skills. SLC then supports youth to take local action to address environmental and climate issues related to the topics listed above. 

Co-created by teachers and Be the Change Earth Alliance (BTCEA) over ten years ago, the experiential activities and research links accompanying each of the 40+ student topics need updating to reflect the latest information in a rapidly changing eco-social-scape, with particular emphasis on Indigenous wisdom and Justice, Equity, Diversity, Decolonization and Inclusion (JEDDI).  

This CUES project will help create SLC 3.0.  By working collaboratively with cohorts of UBC teacher candidates, BTCEA will be able to continue providing teachers and students across BC with high-quality ecosocial resources. 

Goals and Deliverables 

• SLC 3.0 is mutually beneficial for all participants. 

• UBC teacher candidates receive practice-based learning working with progressive pedagogical approaches that bring ecological and social justice education into the mainstream curriculum of BC public schools. 

• UBC Faculty of Education instructors are supported to provide practical ecosocial experiential learning to their teacher candidates. 

• BTCEA receives HR expertise to upgrade SLC and can continue to provide free ecosocial learning resources to teachers across B.C. 

• BC teachers are able to bring co-constructive, place-based education to their students. 

• BC middle and secondary school students who have expressed a desire to understand and become engaged in the ecosocial issues facing their world today are empowered to do so.  

CUES funding will support BTCEA to hire a UBC Teaching Assistant to coordinate and review the teacher candidate activities and a provide capacity for BTCEA staff to format the revised SLC 3.0 Action Packs for online access. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Increasing testing for sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBI) is challenged by current health workforce shortages and high demand on existing clinic-based testing services. New testing options are also becoming available (such as rapid syphilis tests or dried blood spot testing) that allow testing to be done outside of clinic settings.  

In 2020, PAN released an HIV testing needs assessment which recommended community service providers such as peers or staff in community-based organizations (CBOs) be supported to take a greater role in testing to reduce demands on clinical services. Community service providers are also often the first line of contact with the health system for many people needing STBBI testing and are challenged accessing traditional services. However, the roles that could be played by community health workers as part of STBBI testing are not defined, nor are the system resources and infrastructure required to support these roles.  

In this project, PAN will lead a community consultation to answer these questions that includes facilitated events and development of a framework to be shared with provincial STBBI testing practice leads and decision-makers.

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Fire-related injuries and deaths are the fourth leading cause of injury worldwide, impacting millions each year (WHO). Most severe and fatal burn injuries happen at home. In Canada, older adults, children, and Indigenous communities are particularly at risk of home-related burn injuries. Statistics Canada reveals that First Nations Peoples are approximately ten times more likely to die in a fire compared to non-Indigenous populations. 

The increased fire risks in Indigenous communities stem from structural factors such as under-resourcing and insufficient funding for fire services. However, the focus is usually on individual factors, such as smoking, living conditions, and the lack of smoke alarms or sprinklers in homes. Indigenous Service Canada has committed to supporting community-based needs as part of their fiscal year 2023-2024 Fire Protection Strategy. Initiatives include education, prevention, smoke alarm installations, inspections for non-Indigenous Services Canada-funded buildings, firefighter training and fire department communication projects. However, many of these initiatives are led by industry experts and, to our knowledge, have little input from community members. While helpful, these strategies are often generic and do not address different communities’ unique fire risks. Effective fire safety education should be customized to each community, amplifying community voices and fostering collaborative knowledge creation in a participatory and inclusive way. 

The “SPARK” project aims to co-create a participatory fire safety plan that addresses both preparedness and readiness, drawing on the collective knowledge of community members from the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation. This initiative builds on a strong partnership between the Emergency Response Office of the kʷikʷəƛ̓ əm First Nation and the UBC School of Nursing. Community members—including leaders, Elders, adults, and youths, collectively referred to as knowledge partners—will participate in a series of sessions.  

In the first session, knowledge partners will come together to learn about fire safety and prevention with guidance from fire safety experts. The second session will engage knowledge partners within their respective cohorts, where each group will discuss the fire safety plan from their unique perspectives. In the third session, all knowledge partners will reconvene to share insights from their group discussions. The key themes from these discussions will then be collated and compiled by the organizers and circulated for review by the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation. This iterative and dynamic process will result in a tailored kʷikʷəƛ̓ əm Nation Fire Safety Plan, focused on both preparedness and readiness. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

LDS – Learn. Develop. Succeed., is a nonprofit charity that provides academic and social-emotional support to children, youth, and adults with diagnosed or suspected learning differences (learning disabilities). This project is a collaboration with UBC faculty and post doc students and will engage graduate students specializing in motivation and self-regulation to create comprehensive online training modules for LDS instructors. Developed in close collaboration with LDS, these modules will equip instructors with effective strategies to better support the academic and social-emotional needs of students with learning differences.  

Research in behavioural and social sciences has demonstrated self-regulation is an asset for learners across ages, abilities, and socio-demographic groups. Learners who struggle to self-regulate struggle in school, but self-regulated learning (SRL) is developmental and students with exceptional learning needs, particularly, benefit from support in this area. 

By developing this lasting resource, we aim to enhance LDS’ capacity to onboard and train instructors in self-regulated learning – a framework that helps students understand and manage their cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes. This tool will also support LDS in expanding its instructional team and continuing to provide critical support to vulnerable learners throughout British Columbia.

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Since 2018, the UBC Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship (CIIC), the Community Living Society, and the Massey Theatre have collaborated on devising, producing, and researching two critical participatory theatre projects: the first production was Romance Relationships and Rights (RRR), and the second production was We Deserve to Work! Spurred by the learning, growth, and impact of these two successful disability theatre for social change productions, and upon the urging of the theatre company comprised of a diverse group of actors and co-creators with intellectual disabilities (subsequently referred to as self-advocates), we are embarking on a third disability theatre project focused on self-advocates’ right to inclusive housing.  

The housing crisis in British Columbia (BC) and Canada impacts many Canadians, and impacts members from equity deserving groups including self-advocates disproportionately. Canada’s National Housing Strategy recognizes housing as a “cornerstone of inclusive communities.” In BC, the Inclusive Housing Task Force (2018) points out that “lack of affordable housing has resulted in a large number of individuals [with intellectual disabilities] remaining within their families’ homes long past their same-aged peers or living in a housing situation not of their choice”. Instead, inclusive housing promotes self-advocates’ rights to housing that provides a sense of home and belonging within their community where they have the supports they need to live a good life in community. The recognition of the housing crisis and a vision for inclusive housing inspired our theatre company of self-advocates to identify housing as their choice for our third disability theatre production.  

At its core, disability theatre embraces the profound recognition that disabled lives and experiences are inherently valuable (Johnston, 2016). Moreover, disability theatre necessitates that the topic and messages come from the people most affected: we must lift up, listen to, follow, and highlight the perspectives of those who are most impacted by the systems of ableism and other forms of oppression (Sins Invalid, 2019). Informed by disability justice principles (Sins Invalid, 2019), the self-advocate co-creators from the Community Living Society (CLS) have identified the topic, housing, and with the support of UBC researchers, theatre students, and the Massey Theatre will create a production through disability theatre for social justice.  

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Aunt Leah’s currently partners with UBC in the development of a peer‐assistance program that helps vulnerable foster youth formerly in government care (FYIC) to identify educational goals and work toward them. Aunt Leah’s recruits youth into the program from their education support program. Youth ready to take this step are encouraged to attend an orientation session and if interested agree to participate in the program. They may then join weekly sessions where they meet with peer mentors who have experienced foster care and successfully entered post‐secondary education.  Mentors assist participants in their planning and offer emotional support throughout the program.  Currently, 9 participants and 2 mentors take part in the program.  All youth have remained in school and have made an education plan and we expect an increase participation.  

In this first phase of the project, we created asynchronous learning modules to help youth begin their educational planning. This was done by the co‐applicants and their teams. Feedback on these modules was given virtually and in synchronous face‐to‐face events. These modules provide information that can be used as an educational onboarding tool for youth as they start their educational journey, with assistance from Aunt Leah’s Education program team.  

In this next phase of the project, we aim to extend support beyond planning and preparation, focusing on helping FYIC thrive in post‐secondary education. Similar to how we systematized learning activities into a curriculum, we plan to create scaffolding for youth currently in education so that we can make the most of their education. For instance, knowing in advance which offices provide accessibility support allows them to address their needs early and focus fully on their studies. Engaging with FYIC currently in post‐secondary not only benefits them but allows us to put them in contact with participants in phase one of the project. We hope this phase of the project will connect with the first phase in a way that builds momentum, interest, and participation in the program.  

The proposed second phase will continue after youth have picked a school and a program, applied and registered to attend.  They may need support through their first year, such as assistance to connect with the Department of Access and Diversity with respect to accommodations; mental health support; or tutoring from another student with subject matter expertise. We aim to engage more support opportunities from UBC and find similar student programs in other educational institutions. We anticipate that youth may need to springboard from Vancouver Community College, Douglas College or Langara College to UBC. This phase would offer synchronous face‐to‐face sessions including tutoring, coaching and navigating. 

This project description was provided by the project team during the fund application process.  

Youth Climate Justice Collaborative (YCJC) is a partnership between the UBC Climate Hub and Be the Change Earth Alliance (BTCEA) that adopts a peer-to-peer model to support youth leadership on climate change through hopeful, solution-focused workshops and mentorship.  

Acknowledging the prevalence of climate-related anxiety and dread, YCJC helps youth explore their emotions around climate change through storytelling, highlighting the power stories hold in influencing communities and supporting youth to take collective action.  

This approach is informed by leading social science research and direct engagement with the communities we serve, mainly educators and youth, which indicate action as a powerful balm for climate despair and anxiety, and that trusted messengers in their own communities are critical in communicating climate change threats and solutions. BTCEA and the UBC Climate Hub have collaborated since 2019 to provide youth with empowering storytelling workshops that encourage them to take climate action. In this next phase, YCJC will enhance these workshops by providing mentorship to facilitators (age 18-25) and youth teams (age 12-18) to equip them with the knowledge, skills, confidence and support to take meaningful action to address local climate justice issues.