Meet the Summer Recipients of UBC’s 2024 Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund

This project description was provided by the project team on July 15, 2024  

Situated at the east end of Moberly Lake, Saulteau First Nations is a diverse community consisting of the Dunne-Zaa, Néhiyawak, Iyarhe Nakoda, Haudenosaunee, and Nahkawē Peoples. Saulteau has been committed to improving health and physical activity for all community members by establishing physical activity programs and land-based healing programs. Despite these efforts, the community has recognized an urgent need to improve the delivery and dissemination of physical activity programming to better serve all the community members. A recently established Comprehensive Community Plan outlines the Nation’s goals and priority actions within the next five years with a key focus on developing culturally aligned health services and programs. Furthermore, ongoing conversations and community engagement activities among Saulteau First Nations leadership, the Health Director and UBC/UNBC researchers have demonstrated the need to improve the delivery and dissemination of physical activity programming and promotional materials. These conversations have highlighted gaps in current programming, particularly the need for context-specific, culturally relevant strategies that resonate with the community’s values and lifestyles. 

Our project aims to bring together community members, program delivery staff, community leaders, and researchers to a community workshop to discuss the aspects of physical activity in their community. Participants will explore current successes and challenges to the promotion and implementation of physical activity programming and examine opportunities for improvement. Discussions will cover a range of topics, including existing initiatives that have successfully engaged community members, barriers to participation, and potential strategies to address these obstacles. Attendees will collaboratively identify culturally relevant approaches that reflect the unique socio-cultural contexts and values of the community. This project aims to improve the understanding of local needs and perspectives, facilitating the co-creation of effective and sustainable physical activity programs tailored to Indigenous communities. By integrating community insights and experiences, the event seeks to develop actionable plans and partnerships that enhance the impact of physical activity interventions. 

Overall, this community workshop aims to aid in the development of culturally aligned physical activity programs and has the potential to promote continuing community partnerships for future collaborations. The findings could serve as a model to inform key implementers of physical activity policy and promotional programming, such as non-governmental community-based organizations or government agencies, to improve programming in other Indigenous communities. Additional benefits may include the potential for community members and leadership to identify other key health promoting initiative that could lead to broader community-university collaboration.

This project description was provided by the project team on July 26, 2024.  

Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society (LAWS), the Liard First Nation (LFN), and the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC) are united in advancing their Indigenous rights and sustainable land use on their Kaska territory. In accordance with their own values, knowledge, laws, and economies, these Indigenous organizations and governing bodies are deeply concerned about an open-pit copper/lead/zinc mine, known by the mining company (BMC) as the Kudz Ze Kayah mine. Kudz ze kayah means “caribou country” in the Kaska language – the name itself is considered an insult by Kaska people as a co-optation of their language. 

LAWS, AFN, and RRDC have made it clear that they do not consent to this mine, as it will negatively impact the land, caribou, Kaska culture, families, and rights. After a highly contentious environmental review, the Yukon and federal governments approved the mining project in 2022. The Kaska contested this decision in court, stating that the federal and Yukon governments failed to address their concerns over wildlife and the environment at the mine’s proposed site on critical calving territory for the Finlayson caribou herd. The courts recently ruled in favour of the company and the government – against the wishes of LAWS, AFN, and the RRDC. 

The Kaska territory hosts several mines that have curtailed Kaska rights, paid few to no royalties due to poor economic performance, and now sit abandoned, saddling Yukon with cleanup costs and Kaska with ongoing pollution. Despite this poor track record, a push for “critical mineral” mining for the low-carbon energy transition is giving new “green” life to Yukon mines. In response, Kaska are ramping up their struggle: no mines without their consent and without respecting their rights. 

In support of their efforts to advance their Indigenous rights in a time of climate and biodiversity crises, LAWS, LFN, RRDC seek support. This project aims to identify specific research needs as a first step towards developing collaborative research grants, including a SSHRC Insight grant application in 2025. With the support of this fund, representatives of LAWS/LFN/RRDC will meet Dempsey and her collaborators four times on zoom between August and December, and one time in person. 

Funding from the PRE Fund will allow LAWS/LFN/RRDC to dedicate staff time towards forming research collaborations with UBC researchers and support their travel to Whitehorse (from Watson Lake) to meet in person. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 26, 2024.  

Since 1987, PICS has been working with immigrants and assisting approximately 40,000 clients annually coming from various countries, providing support as they settle in Canada. Through this experience, PICS has recognized the unique challenges faced by new immigrants, especially refugees, including trauma from displacement, cultural adaptation, language barriers, and social isolation, all of which significantly impact their mental health. Refugees, especially women, are at a higher risk of developing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Due to language barriers and lack of information, mental health services are often inaccessible for refugees, particularly for women. 

To address these issues, PICS is proposing to organize a series of 5 awareness workshops with a minimum of 75 refugee women participants in total focusing on mental health issues. The format of these workshops will be in-person and online and will cover topics such as: understanding mental health, stress management, trauma-informed care, holistic approaches, navigating the healthcare system, the importance of asking for help, and information about UBC’s current resources, programs, and research focusing on the mental health of women. 

These interactive workshops aim to equip refugee women with the necessary information and resources to advocate for their mental health needs within their families and communities, enhancing overall social cohesion and well-being. Additionally, these sessions will provide a platform for refugee women to interact with each other, reducing their social isolation. The sessions will be conducted by trained mental health professionals using a culturally sensitive approach and will be offered in local languages to ensure comfort, ease of communication and better comprehension (PICS will provide interpretation services). Attendance sheets, evaluation forms, and pre-and post-assessment forms will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the workshops and assess participants’ understanding of the information provided. 

 These sessions will provide refugee women, as well as their families and friends, with the opportunity to better understand the resources available at UBC, increasing their likelihood of participating in research, teaching, and learning activities at the university. Additionally, the sessions will help UBC faculty and students gain insight into the specific mental health needs and challenges faced by refugees, enabling researchers to design studies that are relevant and beneficial to the community 

The proposed initiative will directly contribute to the well-being of refugee women, helping them overcome mental health challenges and facilitating their successful integration into Canadian society. Furthermore, this initiative will strengthen and enhance UBC’s networking with the community as it aligns with its objective of women-driven empowerment to promote mental health. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 4, 2024.  

This project aims to support integrated learning among healthcare professionals to improve patient care and experience through an interactive virtual event. We plan to feature “Greg’s Wings – Falling through the Cracks”, a film presenting a compelling case study illustrating the severe consequences of fragmented healthcare (gregswings.ca). In addition to the film, a moderated panel of experts will provide further analysis and insights into quality, safety, and technology in healthcare. This session will be hosted by the Provincial Health Services Health Authority (PHSA) Quality, Safety, and Clinical Informatics leadership and is open to all PHSA staff members who wish to attend. 

Funding for this project will primarily support the Greg’s Wings non-profit organization, acknowledging the efforts of the session facilitator, Teri Price. PHSA will provide in-kind support, including participants’ time, technical assistance, and advertising for the session. 

This event aims to benefit the healthcare organization community by highlighting the necessity for effective collaboration, establishing shared priorities for seamless patient care, and demonstrating how participants can incorporate these practices into their daily routines. The ultimate goal is to foster a culture of continuous improvement and shared learning among healthcare professionals, leading to better patient outcomes and reduced incidences of harm. 

To achieve this, we have planned several key activities: 

1. Interactive Film Screening: The event will begin with the screening of “Greg’s Wings – Falling through the Cracks,” showcasing the consequences of disjointed healthcare. 
2. Expert Panel Discussion: Following the film, a panel of experts in quality, safety, and technology will engage in a moderated discussion, offering insights and practical advice on addressing the issues highlighted in the film. 
3. Q&A Session: Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage directly with the panel, fostering a two-way dialogue and deeper understanding. 
4. Post-session Materials: We will provide materials focused on actionable strategies and tools that healthcare professionals can implement to improve care coordination and patient safety within their teams. 

By involving the healthcare community in this interactive session, we aim to create a ripple effect that extends beyond the event. In addition to the session stimulating thoughtful conversation on units and with peers, participants will gain greater awareness of the importance of integrated care and practical knowledge applicable to their work. The insights and strategies discussed will help healthcare professionals across the PHSA collaborate more effectively, ultimately enhancing patient experiences and outcomes. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 31, 2024.  

In April 2018, the City of Vancouver officially recognized the historical and systemic discrimination against Chinese Canadian people in Vancouver. This official apology spurred the City’s forward-looking processes to facilitate redress and reconciliation. It is within this context that the Chinatown Celebration Society was created in 2019. Our mandate is to center Chinatown’s cultural heritage and explore expressions of our collective identity (values, meanings and worldviews that make up ways of being). Through our work, we story tell the unique histories of Chinatown’s formation and people and honour the specific places our ancestors settled.   

To honour and celebrate heritage and community in Vancouver’s Chinatown, our organization hosts the “Fire Dragon Festival” every fall (usually September, around the same time as the culturally significant “Mid Autumn Festival”). This involves the physical creation of a Fire Dragon – a process that involves countless volunteers, cultural knowledge keepers, seniors, and community workers. This is a month-long process that takes place in multiple Chinatown community spaces and involves intergenerational members of the community to work together to create the Fire Dragon.  

Overall, our intent to host the annual Fire Dragon Festival is centered around safeguarding and transmitting intangible cultural heritage through language learning, storytelling, intergenerational cultural activities, performances and visual arts.  

This year marks the 4th year of the Fire Dragon Festival. Although we have been successful in collaborating with local Chinatown community members and groups to develop the physical Fire Dragon, we are working to advance equity and build solidarity across historically and persistently marginalized groups – primarily people who cannot physically access the community process of building the Fire Dragon. We are interested in pursuing a disability justice lens in improving the Fire Dragon festival and intend on using PRE funds to support a professional audit of our processes and festivals to make this community celebration more accessible to folks with disabilities. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 11, 2024.  

ASK Friendship Society is conducting a community engagement initiative in 2025 to determine the out-of-home services and program needs for older adults living in the Arbutus catchment area of Vancouver. The City of Vancouver has provided the Society with a new community amenity space (the Arbutus Centre, which will be will be shared with a new Neighbourhood House in 2026). 

This new space will provide ASK the opportunity to expand its services to include both mentally healthy and cognitively challenged older adults. It is critical that we understand the cultural, social, and therapeutic needs of the older adults, family members and caregivers who will access the services. 

The expansion into the new Arbutus Centre will result in ASK being a trusted and engaged community partner for older adults in two communities on the west side of Vancouver. ASK will realize an increase in number and type of clientele (mentally healthy as well as cognitively challenged), expanded services, increased community partnerships including new funding partners and the delivery of a strong ‘continuum of care.’ 

The community engagement process will take place throughout 2025, comprised of surveys, a series of facilitated community cafes and two larger community information sessions (in English and Chinese), engaging a broad and diverse audience. Outcomes include understanding the needs of those we serve, delivery models that will engage the broader community, as well as gaps that have been identified. 

Results from the surveys, cafes and information sessions will be shared with all community partners. 

ASK has a number of community partners who have expressed interest in participating in this initiative, including but limited to the Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, Dunbar Residents’ Association, the Westside Seniors Hub and SUCCESS. These partners will help us in:  

• Promoting cafes and information sessions through their communication channels 
• Extending invitations to their stakeholders to participate 
• Space in which to host the sessions 
• Staffing and volunteers to assist with event registration and set up 
• Translation services 

This project description was provided by the project team on June 20, 2024.  

FarmFolk CItyFolk has been working with the UBC Farm Practicum program for many years.  Over the last two we have been delivering seed production workshops to students.  We have also delivered seed saving workshops and run community seed cleaning events at UBC Farm.  We would like to be able to share both knowledge and resources beyond the practicum students and be able to invite local farmers and seed stewards to both learn about seed saving and to use our shared seed cleaning equipment. 

This project will involve the construction of an air separator seed cleaner, a piece of equipment that is very versatile for a number of seed crops and is currently not available at UBC. FarmFolk CityFolk has built a number of these units and will help UBC in its construction.  Once built, we will hold a public seed event including a seed saving workshop, and an unveiling of the new seed cleaner.  We will invite members of the public, farmers, and seed stewards to the event, inviting them to bring seeds to clean.  

The equipment will be housed at UBC after the event and be accessible for public use.  We will also share design plans so that other groups could build their own air separator if they so desire. This project will help strengthen the relationship between FarmFolk CityFolk and UBC, as well as provide an important resource for the community in the future. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 9, 2024.  

Archway Society for Domestic Peace will be offering Creatrix Rising art workshops and an art exhibit for women who are survivors of domestic and sexual violence. One of the goals is to enable the women who have come through Archway Society programs the opportunity to express themselves through various art forms, to heal, explore their stories and share their journey. We have partnered with local artists who will offer workshops at Vernon Community Arts Centre for participants from September 2024 to January 2025, then in March and April 2025 Archway Society will host an Art Exhibit at Caetani Cultural Centre gallery for the women to share their work if they so choose. The success of this project last year was due to the dedication of many volunteers and community and partner support.  Workshops will be in a variety of mediums like acrylic, clay, spoken word and encaustic. There will be room for participants to give direction to the workshops/art medium they are interested in. 

Creatrix Rising came to be because women in our programs at Archway Society asked for opportunities to share their art. We have also witnessed that the art they have made is a powerful part of their journey and healing. Creatrix Rising will offer the opportunity for each participant to express their story through art. The participants from last year have expressed hope that this will be something more women will be able to participate in year after year. Local artist and author, Alessandra Woodward; UBCO student, artist and partner in this application Asana Hughes and Auroura Leigh are 3 of the artists we will be partnering with.  The partnership with Asana will benefit both the participant artists and Archway Society. The artists will gain valuable insights from his studies at UBCO, while he will actively contribute to the collaborative planning committee, helping to shape the direction of Archway Society’s initiatives. This exchange of knowledge and expertise will strengthen both the artists’ practice and the Society’s programs 

The goal is for participants to express their story through art. The creation process is intended to be healing and reflective and the exhibit to validate their experiences as the community bears witness to their journey. The pride they will feel in creating art and then seeing their work being displayed professionally will benefit their view of themselves. The exhibit in March and April will be an opportunity to bring awareness about gender issues and violence against women to the community. It will enhance community understanding, and awareness around what Archway Society does in the region which can be the first step in creating positive change within the community and individual lives. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 18, 2024.  

We plan to re-open our historic Mon Keang Chinese School in Vancouver’s Chinatown to immersive and experiential Cantonese language learning in a 4-week course offered in Fall 2024 through a new teacher-in-training program of our university partner, the UBC Cantonese Language Program. Our teaching model convenes adult learners in the classroom for ‘survival Cantonese’ instruction provided by a UBC instructor; students then set out into the area’s shops to apply lessons in the community. We leverage Chinatown businesses as sites of Cantonese learning, for example, a greengrocer and Hong Kong style cafe. 

Our program is popular; it ran at capacity for four years before the closing of our 25-seat classroom due to the pandemic. Demand to re-open and for ongoing and new courses continues to be a challenge for our volunteer-run society. Conversely, our UBC Cantonese Language Program partner has grown capacity and interest in teaching Cantonese language through new teacher-in-training workshops offered over the past year. Our community-based program offers its educators a greater diversity of students and experiences through which to teach Cantonese as a heritage language. 

We wish to test UBC’s teacher-in-training program against the needs of our Chinatown classroom and community through the proposed 4-week course in Fall 2024. Together, we hope to engage in the shared goal to grow and revitalize Cantonese as a heritage language on a more sustainable level, while maintaining sensitivities to place and community. 

Cantonese language, culture and identity are recognized cultural heritage assets of Chinatown; our Wongs’ Benevolent Association is a recognized steward of this and related heritage through our historic School, which recently received designation as a National Historic Site. Together and with other partners, we aim to re-open the School and its teaching this Fall, in preparation for its 100th anniversary in 2025 and reunion activities planned. 

Our work aligns with the City of Vancouver’s new Chinatown Cultural District Framework adopted in June 2024 which has a goal to support the area’s cultural heritage assets and businesses. Over and above the roles of project partners, our curriculum requires students to be active participants in building the community connection and local economy essential to supporting daily life in the historic neighbourhood, with a focus on the lives of elders. Our students are not tourists or voyeurs; they are taught to be good neighbours. Community partners are not actors or performers; they are recognized, honoured, and invested in as knowledge keepers. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 3, 2024.  

Since 2023, the Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers’ and Caregivers’ Rights (CDWCR) has collaborated with academic and community researchers on the Migrant Care Workers Project (MCWP) to examine how recent changes to federal migrant care worker immigration programs have impacted care workers’ experiences of systemic racism, immigration, and precarious employment.  

CDWCR defined the project’s goals for research and knowledge mobilization. Our findings–drawn from 1000 pages of internal documents from Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and 37 interviews and 4 focus groups with migrant care workers–revealed deeply embedded problems with the 2019 Home Child Care and Home Support Worker Programs that are indicative of systemic racism in Canada’s migration system. These findings included exploitative working conditions, long wait times for Permanent Residency (PR) processing, and arbitrarily restrictive application caps.  

As the federal government prepares to implement new pilots that will replace the current programs (expired as of June 2024), the MCWP and CDWCR are proposing to mobilize this research by hosting an event to launch a public report of our findings. Specifically, the proposed project aims to: 

1. Disseminate evidence from our project to multiple stakeholders: This event will be the official launch of our report. We expect approximately 50 attendees from across academia, government, and advocacy organizations within our local, provincial, and federal networks including the Understanding Precarity in BC (UP-BC) Partnership. 
2. Facilitate knowledge exchange to inform the 2024 federal migrant care worker programs: This event is a timely opportunity to create an evidence-informed and community-backed response to the federal government’s announcement about new migrant care worker pilot programs. To foreground care workers’ concerns, this event will feature hybrid presentations and discussions to bring migrant care workers, community organizations, researchers, and government representatives together to discuss report findings and their policy implications.  
3. Create opportunities for the co-creation of research, policy, and practice in immigration and work in Canada: One of the goals of this event is to identify shared priorities for future directions in research, policy, and advocacy given the upcoming federal migrant care worker pilots. Roundtable discussions will allow attendees to co-develop working agendas. A summary of the discussions will be shared with attendees.   

This knowledge mobilization event ensures that our findings are actively shared and put into practice, honouring the experiences that care workers shared with us by ensuring that they inform future policy and political advocacy efforts. By sharing our findings with policy makers, nonprofits, and academics, this knowledge mobilization event will provide multiple avenues to influence policy, advancing CDWCR’s goals of supporting migrant care workers’ well-being in Canada. 

This project description was provided by the project team on June 19, 2024.  

The Bat Education and Ecological Protection Society (BEEPS) was founded in 2015 after a maternal colony of over 800 bats decided to call the attic of the Peachland Historic School their home. The historic building was saved from demolition as a protected species habitat and the maternity colony has since become part of the Peachland community, hosting an educational center and art gallery in the main building. Through bat chats, bat counts and annual mortality surveys of the colony, BEEPS seeks to protect the bats in Peachland and beyond and educate the public on the important role bats play in our ecosystem.  

In recent years, bat populations in North America have been decimated by the spread of White Nose Syndrome, a lethal fungal disease. Though the disease is not yet known to be in the Okanagan region, research and documentation of current populations will be important going into the future.  

BEEPS plans to expand its research project by conducting scientific surveys documenting the presence of bat species in riparian areas around the Okanagan, and concurrent nocturnal insect surveys. A portable echometer will be used with a tablet to record bat calls and identify the species present at different locations. The collected data will be uploaded to iNaturalist, a public database mapping biodiversity across the globe. BEEPS will conduct this survey in at least six different parks across the Okanagan this summer. 

Insect surveys will be conducted by setting up a white sheet and bright light after sunset to attract nocturnal insects at two locations concurrent with bat surveys.The goal of this survey is to document insect diversity, and collect insects to display in the BEEPS educational center to educate the public on insects in a bats diet. 

Through this project, BEEPS hopes to collect data on bats in the Okanagan while opening up opportunities for hands-on experiences to students pursuing ecology or zoology, or interested in engaging with the community. This project will help BEEPS increase community engagement by promoting its bat counts, bat chats, educational center and bat surveys, and sharing survey results with the public. The community will be involved by volunteering at bat counts, monitoring insects on moth sheets, or learning how to use an echometer and analyze sound data. Upon completion of the project, BEEPS will present the data in a talk at UBCO to speak to students about the organization’s research and survey results. 

This project description was provided by the project team on June 25, 2024.  

BC Centre for Accessibility was interested in collaborating with an academic to review and evaluate their Provinicial Pediatric Brain Injury Program. As one of a few pediatric brain injury researchers, Scott Ramsay was curious to find out the needs of the community.  

To date we have had three meetings to discuss a partnership and develop ideas. We plan to do a program evaluation of the Community Brain Injury Program for Children and Youth in BC ( CBIPCY) for the last 20 years. By doing this work we will create the first ever program report that will demonstrate gaps and opportunities to improve current levels of care and services.  

This is a mutually beneficial project in an academic institution that can provide support to a community program and the community program can help identify future areas and needs for research. As part of the project team, CBIPCY has enlisted a graduate student (person with lived experience) to help in the program evaluation process. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 30, 2024.  

The proposed project presents a unique opportunity for our team to share the experiences and outcomes of our work more broadly, allowing for a deeper engagement within our established university-community partnership, which has been thriving for over two years. 

Our presenter proposals have recently been accepted to two academic conferences that also represent culturally appropriate spaces within the academy to frame and share our work in a good way. Unlike in the past, where academic spaces may have been marginally accommodating to present research collaborations, we are committed to avoiding any tokenistic inclusion of Indigenous voices. Instead, we will collaboratively offer first-hand contributions from multiple perspectives on this research engagement and how the work has translated within the community setting.  

We recognize the conference experience can be intimidating for community members with little formal academic exposure. However, doing so in a supported space will afford an empowering experience in which their knowledge and perspectives are validated and where capacity building and trust occur in the research partnership. Being “seen and heard” are only two elements of this equation; physical presence of conference presenters is essential to foster a respectful and reciprocal experience among presenters, as well as to create a more meaningful connection between presenters and attendees.  

Ongoing recognition of partnerships is crucial to meaningful research relationships with Indigenous communities. It enhances the validity of the work from the most critical ethical perspective, that of the Indigenous community partner. Through these experiences, participating community members, leaders, and elders begin to understand their immense role in research partnerships and offer the potential for these partnerships to evolve into future collaborative research. Moreover, by asserting the community partners’ involvement in this vital phase of research dissemination, we stand to facilitate social change and encourage equity by centering Indigenous voices in consequential spaces.   

UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Fund previously supported our initial project with honoraria and travel support for those who participated in the active research phase, the PRE Fund will be instrumental in filling the gap we now face and will ensure accessible participation of our elders and leaders in this next phase. 

This project description was provided by the project team on July 31, 2024.  

The Susk’uz Keyohwhudachun Headdress Project aims to re-make a 200-year-old headdress so it could once again play an active role in ceremony and symbolize land-management practices. It is a collaboration between the Maiyoo Keyoh Society, the Exploration Place in Prince George, and UBC Beaty Biodiversity Museum. 

The Maiyoo Keyoh are members of the Dakelh, the Dene People of the central interior of British Columbia. The Dakelh follow a traditional property law system that divides land into keyohs, with each keyoh being overseen by a Keyohwhudachun (Chief), commonly known as a Keyoh Holder.   

The Maiyoo Keyoh’s Susk’uz Tsik’usdai or headdress was worn on ceremonial occasions by the Keyohwhudachun, including George A’Huille in the mid-19th century. The headdress was taken from the keyoh by missionary Father Morice around 1887 and ended up at the Royal Ontario Museum. After many years of work, the Maiyoo Keyoh Society was able to secure the headdress’ return; it is now on exhibit at the Exploration Place in Prince George. Petra A’Huille is the great-great-granddaughter of George A’Huille, she is the current Keyohwudachun for the Maiyoo Keyoh and a partner in this project. 

Project Goals 

The Maiyoo Keyoh Society wishes to share the headdress, and what it represents about a long-standing method of sustainable resource management, with a wider community.  

As the 200-year-old headdress is very fragile and too delicate to be worn, a replica headdress made from the same materials as the original (including whale baleen, dentalium shells, feathers and deer skin) that is robust enough to use would mean that the headdress could once again play an active role in ceremony and land-management symbolism practices.   

Project Phases  

Phase 1: Strengthening connections. July 2024 – January 2025 Project partners are talking online and visiting each other’s workplaces, while learning how best to work together. We will bring the team to Vancouver in August and will meet in Prince George in September.  

Phase 2: Develop a workplan project timeline and budget for creation of replica headdress. July 2024 – November 2024, sourcing materials and craftspeople for the development of the replica headdress. 

Phase 3: Implement the workplan for the creation of the headdress March 2025 – November 2025, organize the craftspeople to make 499 braids of human hair. Craftspeople will be as much as possible Maiyoo Keyoh members using their own hair.  The process will be filmed to create a documentary. 

Phase 4: Digital exhibit and curriculum development. January 2025+ Work on teaching materials in the form of an online exhibition, curriculum development, virtual lesson plans and resources showing youth an example of resource management. 

Phase 5: Travelling exhibit. January 2026+ With the replica in place for community use and digital resources and teaching materials, there is possibility to expand the project by developing a travelling exhibition for the original headdress. 

The PRE funds will support Phase 1 and Phase 2.

This project description was provided by the project team on July 12, 2024.  

This project will develop a set of workshops for young people to explore pathways to deeper civic engagement. Readying themselves to respond to contemporary crises, such as climate change, political polarization, and growing inequality, young adults increasingly want to be civically engaged to advocate for and create change. However, in pursuing change through complex institutional systems, young adults can become disheartened about their ability to enact change. Understanding the pain points youth experience in navigating municipal systems can inform alterations to, or alternative methods of public engagement in municipal decision-making to include youth perspectives. 

In collaboration with CityHive, we will deliver a two-part workshop with young adults (ages 16-25) to collaboratively determine ways to overcome common barriers young people experience when pursuing civic engagement. The first workshop will build on CityHive’s ‘civic action continuum’ (a spectrum of methods for civic engagement) to understand what calls youth to action in civic spaces and learn how they currently engage. We will then reflect on the barriers young adults experience in accessing these civic spaces or acting on the issues they care about. In the second workshop, we will facilitate a collaborative visioning exercise where participants imagine novel and desirable ways to participate in local governance. Facilitators will probe creative thinking by asking: How should we change our existing methods of engagement? What other methods of engagement would you like to see? 

The knowledge that youth share in the workshops will inform a series of public-facing outputs that detail ways to overcome barriers to, and meaningfully include youth in, civic engagement. 

All materials will be used by CityHive in their programming with youth, and in their advocacy efforts with local governments in metro Vancouver. To acknowledge participants that will be sharing their knowledge and co-creating the distributable materials, we are applying to the PRE fund to provide honoraria for youth participants. From the knowledge exchanged in the workshops, first, for youth we will produce an infographic that details navigation pathways through the municipal system to advocate for change. Second, we will create a written guide to civic engagement for young adult learners, particularly BIPOC and international students. CityHive will distribute the infographic and guide across their classroom-based workshops. Finally, we will produce a list of policy recommendations that can increase the role and significance youth have in local decision-making. CityHive will use these policy recommendations for their local advocacy efforts with local governments. This process will be informed by preliminary findings from the co-applicant’s PhD dissertation on young people’s pathways to civic engagement. Further, we intend to report on the outcomes of this process in an urban planning journal.