We need YOUth to create a sustainable future!

The initiative runs over 8 months. Youth are asked to commit 12-15 hours per month on average. Dialogue sessions will take place on a biweekly basis. Participating youth are asked to stay committed and consistently involved to ensure a positive team dynamic and successful community project!

It is summer now and perhaps you have been taking advantage of the nice weather to socialize in person outside. However, we can expect to spend more time indoors as winter comes. With the current number of COVID cases on the rise, this initiative provides a meaningful opportunity to interact with like-minded people in times of social distancing. Youth are also being affected by the loss of jobs and the lack of meaningful opportunities to start their careers. This is a perfect time to build your skills, develop new or existing passions, and take steps to bridge your education and work. Finally, this initiative provides you with an opportunity to continue to be actively involved in shaping your community and implement projects that contribute to addressing climate change, which is still an ongoing threat.

Although our initiative was primarily held in-person last year, we do have quite a lot of experience engaging youth digitally. We are always learning and trying new ways to make our virtual meetings and events as fun and exciting as possible. We know that Zoom fatigue is a real thing, and long Zoom meetings can get exhausting over time! We hope to introduce more task-based learning that youth can work on individually, in pairs, or teams during or outside of scheduled virtual meetings.

We will keep in mind the provincial regulations and recommendations around social distancing. If it becomes possible over time to host an in-person cohort meeting in small numbers or field trips, we will certainly explore this option.

Co-creating a Sustainable BC is designed for a range of levels of expertise in the areas of sustainability and climate change. It is a beginner-friendly initiative but also appropriate for those with more experience and knowledge. We will challenge youth by providing resources and presenting optional but recommended tasks. Facilitators and guest speakers will help make learning around sustainability and climate change more accessible for everyone. More importantly, youth participants will teach and learn from each other!

Last year we covered leadership styles and ways of making change, sustainability 101, design thinking, behaviour change, and evaluation methods. We also had a regional sustainability and community leaders series for each cohort, during which we invited guest speakers from four sectors. Our presenters in 2019-2020 spoke to youth about local economic development, seed saving, carbon capture and storage, blue carbon, community climate planning, to name a few. Past special guests include mayors, councillors, First Nation councillors, sustainability program leads, waste specialists, risk management practitioners, community advocates and more. Some youth even attended an Adaptation Conference held in Vancouver where they got to learn more about climate change adaptation and contribute as youth observers.

Within your youth cohorts, you will receive training and resources to help your cohort jump start a group project, but you will be expected to drive most of the planning and implementation process yourselves. We encourage youth to develop projects through a design thinking process and gap analysis based on what they heard and what is missing in the community/region. Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through these steps when the time comes! Each cohort will be able to decide how to allocate funding for their project, but we can provide some guidance. We are setting up an alumni network to ensure new cohorts can learn from and stay connected with previous cohorts who did projects.

We have funding available to hire ASL interpreters/transcribers for youth who may be deaf or hard-of-hearing. Approved childcare expenses can be reimbursed if it is needed by participants while they participate in this initiative. If travel is needed for CCSBC related in-person meetings/events, all travel, meal, and accommodation expenses are covered by the Fraser Basin Council Youth Program.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any particular accessibility needs, and we are always happy to work with you to try to accommodate them.

Nothing – Co-Creating a Sustainable BC is entirely free, thanks to our generous funder! Any costs incurred from attending in-person meetings/events are covered by the Fraser Basin Council.

Yes, participants will receive a “Certificate of Completion” at the end of the initiative. The certificate and a long list of soft and hard skills you’ll gain throughout the initiative will be a great addition to your CV. We are also happy to provide a volunteer letter of reference, should you need one!