We need YOUth to co-create climate solutions!

We are accepting youth aged 16-30 from all walks of life! This includes high school students, university students, those working full-time or part-time, those who are unemployed, and so on. In the past, we’ve had participants spanning from being in school to being new parents. Youth bring a diversity of lived and cultural experiences that enhance the experience in our initiative overall. If you are 16-30 years old, you’re already qualified to join!

This initiative provides a meaningful opportunity to interact with like-minded people in times of physical distancing. Youth are 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 gain hands-on experience in implementing projects that contribute to addressing climate change, which is still an ongoing threat.

During our meetings, we will cover topics such as collaboration, climate change in BC, sustainability pillars, how to initiative and drive change, leadership styles, and more. You will dive into these topics with your regional cohort of passionate youth, and learn about how they apply to your local community. You may be asked to complete tasks between dialogue sessions to improve your learning experience, knowledge on regional issues, and connections within the community. 

Using your knowledge, you’ll collaborate with your team to brainstorm and prototype a solution to a local climate change challenge. Participation will initially be more structured but become more flexible over time, depending on projects and working styles within cohorts/teams.

Although our core team of staff does most of the content and logistics planning for the initiative, we get advice from a Youth Advisory Committee and alumni on how to make the initiative more enjoyable for and relevant to youth participants. You and your teammates will be taking the lead role during the Project Phase in project conceptualization and implementation.

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!

In the past two years, we have covered a wide-ranging list of topics, and brought in diverse speakers who work on sustainability and climate change issues in different regions of the province and on different scales. Past presenters have spoken about topics such as waste, food security, electric vehicles, seed saving, carbon capture and storage, and community climate planning, to name a few. Past special guests include mayors and councillors, First Nation chiefs, business owners, community advocates and more.

Within your youth cohorts, you will receive guidance, resources, and some funding to help  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! We also have an alumni network to ensure new cohorts can learn from and stay connected with CCSBC alumni.

We have funding available to hire ASL interpreters/transcribers for youth who are 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 contact us at youth@fraserbasin.bc.ca  if you have any particular accessibility needs. 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 resumé. We are also happy to provide a volunteer letter of reference upon request.