Logo with three puzzle shaped speech bubbles on the left each with mountains, a city skyline, plants, and people reaching for the sky depicted. The works Youth Climate Innovation Lab to the right.

Fall 2022 | Cohort 1

Read the Program Report

The first cohort of the Youth Climate Innovation Lab took place Sep-Dec 2022!

Program Overview

The Youth Climate Innovation Lab was a cohort-based climate program that brought together youth ages 18-30 from across so-called Metro Vancouver to learn, upskill and create bold actions to address climate challenges and advance a just transition. This program gave youth the opportunity to collaborate with municipalities, civic institutions and community organizations on real-life climate projects that directly contributed to the local climate agenda in Metro Vancouver. The very first cohort brought together 22 youth with various backgrounds and interests, such as environmental science, policy, urban planning, visual art, justice work and more, connected by a shared passion and drive to take climate action. 

In partnership with community organizations and local municipalities, six climate projects were introduced to our cohort. In project teams, cohort members provided unique insights and youth perspectives on climate problems faced by our project partners. These youth-driven ideas culminated in presentations at a final Community Showcase on December 7th, 2022. You can watch the recording of the event here.

Our hope is that youth who participate in this program become a part of a diverse group of youth who are eager to take action to drive climate action forward across Metro Vancouver.

In this program, you can expect to be challenged to bring your boldest ideas forward and create new opportunities to bring them into reality. We will work together to create a safe and brave space to continue to take climate action in our communities. 

Read the Program Report

SESSION DATES

Program Kickoff

  • Session 1 – Saturday September 24th 

Learning & Foundations 

  • Session 2- Wednesday September 28th 
  • Session 3- Wednesday October 5th 

Investigate & Ideate 

  • Session 4- Saturday October 15th 
  • Session 5- Wednesday October 19th 
  • Session 6- Wednesday October 26th 
  • Session 7- Wednesday November 2nd
  • Session 8 – Saturday November 5th 

Skills Application & Testing

  • Session 9- Wednesday November 9th 
  • Session 10- Wednesday November 16th 
  • Session 11- Wednesday November 23rd
  • Session 12- Wednesday November 30th 
  • Session 13- Saturday December 3rd

Community Event Night – Week of December 5th

Project Summaries

Project Partner: City of Vancouver

This project team has created a youth engagement strategy to help shape the City of Vancouver’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy to include youth perspectives on local climate issues. The content of this strategy was based on an evidence base on domestic and international youth engagement strategies, as well as the knowledge and experiences of the project team’s participants as youth in Vancouver. 

Project Partner: City of Coquitlam

This project team worked with the City of Coquitlam to better understand, track and report contract greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the targets set in the City of Coquitlam’s Environmental Sustainability Plan. 

Project Partner: Community Energy Association

This project team created a set of recommendations for the Community Energy Association to inform regional and municipal governments on best practices for youth engagement related to climate action, and increase the opportunity for youth to be involved and create change in their communities.

Project Partner: Vancouver Economic Commission

This research and outreach project worked to identify the perspectives of hardware stores on climate, educate hardware stores on climate products and impacts, provide accessible climate action to customers and developers, and accelerate progress on climate ambitions for Vancouver Economic Commission. 

Project Partner: OneEarth

This project tackled the “life transition” of immigration, and explored the opportunities, resources and structures that could support sustainable habits, practices and context for young people during this transition. The result of this project was the development of a social media campaign to support sustainable lifestyle choices of new immigrants, specifically international students, as they adapt to their new life in so-called Canada

THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS

This program wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of:

The logos of the Houssian Foundation, the Trottier Family Foundation, and Vancity.

This program wouldn’t be possible without the guidance and support or our steering committee:

The logos for the Vancouver Economic Commissions, the Social Purpose Institutes at United Way, OneEarth, the Community Energy Association, Climate Caucus, the City of Vancouver Climate Emergency, and the City of Coquitlam.