Spring 2024 | Cohort 5: Sustaining Momentum in the Climate Crisis
The Youth Climate Innovation Lab is a cohort program for youth ages 18-30 who are excited to build up their knowledge and skills to take bold, local climate action. In an era of political polarization, misinformation and hopelessness, how can we sustain momentum towards climate action and create hopeful climate futures? With 2025 rapidly approaching, this upcoming cohort of the Youth Climate Innovation Lab will focus on “what’s next” in the climate landscape and how to ensure we keep the momentum going.
This is a program that encourages collaboration, creativity and innovation, and one where you can bring your unique experiences, perspectives and passions into the climate movement. Whether you’re an artist, storyteller, designer, communicator, climate activist, tech whiz, outdoor enthusiast, engineer, nurse practitioner, dog walker, etc, you have a role to play in climate action in your community! We want to unpack the scales of impact that are possible – from personal to community to systems change.
Youth who participate in this think-and-do-tank leave the program feeling more confident in their knowledge, skills and tools to draw from the next time they engage with civic and climate issues they care about. Through this program, youth get to:
- LEARN: Youth will learn about local climate action from a wide range of local thought leaders, elected officials, city staff, community organizations and youth, and explore questions like: what can our cities and local governments do to advance climate action? How can residents help propel that change? Who is missing from climate conversations? What areas of our cities have the most impact on our climate and what can we do to change that? Youth will learn fundamental knowledge about climate change and civic engagement, as well as important skills around equity/justice and project management.
- INVESTIGATE AND IDEATE: Youth will work collaboratively in teams to investigate a climate challenge presented by a project partner and practice key skills like creating a power map, doing an environmental scan, and using design thinking tools and methodologies.
- APPLY AND TAKE ACTION: Youth will work on projects in teams with support and mentorship from community project partners. These partners will present key issues representing CIVICS, COMMUNITY or BUSINESS groups while bringing an interdisciplinary approach to solutions design.
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.
Program Overview
Over 11 weeks, participants will attend 12 sessions, and be featured in a community presentation night to celebrate their work and learnings. The program consists of three learning modules:
Session Dates
Program Kickoff
- Session 1 – Saturday, March 9
Learning & Foundations
- Session 2 – Wednesday, March 13
- Session 3 – Wednesday, March 20
- Session 4 – Saturday, March 27
Investigate & Ideate
- Session 5 – Saturday, April 6
- Session 6 – Wednesday, April 10
- Session 7 – Wednesday, April 17
Skills Application & Testing
- Session 8 – Wednesday, April 24
- Session 9 – Wednesday, May 1
- Session 10 – Wednesday, May 8
- Session 11 – Wednesday, May 15
- Session 12 – Saturday, May 18
Community Event Night – Week of May 20-26
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the program start and how long is it?
The program starts on March 9th and runs weekly on Wednesday evenings, and occasionally on Saturdays, through until May 26th. Participants will be featured in a community presentation night the week of May 20th to celebrate their learnings and project work.
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How long does the program run each week?
Program sessions will be hosted some weekend days and weekday evenings to maximize time together and build a strong sense of community.
Weekend sessions will be hosted on Saturdays from 9:30am – 3pm (lunch included)
Weekday evening sessions will be hosted between 5:30-8:30pm (dinner included)
In addition to weekly program sessions, you should anticipate spending up to 5 hours each week on homework and project-related tasks.
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How do I apply?
You can apply using the link at the top of this page! To apply to the program, you will have to complete the survey in the link above, which includes a written or video application. Applications are open until February 25th at 11:59pm PST.
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How much does it cost to join?
Our programs are free to you! There is ZERO cost to join the Youth Climate Innovation Lab. We do offer additional financial support including a participant honorarium and transit stipends to support your participation in the program.
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I haven’t been a part of a program like this before – is that okay?
The YCIL is meant to be an entrypoint into climate action. In fact, we encourage youth who have never been a part of this type of program to apply! We work with a great team of facilitators and knowledge holders to make sure content is accessible and inclusive to all participants, regardless of level of knowledge coming into this program.
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I don’t live in Vancouver, is that okay?
CityHive runs programming for youth from all across the Metro Vancouver area. Our programs are place-based because we want to support building meaningful connections with our peers in our communities. We welcome participants drawing on experiences and perspectives they hold from regions outside of Metro Vancouver, but at this time are not able to welcome participants who live outside of this region to attend.
As we will be holding parts of this program in person, we are also able to accommodate transit stipends for folks outside of the region of the host venues for our weekly sessions.
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Who will I meet?
We bring together a diverse group of 30-35 youth with a range of backgrounds. You will meet other youth participants who are just as eager as you to take climate action, local government officials and decision makers, thought leaders and subject matter experts, members of the community, past program participants, and our amazing team of facilitators.
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What do we do during the program sessions?
GREAT question! Our program sessions are pretty jam packed. This program will be hosted in person at transit accessible locations in Metro Vancouver. Our sessions are hands-on, interactive and encourage active participation. We like to say that you’ll get out what you put in. We make sure to utilize body breaks throughout the sessions.
We blend together content delivery and workshops with dialogue, group discussions, and peer-to-peer learning.
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What’s the goal of this program?
This program is designed to do 3 things:
(1) build youth’s knowledge, skills and capacity to take climate change in a local context,
(2) create tangible pathways for youth to provide critical input and enhance municipal climate commitments and
(3) enhance relationships between youth, their civic institutions and organizations across Metro Vancouver.
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Will I get to work on a project with my peers?
YES! Working with your peers is part of the learning process in the YCIL! Early on in the lab you’ll be presented with a set of key projects and climate challenges being faced by community partners. With a team of peers and under mentorship of a project partner, you’ll create a plan to address and more deeply understand that challenge, ultimately presenting a set of recommendations or proposals for a solution to the partner.
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I don’t have a project team already - can I still apply?
YES! We are not accepting applications for full teams – you will be matched with a team and have the chance to select the project you’d like to work on in the first few weeks of the program.
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How much time will I spend working on these projects?
The program is designed for you to get what you put into it. This is a project based program where you are expected to work collaboratively with your peers to design a climate solution, this will require community engagement, outreach and investigative research work to better understand the problem space. As we move into the third module of the program, you can expect to spend up to 5 hours each week (in addition to program session time) working with your group.
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Everyone is talking about climate change and I feel overwhelmed. I want to participate but I don’t know what to do. Will this program help?
Many individuals who experience eco-anxiety feel stressed about the effects of climate change on themselves, their families, community, and the planet. Increasing media attention on climate change helps to spread awareness of the importance of climate action, but this can also worsen climate-related anxiety and overwhelm that we feel on a daily basis. This program aims to bring together youth in a safe environment to explore how their personal experiences and climate stories can be the catalyst for action. For more information about eco-anxiety, check out this article from Mind Map BC and these great resources for working with climate emotions from All We Can Save.
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THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS
This program wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of:
This program wouldn’t be possible without the guidance and support or our steering committee:
