Resource Library

It is the intent of this report to provide best practices on stewardship funding models and to identify potential opportunities for funding the stewardship of City owned plazas. Framed as a toolkit this document provides community organizations and City decision makers with models, case studies and ready-to-use tools for supporting the stewardship of our public plazas. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, social sustainability, green buildings

Social procurement represents the choice by an organization to embed the achievement of social values into their procurement practices. Increasingly, organizations around the globe are changing their procurement practices in an effort to add social value into contracts.This report includes an examination of the current procurement practices at the City of Vancouver. Additionally, an exploration of the social procurement state of practice globally is conducted by examining the different goals that organizations have identified and the approaches they have taken to achieve them. The report concludes with an overview of the program elements that help ensure the success of a social procurement program and recommendations for future action. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: social sustainability, sustainable development & green economy, supply chain management & green procurement

Emergency Social Services (ESS) is a provincially mandated program that is implemented on the municipal level and is activated post disaster to take care of displaced people by providing basic necessities and emergency sheltering. The purpose of this project was to adapt the City of Vancouver’s ESS program to better meet the needs of people with access and functional needs (PAFN) after a disaster. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, social sustainability

This project examines the impact of design and social programming in sociability of multi-unit housing through a case study of friendly buildings in Vancouver. Our study of 17 multi-unit buildings that were identified as friendly by their residents showed that a combination of design and programming factors are needed to achieve social connectedness among neighbours. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, social sustainability

This study is a preliminary attempt to understand the role that small food grocers play in neighbourhood food access. The goal of the project was to develop a typology of grocery stores in the context of the City of Vancouver, to understand resident perceptions of how small grocers contribute to providing healthy, affordable and culturally-appropriate food, and to understand the potential implications of store closures on resident food access.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: local food, food systems, social sustainability

This framework is a guide for evaluating and monitoring area planning and the resulting development in the City of Vancouver. The evaluation framework provides the City and community with a greater understanding of the pace and alignment of development with community-based City principles and goals. Its purpose is to provide a holistic look at area planning programs, using city-wide goals and targets.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, sustainable development & green economy

The purpose of this project was to explore the influence of campus environments (social, physical, financial, organizational, cultural, spiritual, academic, historical, policy, etc.) on the mental wellbeing of students, staff, and faculty, and to identify system-level strategies for enhancing mental wellbeing. An additional objective for VOICE 4 was to develop a process and framework for policy identification and analysis, and to pilot its use. 

Partner: UBCO: Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention
Keywords: sustainability in education, social sustainability

Graduate students’ relationships with their supervisors and their larger scholarly community at UBC are central to their academic progress, their student experiences, their potential as future scholars, and their overall wellbeing. The goal of this project was to understand the relationship between wellbeing and excellence in the graduate supervision context, identify current challenges to wellbeing within the context of graduate supervision, highlight key resources, professional development opportunities and potential pathway(s) of support, and share preliminary recommendations.

Partner: UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Keywords: sustainability in education, social sustainability

 SocialSport is an organization that connects newcomer families to sport and leisure programs for their children. The purpose of this project was to develop an evaluation framework for SocialSport.  The first phase involved conducting a literature review of the evaluation tools that were used in measuring integration for immigrants and refugees. The second phase involved conducting a literature review of the impact of participation in sports on the inclusion and integration of immigrants and refugees.

Partner: School of Kinesiology
Keywords: social sustainability