Sustainability Scholars Program

This project aimed to identify methods of addressing, mitigating, and coping with climate grief at the population, community, and individual levels. Of the two reports, one details the ways populations, communities, or individuals may experience climate grief and the wide variety of interventions and strategies that may be used to address climate grief. The other report serves as a toolkit of activities for use with groups and individuals to help them address and cope with climate grief. Link to a related webinar "Mental Health & Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications and Practices."

Partner: Fraser Basin Council
Keywords: social sustainability, mental health, climate grief, climate anxiety, solistalgia

This project aims to provide valuable insights into Energy Save New West (ESNW), the City of New West’s energy efficiency program progress and future program initiative opportunities for existing homes. Includes a thorough analysis of EnerGuide Rating System (ERS) reports and participant survey data, best practices review of selected US-based energy efficiency programs, and recommendations for the program improvement opportunities to support the City’s energy and GHG reduction targets.

Partner: City of New Westminster
Keywords: green buildings, sustainable development & green economy

The project was commissioned to provide an analytic and synthesized energy poverty profile from the Census 2016 dataset for the City of Abbotsford. This data will help the City develop climate action plans and policies to reduce GHG emissions while providing for vulnerable and marginalized groups affected by blanket energy policy interventions. The report shows significant numbers of senior, lone-parent and racialized households experience energy poverty.

Partner: City of Abbotsford & CUSP
Keywords: green buildings, energy poverty

This project supports greenway planning in Vancouver by providing recommendations for equitable public engagement on greenways. These recommendations are aimed at addressing the City's Equity Framework Commitments. This research identifies that meaningfully advancing the equity of public engagements requires changes to embed equity at the project and institutional level. It concludes with a list of equitable engagement principles and strategies to guide the work of engagement practitioners.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: transportation, equity, public engagement

This report was authorized by the City of Vancouver Sustainability Group to examine how the Sustainable Commuting Program can encourage City of Vancouver staff to commute more via active transit (walking/cycling) and public transit amidst recent Sustainable Commuting Program expansions, and to recommend ways of properly funding the Sustainable Commuting Program to avoid deficits while helping Vancouver achieve its Climate Emergency goals.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: leadership & behaviour change, sustainable development & green economy, transportation

BC's transition to a fossil-fuel-free transportation system brings with it a comprehensive transformation of the transportation sector and is guided and facilitated by multiple government policies. This project focusses on analyzing the suite of policies guiding this clean transportation transition at the city, regional and provincial levels with a view to quantifying changes in demand for clean transportation products; and thus, lay the foundation for a clean transportation market forecast.

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

This project examines alternate compliance approaches for private sites that may face specific constraints for meeting the City of Vancouver's rainwater management requirements. The policy, legal and financial barriers and opportunities for advancing alternate approaches are identified within Vancouver's current context, and successful approaches from Portland, Washington D.C and City of North Vancouver are documented. Possible approaches and next steps are identified for the City of Vancouver.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: rainwater 

This report recommends methods to calculate the economic value of Vancouver's parks for three key benefits: tourism, recreation, and physical health; and briefly covers other benefits including property premiums, stormwater management, air quality and temperature regulation. This project will help Vancouver Park Board to secure funding for park maintenance, planning, and future development.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: sustainable development & green economy, nature valuation

This report presents regenerative planting design strategies for green rainwater infrastructure (GRI) in the road right-of-way. It suggests that connectivity is embodied by designed plant communities, and that the plant community approach contributes to the vision of the Rain City Strategy. Included are innovative methods, case studies, and conceptual frameworks that have potential to lower maintenance needs while enhancing communities and biodiversity through planting design.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, water