Sustainability Scholars Program

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

Resident urban Canada Geese were introduced into Metro Vancouver in the 1970s and have thrived in the urban environment. Vancouver and many other municipalities in North America are seeking ways to manage their Canada Geese populations, navigating complex political decisions trying to understand goose behaviours and human behaviours related to geese. The purpose of this report is to summarize the status of resident goose populations in the City of Vancouver and present management options to mitigate impacts from over-abundant geese in parks and other areas. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: access to nature, biodiversity, ecological systems

The purpose of this projects was to determine the long-term spatial and temporal patterns of E. coli and fecal coliform concentrations in False Creek in order to improve our understanding of the sources of E. coli.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: access to nature, water, waste management & recycling

This report was produced to support the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 Action Plan. A topsoil requirement is one of the key tools that the City can use to meet its water conservation and rainwater management goals. This report summarizes the need for both improved water conservation and rainwater management in Vancouver; presents the benefits of topsoil for both of these aspects, among others; and puts forth recommended next steps for the City to get started on a topsoil requirement.

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

The goal of this project is identifying barriers to window replacements in multiunit residential buildings (MURBs)  and to make recommendations to use high quality windows and best practice installation techniques in existing built rental buildings and condominiums.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: green buildings

This research project investigates Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) on city streets in terms of its benefits and challenges, best practices, and lifecycle costs through a municipality survey, literature review, case studies, field studies, and personal interviews. The report summarizes the results of a North American peer municipality survey on GSI. The survey targeted American and Canadian municipalities with GSI or integrated rainwater/stormwater management programs, and was intended to collect lessons learned, best practices, and other technical information.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, ecological systems, water

The purpose of this project is to examine the feasibility of utilizing solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems across the Park Board’s real estate in order to reach the 2020 greenhouse gas reduction targets and reduce utility bills. The reports includes a high­level design approach through software calculators used for modelling along with a cost-benefit analysis showing the energy potential, monetary savings, and payback period for each option.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: climate and renewables, green buildings