Planning to move beyond climate-neutral: Supporting students in catalyzing change UBC SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE Liz Ferris, Climate Action Coordinator Presentation at the 2 nd biannual AASHE Conference

Presentation Overview 1.Setting the Context: UBC, Engagement and Climate Action 2.A Case Study: The Go Beyond Project 3.Go Beyond at UBC: Critical Success Elements 4.Going Forward: Lessons Learned

UBC TREK 2010 Mission “The University of British Columbia, aspiring to be one of the world’s best universities, will prepare students to become exceptional global citizens, promote the values of a civil and sustainable society, and conduct outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.”

Sustainability at UBC: 68 Targets in Total Social Performance Student Engagement Involve 10% of students in Community Service Learning programs Sustainability Strategy: Sustainability Policy: Policy # 5 Outlines the University’s sustainability aspirations

Defining Student Engagement Educating Students Increasing Awareness Developing Understanding Encouraging Involvement Facilitating Leadership

UBC Sustainability Student Engagement Programs SEEDS (Social, Ecological, Economic Development Studies TREK Step Program Residential Sustainability Coordinator Program Tri-Mentoring Programs Sustainability Ambassadors Program The Sustainability Pledge

Climate Action at UBC: University and College President’s Statement of Action on Climate, For Canada: Signed March 13 th, 2008 Commits the Institution to a participatory planning process to achieve climate action GHG Inventory (2006) Complete Multi-Stakeholder Committee Governance Structure Established

Case Study: The Go Beyond Project A project of the campus climate network facilitated by the UBC Sustainability Office, Common Energy and the Sierra Youth Coalition

Go Beyond: The project Goals Don’t KnowDon’t CareDon’t Act Know, Care and Act EducateInspireEngageSupport

Go Beyond Project History July 2007 Campus Climate Network (CCN) is born Fall 2007 CCN further develops, gains members and direction Feb First CCN Sustainable Campuses Conference Spring 2008 Project Development and Fundraising Summer 2008 Project programming and refinement Fall 2008 Program Launch on 3 campuses across BC

Programming: Program Pillars Challenges Offering easily adaptable projects for campus organizations that would like to directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while engaging their community

Programming: Program Pillars Training Increasing the ability of students and youth organizations by providing relevant skills training, accessible toolkits, and mentorship

Programming: Program Pillars Planning Creating space for youth to lead their institutions in collaboratively planning a low-carbon future

Programming: Program Pillars Education Working to establish curriculum that is engaging, community- oriented, and creates regional climate change solutions in all spheres

The Project: Just over 1 month on the ground… Working with 18 universities, colleges and institutes Faculty from 14 institutions participated in the Teach-In 722 students signed onto the personal challenge Have helped local campus groups double or triple their groups of core volunteers Program is being leveraged to create new initiatives at lower-capacity schools

The Project: Students:GoalActual% UVicAware Attended Signed Up UBCAware Attended Signed Up TRUAware Attended Signed Up Key Performance Indicators

The Project: Above and Beyond… Additional Reach in Northern BC, the Interior, Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland Students:GoalActual% BCAware Attended-182- Signed Up-524-

The Project: Our Website:

The Project: Numbers at a Glance… Overall, we have now reached 23,490 students. We are on track to reach over 43,000 students by December… $3.65 per student; an investment that has helped us build a project that students are calling for… …and that will build momentum, reaching hundreds of thousands more by 2010

Lessons Learned: Partnership with other organizations Youth driven and community supported through multi- stakeholder engagement Pillar areas mutually strengthen each other and create a spectrum of avenues for engagement Connects top-down leadership with bottom-up grassroots organizing and initiative Program allows us to achieve goals of engagement in a much broader way than we would be able to alone. Project is different from past projects:

Lessons Learned: By fostering partnerships with students and others, we can have better reach and buy-into programs that achieve mutual aims Allowing students to design and run a program, with institutional support, enhances program success Students know how to implement climate action: Institutions have an opportunity to support them

Thank you Please visit sustain.ubc.ca for more information on UBC & Sustainability For more information on the go beyond project, check out