The University of British Columbia
EN-9: Community Partnerships

UBC - UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOODS ASSOCIATION SUSTAINABILITY MOU (1 September 2011 - 31 December 2020) In 2011, an MOU was signed between UBC and the University Neighborhoods Association (UNA) (http://www.myuna.ca/). This MOU sets the mutual intentions of UBC and the UNA to advance their joint sustainability objectives. UBC and the UNA will work together to advance sustainability objectives in Utown@UBC, and will: a) Engage the community in achieving reductions in energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste production, and water use; b) Develop and pursue sustainable transportation options; and c) Identify opportunities to contribute to social and economic sustainability in areas such as affordable student and workforce housing, social infrastructure, and contributions to UBC’s endowment. Our partnership with the UNA continues to produce sustainable outcomes in areas such as community engagement, energy and water conservation, and waste reduction programs. In 2013, UBC completed the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP), a joint initiative with BC Hydro and the UNA to reduce community energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In 2014, UBC completed and released UBC’s Zero Waste Action Plan and 20 Year Sustainability Strategy, developed with participation from the UNA. More information about the UBC-UNA MOU is available online at: http://bog2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2011/05/SUB-BG-2011.06.08_10.1-MOA-with-UNA.pdf UBC - BC HYDRO SUSTAINABILITY MOU (4 June 2010 – 31 December 2020) The UBC- BC Hydro MOU supports shared interests in energy conservation and efficiency, efficient infrastructure development, development and demonstration of new clean energy technologies and integrated energy systems, including micro-grid and smart grid technologies. In 2013, UBC completed the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP), a joint initiative with BC Hydro and the University Neighborhoods Association to reduce community energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. UBC and BC Hydro continue collaboration on energy conservation programs, including the Continuous Optimization “Building Tune Up” program to optimize energy performance in over 60 academic buildings. More information about the UBC-BC Hydro MOU is available online at: http://bog2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2010/10/SUB-BG-10.02.04_3.3.pdf. UTOWN@UBC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT http://utown.ubc.ca/ UBC Community Development works closely with the University Neighborhoods Association (UNA) to deliver joint UTown@UBC community programming in order to foster a vibrant, safe and sustainable community in UBC’s residential neighborhoods. Transportation-centered programs include a year-round bike clinic, Bike to Work Week participation and a Walk n’ Roll to school program to help promote safety, health and wellness and more sustainable means of getting around campus. A Community Grants program awards up to $1,000 for community-led projects that foster social vibrancy and connectedness on campus and a Youth Leadership program encourages youth to get active in their community through hands on learning.

UBC - CITY OF VANCOUVER SUSTAINABILITY MOU (11 May 2010 - 31 December 2020) This MOU supports the shared interests of UBC’s sustainability goals and actions and Vancouver’s efforts on their Greenest City 2020 Action Plan - which identifies ten long-term goals, supported by a set of measurable and attainable targets, for Vancouver to become the greenest city in the world by 2020. The MOU enables mutually beneficial collaboration and exchanges between UBC and the City of Vancouver, which over the past three years has included partnerships and programs such as the Greenest City Scholars and Greenest City Conversations. GREENEST CITY SCHOLARS http://sustain.ubc.ca/get-involved/students/greenest-city-scholars Developed by UBC and the City of Vancouver, the Greenest City Scholars program enables UBC graduate students, of any academic discipline, to work on sustainability research projects with the City of Vancouver. Every summer, the program offers at least ten projects of approximately 12 weeks duration. Each project is related to one of the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 Goals. Students work onsite with the City, immersing them in real world learning and offering graduate students the opportunity to integrate their classroom and lab experience into the community. The UBC Sustainability Initiative provides funding and program administration support to the Greenest City Scholars Program. Over the past three years there have been 40 Greenest City Scholars projects completed through this program. GREENEST CITY CONVERSATIONS http://gcc.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ The Greenest City Conversations was a multi-year (2010-2013) public engagement action research partnership – an innovative, interdisciplinary and wide-scale project aimed at developing multiple channels for public engagement on sustainability policies. Faculty and students at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University led the research project, with the primary goals to: 1. Facilitate discussion, solicit, and analyze public attitudes and opinions on, and support for, a variety of sustainability policies; and 2. Provide a comprehensive understanding of the content and impacts (both qualitative and quantitative) of different modes of public engagement (“channels“). Six channels approached the problem of how to engage Vancouver residents on the topic of sustainability: Social Media; Mobile Apps; Table-top Games; Performing Arts; Neighbourhood Workshops; MetroQuest. Additional project partners included Pacific Institute for Climate Studies (PICS), BC Hydro, MetroQuest, and GRAND NCE. The project served as a pilot project for potential future applications in other jurisdictions and at other scales. More information about the UBC-CoV MOU is available online at: http://bog2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2010/10/SUB-BG-10.02.04_3.3.pdf.

THINK & EAT GREEN @ SCHOOL http://thinkeatgreen.ca/ Think & Eat Green @ School is a Community-University Research Alliance project promoting change in what K-12 students eat, learn, and do at school in relation to food, health, the environment, and sustainability. The multi-year project (2010-2015) is led by team members from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC in collaboration with the UBC Faculty of Education, and funded by a $1 million strategic research grant on the environment from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Community University Research Alliance (CURA) Program. UBC’s partners include the Vancouver School Board, Vancouver Coastal Health, the Vancouver Food Policy Council, and numerous non-profit organizations working on food and environmental advocacy. This project has seen 400+ UBC undergraduate and graduate students involved in 60 classrooms. A total of 34 elementary and secondary schools received grants to carry out projects in areas of curriculum innovation, food policy and climate change adaptation, and school based food production, consumption, preparation, and procurement. 100 teachers and food advocates participated in the third Think & Eat Green@School Summer Institute in 2013. The project brings awareness to the fact that the food system as a whole has a significant impact on greenhouse emissions and our ecological footprint. Through recognizing food as a fundamental element of the organization of society, this project addresses the critical issues of regional food security, food system sustainability, and institutional adaptations to climate change within the context of Vancouver schools. The project is transformative in that it enables students, teachers, and policy makers to influence how their food is produced and where it comes from, through concrete school projects in areas of: • Food production at school (i.e. food gardens, composting, and environmentally sound and productive disposal of end products); • Food consumption, preparation, and procurement at school (i.e. school food programs, cooking skills, and eating spaces, farm‐to‐school programs for fresh local food); • Creating and disseminating learning innovations which aim to integrate learning about the whole cycle of food systems, from production, processing, transportation, distribution, consumption, and disposal of end food products (i.e. composting and recycling vs. “waste”) and impacts of health and environment; • Researching and developing policy and programs to support more healthy and sustainable food systems at school. These concrete school projects involve collaborative learning amongst a multitude of players, from university students, researchers, and health and educational institutions to a network of community‐based and community‐supported non‐profit organizations working on food, health, and the environment - linking farms to schools, city dwellers with farmers, school cooks with successful green chefs, restaurateurs, restaurant designers, gardeners, school authorities, teachers and students. In addition, an arms-length Advisory Board was established that participates in the annual project meetings and provides feedback to the development and unfolding of the project. It is composed of the following experts: • Dr. Tara Cullis-Suzuki, President and Co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation • Dr. Charles Ungerleider, Director of Research and Knowledge Mobilization, Canadian Council of Learning, Professor of Sociology, Former Deputy Minister of Education, BC Government • Dr. Jean Marcus, Ecologist, Scientist in Residence with the Vancouver School Board, Coordinator of UBC President’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability in the Curriculum • Dr. Lee Gass, Emeritus Professor, UBC, 2002 Canada’s Professor of the Year • Dr. Ralph Mathews, Professor of Sociology at UBC and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at McMaster University • Steve Golob, UBC Food Services, culinary competition gold winner • Joanne Bays, founding member of BC Healthy Communities, current member of the VFPC and PHABC, is a community food security and sustainable food system consultant working in private practice. For more information and a full list of partners, see: http://lfs-teg-collab.sites.olt.ubc.ca/about-2/partners/

UBC has established numerous Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with local sustainability partners, creating vibrant partnerships through which to research new approaches to sustainability, to learn from each other, and to put into practice on campus and in the wider world lessons learned from our collaborations. Through partnerships with the private, public, and NGO sectors, UBC is able to expand its expertise on sustainability and reach beyond campus. Current MOUs include: • UBC- University Neighborhoods Association • UBC- BC Hydro • UBC- City of Vancouver For a full list of sustainability partnerships, please visit: http://sustain.ubc.ca/partnerships