University of Victoria
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Sustainability Living Learning Community residents explore sustainable living as an individual, as a community and as a society. Living in this building, residents understand human influences and their effects on the environment while reducing their own carbon footprint. They also identify changes to their behaviour that contribute to environmental sustainability and integrate sustainable practices into everyday activities. They participate in initiatives beyond their daily activities in order to have a positive impact on the environment.

The sustainability theme lends itself to a variety of activities that encourage residents to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. In previous years events have included organic vs. non-organic food taste-tests, beach clean-ups, eco resolutions, hikes, festivals and invasive-species pulls. Living in the community, residents are encouraged to take a leadership role in the design and implementation of events that promote and expand understanding of living a sustainable life.

The two Sustainability LLC residence education community leaders (RECLs) receive two weeks of training prior to starting their position. As part of this training, they are given an opportunity to meet with campus partners who are stakeholders in the campus sustainability and waste reduction plan.

All first year and undergraduate students are welcome to apply to this community, regardless of field of study.

The UVic Campus Community Garden (CCG) is a collaborative effort between students, faculty, and staff, and is an affiliate group within the UVic Students Society. The CCG manages an organic urban agriculture space on campus along with practical support from Facilities Management and the UVic Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability. The mission of the CCG is to reduce barriers to food security. Low-cost plot rentals, free workshops, donating food, and learning volunteer events each week support this mission. Garden plot rentals within the Campus Community Garden are restricted to current UVic students, faculty and staff; although there are also designated communal plots, which are open to all to share.

The Garden fosters practices and teachings surrounding food security by designating specific garden plots as “Giving Gardens” in which food plants are grown and all food harvested is given to food banks or to UVic students to promote food accessibility. The CCG also works to support the ecology of the surrounding area by planting local species and sheltering pollinators.

Each week the Campus Community Garden engages with both students and community members by holding work parties to maintain the communal areas of the garden. This is where anyone can come to build and share gardening skills, as well as connect with other volunteers. Volunteers can engage in topics related to sustainable urban agriculture such as permaculture, composting, organic gardening, plant propagation, native plants, and local organic food production.
Although volunteers consist largely of UVic students, these work parties encourage students, staff, faculty, and members of the broader community to come out and participate.

Some of the free workshops that have been and will be offered by the CCG this year include:
- The Bee Keeping Workshop where Barry the Beekeeper facilitates a workshop on bees and beekeeping. This workshop also promotes the CCG’s bee hives, and raises awareness of the importance of pollinators.

- The Regrowth Winecap Mushroom Workshop where Lena from Regrowth helped us propagate a bed of winecap mushrooms in the permaculture food forest at the back of the garden. Everyone was able to go home with their own mycelium burrito to propagate their own mushrooms at home. The workshop also allowed the CCG to add another layer to the permaculture forest.

-How to Garden: a workshop in the making for Spring 2024, a student staff member will be tearing down as many barriers to gardening as possible through planting a communal plot with whoever wants to learn. They will go over plant ID, weeding, soil testing, soil amending, what nutrients plants need, why, and how to tell, reading seed charts, planting direct sow and transplant, and protection from wind, frost, or heat.

-Container gardening and build a balcony box: another workshop for Spring 2024, the CCG will provide prepared materials for folks to learn to build their own balcony boxes, then learn about container gardening in Victoria. There will be the opportunity to plant their boxes there and practice seeding for transplant.

The Campus community garden has 5 year-round staff, 2 annual temporary work study staff, and 13 volunteer board members. On top of these numbers, their current average returning volunteer number is 5, for our regular, week-to-week events.

The UVic Campus Community Garden offers food, learning volunteer experiences, and free workshops to the community of UVic undergrad and grad students, staff, and faculty.

The UVic Res Green Team for the 2022/2023 academic year, was a volunteer initiative affiliated with the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability and Residence Services at the University of Victoria. The program was designed to bring together students at any stage of their degree, both living on and off campus, who share a passion for sustainability.

The primary objective of the program was to foster a community of like-minded individuals dedicated to developing and implementing sustainable initiatives on the university campus. The program emphasized the role of students as change-makers, encouraging active participation in planning impactful events and projects. Participants gained valuable experience in leadership, community engagement, and project management while contributing to the overall goal of creating a more sustainable and environmentally conscious campus.

During the initial meeting held on November 15, 2022, the program coordinator, introduced the program's purpose and encouraged attendees to join and become leaders in sustainable practices. The program operated with flexibility, requiring a time commitment of 1-2 hours per week, allowing students to engage in volunteer opportunities and contribute to various projects based on their interests.

The program's approach was collaborative, with the scope of projects and initiatives being decided upon by the Green Team itself. Examples of past projects, such as the End of Year Dump N Run, Enviro Roundtable, UVic Reusable Container Program, and Residence Energy Conservation Competition, were highlighted to showcase the diverse and impactful nature of the team's activities.

Furthermore, the program actively sought input from participants for recommendations on future projects, recognizing that students were well-aware of the changes needed around the UVic campus. The initiative also leveraged digital platforms, such as Instagram for regular updates and communication with members.

In summary, the UVic Res Green Team's student educators program was a dynamic and inclusive initiative that empowered students to contribute to the development of sustainable practices on campus, fostering a sense of community and leadership among those who shared a commitment to environmental stewardship.

The Res Green Team targets all students at UVic during outreach events, usually supported by UVic's Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability.

Gender Studies Equity and Outreach Committee

The Equity and Outreach Committee is supported by the Gender Studies department, and is made up of students at UVic that are committed to issues of social justice, two to three of which are student coordinators hired by the Gender Studies department each year. As a members of the Gender Studies Equity and Outreach Committee, student coordinators receive training from the Gender Studies department staff to become “experts” in relating to other students on gender equity while providing training opportunities in a peer-to-peer format. The student coordinators go on to train other students in advocating for and creating awareness of gender equality and rights. The Committee is a feminist, anti-oppressive collective that relies on foundations of inclusivity and seek to reduce marginalization related to class, colonization, ability, age, gender, race, body type and sexuality. The peer-to-peer training opportunities happen through two approaches. First, student coordinators work to increase involvement, equity, diversity and community by organizing and promoting political and social events on campus and in the community. Second, they host a bi-weekly “homework club” where students are able to come and do their homework while having the opportunity to engage with student coordinators on topics of equity. In a peer-to-peer format, the student coordinators are then able to share their knowledge based on their experience and their studies as well as from training received upon becoming coordinators for the committee, thereby educating students in a relaxed conversational setting.

Gender Empowerment Center (GEM)

This center is based out of the Student Union Building at UVic and is a space for self-identified women, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks to organize, network, access resources, attend events, study, and relax. It is open to both UVic students and community members. They aim to provide a strong, intersectional feminist voice on campus, advocating for social change through political action, education, and support of UVic as well as the community. Students have the opportunity to be employed at the Center through the UVic Work Study Program, or are welcome to volunteer. After training, student employees and volunteers help to conduct peer-to-peer education through hosting or assisting with GEM ongoing workshops that focus on gender diversity and sexual health. They collaborate often with the Office of Equity and Human Rights and the Office of Student Life when planning various events and workshops in a non-threatening student-to-student setting. They have 5 fully trained ambassadors who work 35 hours per week, and 8 trained volunteers who work 2 hours a week.

https://www.uvic.ca/humanities/gender/current/student-activities/equity-outreach/index.php

Total students enrolled for credit (2022) has been adjusted for this credit, to exclude fully online (distance education) students (2530):
21,920.0 - 2530.9 = 19,390

All UVic students are directly targeted, particularly at every orientation event on campus. All students are invited to participate in these events, and attendance is usually extremely high.

Method: Student outreach groups, and residence services were contacted and asked to fill out a form that captured trained student educators and their hours, with descriptions and rationale. Any estimations are within reason and were conservatively made, as per the aashe STARS technical manual.