University of Victoria
EN-3: Student Life

Name: University of Victoria Sustainability Project (UVSP)

Description: The UVSP actively works towards a socially, ecologically, and economically viable campus community at UVic by running united environmental initiatives, promoting environmental choices, and by formulating and implementing sustainable systems on campus. They provide a number of different services and activities such as hosting informational and engaging events to promote sustainable practices; provide grants for campus projects for undergraduate, graduate, and alumni students; and provide connections with other sustainability groups and services on campus.
https://www.uvsp.ca/

Name: Environmental Studies Students Association (ESSA)

Description: ESSA is the Undergraduate Course Union for Environmental Studies at UVic. They meet regularly to organize a variety of sustainable projects and events including ecological restoration work-parties, charity fundraisers, ethnobotanical nature walks, and many other activities that are focused around environmental activism. Students have the chance to volunteer at these various events, and can be provided with references for future jobs or volunteer opportunities upon completion of their work with ESSA.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/esstudentassociation/

Name: The Community Cabbage

Description: The Community Cabbage is a student organization that aims to decrease food waste while increasing access to healthy food for UVic students. They work to achieve this goal by serving a free weekly hot meal to the campus community that is prepared from reclaimed food. This food is donated from nearby grocery stores that deem the food items edible but unsellable. A group of student volunteers turn these ingredients into a healthy and delicious vegetarian meal at a community kitchen, where anyone is welcome to join in on cooking and/or eating.
https://uviccommunitycabbage.wordpress.com/

Name: The Ecological Restoration Volunteer Network (ERVN)

Description: ERVN is a student-led initiative that began in the University of Victoria’s Restoration of Natural Systems program. They recognize that invasive species are a threat to natural areas and ecosystems on a global scale, and focus on the removal of invasive species on the university campus. In place of the invasive species removed, native species that are beneficial to the local ecosystems are planted. They aim to further their initiative by building a large community of students that are passionate about restoring ecosystems. They are currently building this community by offering opportunities to engage in discussions, share resources, and gain practical restoration skills. These opportunities include various workshops, training sessions, field trips, restoration endeavors on campus, and the maintenance of a native plant garden and nursery. ERVN takes their work beyond campus by providing helping hands needed for successful implementation of restoration projects within the Greater Victoria Community.
https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/nature/

Name: The UVSS Food Bank and Free Store

Description: The UVSS Food Bank and Free Store is run by a team of dedicated student staff and volunteers, and provides all UVic students with access to food essentials and free household items in the face of rising costs of tuition, housing, childcare and food. These items are donated by people that no longer need these resources, thereby reducing waste and supporting a more connected, sustainable community. Although the focus of the Free Store is on UVic students, it is open to faculty and staff members as well.
https://uvss.ca/foodbank/

Name: UVic Parks Club

Description: The UVic Parks Club is a dedicated collective of students who love nature and want to make a positive impact on regional, provincial, and federal parks through participating in conservation projects around southern Vancouver Island. They provide students with educational and engaging events that take place both on and off campus, including restoration projects, workshops, plant walks and more. Furthermore, they involve students in healthy activities by organizing various trips to explore parks around Victoria and Vancouver Island.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/uvicparksclub/

Name: Campus Community Garden

Description: The Campus Community Garden provides a space where students can engage in topics related to sustainable urban agriculture such as food security, permaculture, composting, organic gardening, native plant propagation, and local organic food production. The Community Garden operates under an organic gardening model whose best practices exclude the use of pesticides and GMO’s, and works to support the ecology of the surrounding area by planting local species and supporting pollinators. The Garden also 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.
https://communitygardenuvic.weebly.com/

Within the Student Union Building (SUB) on campus, there are nine Student Run Businesses that are social enterprises owned and operated by the students’ society. According to the University of Victoria Students’ Society website, “All businesses are designed with students’ needs in mind and strive to be as environmentally sustainable and socially conscious as possible”. These businesses are:
- Bean There Café
- Catering & Conferences
- Cinecenta
- Felicita’s Campus Pub
- Health Food Bar (HFB)
- Munchie Bar
- SUBtext
- The Grill
- Zap Copy

https://uvss.ca/businesses/

Name: Campus Sustainability Fund

Description: The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) empowers students and other members of the university community to create stakeholder-driven projects that build on the most current Sustainability Action Plan and advance leadership in sustainability. The Fund provides one-time allocations to projects that focus on energy or water savings, sustainability awareness or learning opportunity. It provides seed money for projects or money for a continuing project for incremental changes. Since its start in 2016, the CSF has approved and funded 28 projects. From 2020-2022, four projects have been completed, and two are in progress.
https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/involved/sustainability-fund/projects/index.php

Ideafest:

Ideafest was the University of Victoria’s annual research festival that showcases the ideas of faculty, students and staff from across the University. At this event, new and emerging research were explained, debated, re-worked and brought to life in a range of creative panels, workshops, exhibits, presentations, performances and tours. For example, Ideafest 2020 featured over 35 events on topics ranging from women’s rights and climate change to deep sea research and the latest in regenerative medicine.
https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/2020+ideafest-2020+media-release

Roundtable Cafe-Living with Climate Change:

The Roundtable Cafe-Living with Climate Change was a day of action-oriented activiries with students, facaulty, staff, and the community where topics of resiciliance, trasnformation, adaptation, and mitigation were explored. This event took place on November 19th, 2022.
https://www.uvic.ca/research/centres/iesvic/index.php

The IESVic seminar series:

The IESVic - Institute for Integrated Energy Systems, hosted seminars throughout the school year that were focused on creating pathways to sustainable energy systems through the development of new technologies, proceses, and systems. Some of the guest speakers of November 2022 included, Energy storage and non-wire transmission asset by Josif Figueroa and Kluane Lake Reserach Station-Renewables and Hydrogen Microgrid Porject by Sophie Jane.
https://www.uvic.ca/research/centres/iesvic/index.php

Living With Climate Change (Fall 2022)

A set of roundtables, reflective workshops, story telling, community mapping and a field trip aimed to help address climate anxiety and inspire constructive local action. Organized by the Department of Geography and the Division of Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation, it partnered with students from local secondary schools to host community mapping tables around campus, inviting participants to share climate change innovations, and explore the UN SDGs.
https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/2023+addressing-climate-anxiety+news

Victoria Forum (annually)

The Victoria Forum is an annual event co-hosted by the University of Victoria and the Senate of Canada, featuring sustainability related event like the 2022 Webinar: “The Role of the United Nations’ CIFALs in the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals for Bridging Divides”, examining the contributions of the UNITAR-CIFALs global network in bridging economic, social and environmental divides.
https://victoriaforum.ca/2021/forum-2022/webinar-2/

Symposia: Indigenous Scholarship, Activism, Science, and the Arts in Climate Justice for Planetary Health Governance (Feb-March 2023)

Four symposia exploring the climate emergency and the health of our planet with a focus on Indigenous perspectives on enacting/embodying climate justice via Indigenous-led resurgence for planetary health. It enabled knowledge exchange between academics, activists, researchers, students, and civil society to advance Planetary Health collaborations in research, the arts, and activist practice.
https://events.uvic.ca/pubadmin/event/72315-symposium-indigenous-scholarship-activism

Living Lands (Feb 24, 2021)

Organized by UVic’s Climate Solutions Navigator, it was a special online campus conversation on Indigenous approaches to climate solutions, sustainability and well-being, exploring the living history of the lands and waters in around UVic, traditional land-use, colonial impacts and the interdependence we share with these systems.
https://www.uvic.ca/climate-solutions/living-lands/index.php

Climate Solutions Challenge 2021 (March-May 2021)

Organized by UVic’s Climate Solutions Navigator, it was the first Climate Solutions Challenge at UVic, involving over 40 faculty, staff and students who submitted high-quality climate action proposals for the University to move forward in fostering meaningful climate change solutions in two categories: Looking Past COVID to Climate, Measuring and managing for climate
https://www.uvic.ca/climate-solutions/climate-challenge/index.php

Global Days: (November 15-19 2021)

A globally-focused week of events, UVic Global Days celebrated the diversity, values, pursuits and successes of UVic and our broader communities. Our 2021 theme was "UN Sustainable Development Goals: Global Citizens working together towards shared visions of a better tomorrow". This week featured film screenings, presentations, conferences, info sessions and interactive workshops.
https://www.uvic.ca/event/global-days/index.php?ticket=ST-170057-GhKOtuSQiY-V6hEMdvISNeY8Vc8-myrmicinae

Conference: Transformative Change Makers in Higher Education (May 19, 2022)

CIFAL Victoria, UVic and the Association of Commonwealth Universities collaborated in the World Higher Education Conference at Barcelona, with a dialogue event which included five exceptional leaders and transformative changemakers addressing the need for transformative change in Higher Education for a sustainable future.
https://events.uvic.ca/cifal/event/66496-transformative-change-makers-in-higher-education

Science Rendevous Victoria (2022-2023)

The University of Victoria, Ocean Networks Canada, and Camosun College partnered to bring Science Rendezvous to Victoria for children and youth, a national outreach initiative with one of the largest one-day festivals promoting STEM–Science, Technology, Engineering and Math–in Canada. It hosted Sustainability related topics as walk through a state-of-the-art greenhouse, demo the latest tech for renewable energy, etc.)
https://www.uvic.ca/science/donors/outreach/scirenyyj/index.php?ticket=ST-170458-u4g8hIb7dTh6kOB1ebD2VwXvquo-ponerinae

Surfrider Installation (October 2022)
The Surfirder Foundation UVic club collected 175 discarded cups and lids from the UVic campus (the amount used on campus every 45 minutes), and arranged them into the surfrider wave. It was to represent the wave after wave of single-used waste produced on campus and was used to support their campaign that urges UVic to phase out single-use plastics and fully embrace reuables.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=169732385643273&set=a.167315629218282

Exhibition: Living With Climate Change (November 2022)
The Living with Climate Change project included an Arts-based Reflection Workshop in late October 2022 which culminated with a public exhibit on the main floor of the Library showcasing student’s climate change-related art and scholarly projects. The focus was the many ways in which students are living with climate change within the key areas of adaptation, mitigation, resilience, or social transformation. https://events.uvic.ca/cifal/event/70386
Link: Living with Climate change - https://www.unitar.org/sites/default/files/media/file/Youth%20Championing%20the%20SDGs_book_0.pdf

Ocean music from deep-sea data (2022)
Interdisciplinary music technology PhD candidate Colin Malloy created soundscapes from ONC’s Oceans 3.0 data, pairing with the Caribbean steelpan to explore our relationship with oil and water. This electroacoustical work—and graduate research—was funded through the ONC Artist-in-Residence Program. Malloy closed his residency with the first in-person recital of an ONC Artist-in-Residence in January.
https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/ocean-music-from-deep-sea-data/

Ocean Art Ocean Science (2021)
As part of the Ocean Week Canada established through the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and UVic showcased eight days of ocean love activities for all ages, including learning resources, challenges, and live online events. One of those events was Ocean Art Ocean, where three artists shared how the use science to express care for the ocean.
https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/world-ocean-week-2021-one-ocean-one-climate-one-future-together/

Orion visiting Artist: Stephanie Smith (2023)
A public talk by Stephanie Smith, a curator, writer, and arts leader with a deep history of projects linking contemporary art and ecology, including the pathbreaking exhibition Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art.
https://events.uvic.ca/finearts/event/73111-orion-visiting-artist-stephanie-smith

Creative Futures: Sustainability and the Arts (Nov, 2022)
A moderated panel discussion explored the relationship between the arts and sustainability with three Fine Arts faculty members: Conrad Alexandrowicz (Theatre), co-editor of Theatre Pedagogy in the Era of Climate Crisis; Shane Book (Writing), author of the forthcoming poetry collection, All Black Everything; Kathryn Mockler (Writing), co-editor of Watch Your Head: Writers & Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis
https://events.uvic.ca/finearts/event/60155-creative-futures-sustainability-the-arts

Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibitions (annually)
The annual Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibit offers the chance for the public to see the work created by the graduating cohort of BFA students, with pieces ranging from sculpture and painting to drawing, photography, installation, digital and multimedia art. Some of the art pieces explore the relationship with sustainability, like the work of Jade Mikell in 2023, who evaluated the history of materials, the cycle of consumption and disposal, upcycling, salvaged and repurposed materials.
https://dontneedto.knowtofeelit.ca/?project=jade-mikell
https://www.uvic.ca/finearts/visualarts/events/exhibition/index.php

Qw’an Qw’anakwal—To Come Together (2021)
The UVic Legacy Art Gallery Downtown had a free exhibit celebrating indigenous Salish artists, their families, and collaborators who participated in the Visiting Artist Program through the UVic Department of Anthropology between 2011 and 2021. Over the years students explored a diverse range of topics through Salish art that include relationships with the land, treaties and governance, oral histories, language, residential schools, women and economics, and cultural innovation and creativity. Artists have engaged students in hands on projects that incorporated drawing, painting, knitting, weaving and beadwork.
https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/2021+art-exhibitions-october-2021+news

To Fish as Formerly (2020-2021)
The Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea presented an exhibition on the history and resurgence of the traditional Straits Salish SX̱OLE Reef Net Fisheries, originally co-curated by Tsawout Chief Dr. Nicholas XEMŦOLTW̱ Claxton and Katie Hughes for the University of Victoria Legacy Gallery. A slightly smaller version of the exhibit was hosted, featuring art by TEMOSEN Charles Elliott, J’SINTEN Dr. John Elliott, Chris Paul, Dylan Thomas, Sarah Jim, and Temoseng Chasz Elliott.
https://tsartlip.com/to-fish-as-formerly-invitation-from-shaw-centre-for-the-salish-sea-to-all-members/

Legacy Art Galleries (permanent)
University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries (Legacy) is the university’s art museum, responsible for the accessibility and stewardship of an art collection which consists of approximately 18,000 objects including Canadian, Indigenous and international historic and contemporary art. Sustainability is a the core of its mission, as Legacy’s exhibitions, programs and learning opportunities link to UVic’s Strategic Framework and Research Strategy Aspiration 2030 (which aim to advance UN SDGs), and also the Indigenous Plan, the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
https://www.uvic.ca/legacygalleries/index.php?ticket=ST-171195-DTe2Gh-2q0ylZTfs0eDa0u5dc-M-pheidole

University of Victoria Outdoors Club (ODC)

The ODC is a student-run club of outdoor enthusiasts at the University of Victoria. They frequently organize trips to explore the coasts, forests, and mountains of Vancouver Island and beyond. These trips range from introductory to more advanced, and may range from day trips to overnight excursions. They enjoy hiking, rock-climbing, backpacking, snowshoeing, bike-touring, camping, paddling and all manners of self-propelled adventure. Throughout their many trips, they practice the Leave No Trace Principles, as they are informally representing the University of Victoria wherever they go. They take effective measures to ensure their trips are thoroughly planned ahead, they camp on durable surfaces, they dispose of their waste properly, leave what they find, minimize campfire impacts, are respectful of wildlife and are considerate of other visitors.
https://uvicoutdoorsclub.com/

Living Learning Communities – Sustainability Community

Residence Services at UVic offer ten different Living Learning Communities (LLCs) to enliven first year students’ residence experience and to enhance their learning. These residence communities all have different themes, and encourage interaction by bringing together students with shared interests or areas of study. In the Sustainability Community, first year students can explore sustainable living practices, understand human influences and their effects on the environment, and learn to reduce their own carbon footprint. Students focus on identifying changes they can make to their behavior in order to integrate sustainable practices into their everyday activities. In addition, students participate in initiatives beyond their daily activities so they may further their positive impact on the environment. Students are further urged to take a leadership role for events that promote and expand their understanding of living a sustainable life. This community welcomes students from all fields of study.
https://www.uvic.ca/residence/future-residents/communities/llc/index.php

Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability, Student Co-op position (Sustainability Intern)
Throughout the academic year, the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability offers one or two co-op student positions. In this position, co-op students have the chance to see up close and in-depth how sustainability is integrated into all aspects of a higher education institution. They also work on the engagement, outreach, research and the administrative side of large sustainability projects and initiatives in collaboration with many staff, students and faculty across campus. This provides them with the real-world skills and knowledge that is needed to work in the sustainability sector of the community beyond campus.
https://www.uvic.ca/students/undergraduate/co-op-program/index.php#:~

Work Study Program
The Work Study Program at UVic is aimed at providing additional financial assistance to students with documented financial need through on-campus part-time employment opportunities. These employment opportunities are listed under different departments and centers, many of which have a strong focus on sustainability including but not limited to: Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability, Environmental Studies, Equity and Human Rights, Earth and Ocean Sciences, and Forest Biology. Within these departments, many different employment positions offer students career experience in sustainability-focused jobs.
https://www.uvic.ca/registrar/safa/work-study/index.php

CIFAL Victoria
CIFAL Victoria, a joint initiative of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the University of Victoria, provides UN accredited training and research to advance the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those pertaining to Global health and wellbeing, Decolonization and Indigenous knowledge, Innovation and entrepreneurship, and Oceans, climate and sustainability.
Through CIFAL Victoria, UVic offers job opportunities to students in supporting events and actions such as communication assistance and data management of SDG activities on campus. During 2022-2023, five students have been hired in different CIFAL initiatives
https://www.uvic.ca/about-uvic/cifal/index.php?ticket=ST-170384-1W-K0XNRistTX5Y6HpUYvzq9F-8-myrmicinae