Spring Break 2024 | Ages 12-16
In this week-long camp, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the current climate crisis through multiple perspectives, discover the impacts on our local and global communities, and explore solutions from an individual, collective and societal lens.
The camp is meant to help youth understand and navigate the uncertainties of our changing world and foster resilience by developing capacities to address the challenging emotions that are often associated with the climate crisis. Each camp day will include an educational portion with guest speakers and experts, time to connect with nature and team project work. Journaling will be used as a medium throughout the camp to help participants express their climate emotions and feelings as well as learn ways to work through them. Participants will be encouraged to have conversations with their families about climate change and associated emotions.
Note: This camp is being offered as part of a research study. The purpose of the research is to investigate effective models of climate change education in youth and how learning about climate change may influence negative and positive climate emotions or climate anxiety. You will be contacted regarding your willingness to participate shortly after you register.
Camp Logistics:
Date(s): March 18 - March 22, 2024
Time: 9am – 4pm (light snacks will be provided throughout the day)
Format: In-Person | UBC Vancouver
Cost: Free
Contact: Edith Lando VLC
Register by: Registration Closed | Camp Full
Meet The Camp Team:
Kshamta Hunter
Dr. Kshamta Hunter brings over a decade of experience in sustainability learning and teaching, curriculum design and program management. She holds a PhD in sustainability curriculum and pedagogy, and teaches in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Kshamta’s research explores the intersections of sustainability learning and leadership, using Transformative Learning and social innovation frameworks. She is interested in designing responsive and relevant integrative curriculum and pedagogical approaches for the 21st century, through understanding the development of competencies for innovation toward sustainability. She is also the Manager of Transformative Learning & Student Engagement with the UBC Sustainability Hub, where she is able to shape a lot of her research ideas into practice. She is the co-chair of Awards Celebration for the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies and member of the editorial advisory board for the Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies. She is also the recipient of the 2023 President’s Service Award for Excellence.
Nora Perry
Nora Perry is an PhD student studying digital literacy. During her undergraduate studies, she earned a Bachelor of Education and a Teacher Librarian diploma, concentrated on educational technology. Her research interests are focused on supporting both students and educators in utilizing tools such as video games and play-based learning.
Naomi Leung
Naomi Leung (they/them) is a 19-year-old queer Han Chinese Malaysian settler and guest on ancestral and stolen xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and scəw̓aθən (Tsawwassen) territories in colonially named “Richmond, BC.” As a queer and genderqueer Asian person, Naomi knows that the environmental movement must de-center the white perspective and actively dismantle elitism, white supremacy, and all forms of colonial violence so everyone is prioritized and no one is left behind. This includes neurodivergent, disabled, undocumented, unhoused, lower-income, and immigrant IBPOC queer and transgender bodies who are impacted hardest by marginalization and climate change.
Naomi has a background in community organizing for climate justice education, harm reduction, and policy change with Climate Education Reform BC, Sustainabiliteens, and Climate Justice UBC. In accord, they are studying BSc global resource systems, integrating environmental and climate change studies with global health, and the study of climate emotions and resilience. Naomi is also a visual artist and believes Asian Diasporic and IBPOC art, literature, ideas, joy, and futures deserve to be centered and made space for in the climate movement and dominant culture.
Climate Education Reform BC (CERBC), a youth-led organization with members from across colonially named British Columbia who acknowledge that the BC educational system is not doing enough to prepare them with skills and solutions to mobilize for the Climate Emergency. This is why they are advocating for an educational reform that centers an intersectional lens and justice-driven learning and that fully addresses how colonial violence is at its root tied to the Climate Crisis. Sustainabiliteens and Climate Justice UBC are youth-driven groups that organize various campaigns for bold climate justice actions in Metro Vancouver.
Jenaya Copithorne
Jenaya is a third-year law student at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law. She is passionate about environmental and corporate climate law, climate education, clean technology, energy policy, and environmental justice. In the past two years, Jenaya has worked as a research assistant at the Canada Climate Law Initiative and West Coast Environmental Law, and spent this past summer working as a legal summer student at FortisBC, where she had the opportunity to help support the implementation of clean energy initiatives. Jenaya also serves as a co-chair of the UBC Environmental Law Group. In her free time, Jenaya enjoys trail running, rowing, reading, and exploring the mountains around Vancouver.
Yomna Omer
Yomna Omer is a third-year Bachelor of Design in Architecture student with a minor in Urban Studies, hailing from Sudan. Her passion lies in leveraging ancestral wisdom and contemporary activism to improve the lives of people affected by instability, climate change, and the quest for affordable, sustainable living. On campus, Yomna is an active member of student organizations like Islamic Relief, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, and the Muslim Student Association. Off-campus, she takes part in NGO events such as Urbanarium discussions and the United Nations Association Canada programs. Beyond her academic pursuits, Yomna enjoys exploring unique cultural practices through travel and documentary watching, all in pursuit of her goal to drive positive change in cities and marginalized communities worldwide.
Jake Lam
Jake is a first-year graduate student in the Master of Community and Regional Planning program. He originally grew up in Hong Kong and came to Canada in 2017. He enjoys hiking, biking, or any other type of outdoor activities. He is passionate about sustainable and active transportation and aspires to become a transportation planner. He is eager to learn more about climate resilience and work with people who share the same interest in environmental sustainability.
Ashley Huang
Ashley (she/her) is a second-year student in the BDES program at UBC. As someone passionate about sustainability and all that it entails, she joined the sustainability ambassadors to further educate herself on not only climate justice but also the importance of individual resilience, vulnerability, and lived experience in the climate emergency. When she is not buried neck deep in schoolwork, she enjoys reading and sleeping.
Irina Tursunkulova
Prior to joining the Department of Language and Literacy Education, Irina was teaching EFL to teenagers and adult learners for over a decade. Her interest in becoming a researcher in the field of Digital Technology grew after obtaining an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland. Irina is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Edith Lando Virtual Leaning Centre where she works in close collaboration with educators and fellow research assistants under guidance of her research supervisor – Professor Jen Jenson. For the past two years, Irina has been working with teacher candidates at the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education. In 2023 she received the Faculty of Education Graduate Teaching Award in recognition of teaching excellence.
Laura Duarte
Laura is a second-year graduate student in the Master of Education in Science Education at UBC, where she is exploring her interests in place-based education and ecopedagogy. She is a science teacher from Colombia with a degree in Biology from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. With a strong passion for education and social service, Laura has worked for several years developing different educational workshops for rural and urban communities in her country. She is an alumni of Enseña por Colombia, a partner of the Teach For All network which is a global movement of leaders dedicated to ending educational inequity.
