I hope you're having a great summer so far. As the economy begins to open, we’re thinking about our role in building back a more sustainable and just world. Check out our updates below! 

Build Back Better and a Green Recovery

As the world continues to grapple with Covid-19, one stark observation from the pandemic has been that society can no longer go on following the status-quo and ‘business as usual’ approach for how we manage our world. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed all the systemic shortcomings and vulnerabilities that need to be addressed, if we want to build a more just, equitable, resilient, healthy and sustainable world. We need to ‘Build Back Better’ or ‘reset’ the status-quo to have a long-lasting positive recovery that puts creating a just society and sustainable environment at its core. As part of ‘Build Back Better’ and a green recovery in a post-Covid-19 world, many countries are now reevaluating and reinventing how they manage their societies. Some examples of ‘Build Back Better’ include: the Europe Union is developing the ‘European Green Deal’ that transitions from a high- to low-carbon economy; China is ramping up and expanding its State Electricity Grid as part of its transition to renewable energy efforts; and, the UK has pledged to invest £2 billion to creating new cycling and walking infrastructure for healthy, sustainable transportation. 

Can you believe it’s already mid-June? This school year has flown by. We’re proud of what we were able to accomplish this year, and we’re excited for the year ahead. 

A Year in Review 

Despite unexpected challenges, this past school year has been truly inspiring. Be the Change’s impactful eco-social educational learning materials reached 415 teachers this school year. We delivered a total of 42 workshops to students, despite the shortened school year, in part through collaborating with the UBC Climate Hub. Just weeks after Covid-19 shut down schools, we launched the Climate & Connection Unit (CCU), a suite of learning resources for teachers specifically designed for remote learning. An amazing 147 teachers registered to use the resources. 

This school year, Be the Change supported, motivated, and empowered more than 8,500 students to take action towards a more just and sustainable world! After collecting data and running the numbers, we’ve calculated that students’ actions towards reducing their ecological footprints have diverted over 50,000 Kgs of CO2 equivalent from the atmosphere.

In the 21st century, youth are increasingly anxious, depressed and afraid of what climate change means for their future.The term eco-anxiety has been coined by researchers to document the sense of fear and impending doom brought on by climate change. This eco-anxiety can be paralyzing. But many youth are taking action to overcome it and shape the world they are inheriting. 

“I’m 14, today. It’s my birthday,” said one of the 20 high school students crowded around a few cafe tables. We weren’t gathered for a birthday party. We were gathered to write letters to Vancouver City Councilors to urge climate action. Since when is this something teens do...especially on their birthday?

After introductions, we spread out to every corner of the cafe to write. Vancouver City Councilors were about vote on whether the city should formally request that fossil fuel companies contribute to paying for climate change adaptation costs. The students were writing to urge Councilors to hold Big Oil accountable.