News

Keep up to date by signing up for our newsletter or following us on socials!

Youth Blog Series: Costly Trends

Youth Blog Series: Costly Trends

Be the Change’s Youth Blog Series highlights blogs written by university student interns at Be the Change Earth Alliance. In the blogs, the interns reflect on their experience completing “Action Packs,” which are learning resources that guide students in research, critical thinking and tangible action related to a global sustainability topic.

Youth Blog Series: Acidic Oceans

Youth Blog Series: Acidic Oceans

https://phys.org/news/2018-02-acid-oceans-dissolve-coral-reef.html

“Ocean acidification” sounds like a very straight forward and self-explanatory term right? Well, the process and implications of ocean acidification are a lot more complicated and profound. For generations, human activities have released too much carbon emissions, and these excessive carbon are being absorbed by Earth’s oceans. In nature, the carbon cycle is a natural process where the balance of carbon release and carbon absorption has sustained terrestrial ecosystems and marine ecosystems for a very long time. However, the excessive carbon particles in oceans are turning ocean water into a coercive and acidic environment that has become dangerous to calcifying organisms by making it difficult for these organisms to survive and build shells. 

 

Youth Blog Series: A World Not Divided by Blue and Pink

Youth Blog Series: A World Not Divided by Blue and Pink

"Congratulations on your newborn! Here are the barbie toys and pink dresses I got for your daughter." 

"Wow, your boy has grown so much since the last time I saw him! I got him some navy trousers and black shirts for him!"

When has the term "boy" connotes blue, black and gray, and the term "girl" connotes pink, red and purple?

What would a little child feel in this gender binary world, if they have both female and male organs?

April + Earth Day Newsletter: Our story of adaptation

This morning, thinking about Earth Day left me feeling a deep sense of grief for the state of wildlife and nature globally. This, on top of the gloom of the pandemic. Yet I’m also finding great inspiration in how our communities have demonstrated the will to take swift and bold action to address an emergency. The remarkable stories of solidarity, adaptation and resilience in response to Covid-19 give me hope for our planet’s future. This is Be the Change’s story so far.

In mid-March, I called together our staff team and reached out to our board to discuss the new challenge facing our eco-social educational programming: schools are closed, and kids are homebound. We all agreed on a vision for Be the Change stepping up to support schools, teachers and students. Our goal: to be in genuine service to teachers during this exceptional and difficult time.  We envisioned creating a new collection of learning resources and activities to support teachers with online instruction and engage students remotely in authentic eco-social learning. Through a collaborative and iterative process, we developed the Climate & Connection Unit.

Climate and Connection Unit!

Climate and Connection Unit!

Be the Change has just launched the Climate & Connection Unit!

This new Unit from the Student Leadership for Change (SLC) program consists of 15 student Action Packs focused on two main themes:

  • Climate: climate change, climate action and climate justice
  • Connection: to myself, to my values, and to other people
March 2020 Newsletter

March 2020 Newsletter

Be the Change recognizes that we are living in uncertain and exceptional times. We are committed to protecting the health and safety of our community, our teachers, and our students. With staff working remotely and program offerings moving online, Be the Change is working to do its part to slow down the spread of COVID-19 and “flatten the curve”. We encourage you all to continue following the recommendations of public health agencies and healthcare officials closely.

 

Email:
Phone: 604-269-9874
Address:
949 W 49th Ave
Vancouver, BC V5Z2T1