January Newsletter: Sharing Gratitude & Excitement for 2024!
Happy New Year! We hope you had a memorable holiday season and a positive start to 2024. At Be the Change, we are energized and excited for the year ahead!
Congratulations to the City of Vancouver for upholding their commitment to tackling climate change!
On January 16, 2019, the City of Vancouver became the first Canadian city to declare a Climate Emergency. Since then, the City has followed through with their commitments on tackling climate change and has developed and officially passed on November 17, 2020 a participatory and collaborative Climate Emergency Action Plan. Backed by climate science and taking guidance from the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement, the Climate Emergency Action Plan aims to scale-up efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The Action Plan consists of 32 policies and strategies that tackle climate change and reduce local carbon emissions, such as adopting a sustainable transportation target of at least 80% of trips made by walking, cycling, or public transit by 2030.
As part of their commitment to the Climate Emergency, the City of Vancouver also became the first city in the world to sign the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which intends to have a just and equitable transition to clean energy and low-carbon solutions.
Youth for Climate Action
Be the Change is proud to announce our Youth for Climate Action (Y4CA) project is actively contributing to the City of Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, by having the youth reduce local ecological footprints and engage community members in climate action across Vancouver.
Thanks to our donors, Be the Change is proud to be able to empower youth to engage on pressing eco-social issues and support teachers across British Columbia. To celebrate our 15th birthday, we are using Giving Tuesday (Dec 1) to fundraise for climate storytelling workshops that empower high school students to find their voice and use storytelling to call their community to climate action. Donate today and your gift will be matched by a generous donor, doubling your impact!
Thank you for your support!
Best,
George Radner
Executive Director
Latest posts
December 2023 Newsletter - ⛄‘Tis the season to celebrate at Be The Change!⛄
As 2023 comes to a close and school winds down for winter break, we’re taking a moment to reflect back over the past year. 2023 was a very regenerative time for BTCEA! We developed and delivered our Climate Action, Resilience, and Emotions (CARE) program in communities on the frontlines of wildfires in our province. And as an organization, we prioritized creating space to discuss what decolonization could look like both internally, and in our programming. Here are the highlights:
Oct 2023 Newsletter - Check out our mid-October climate-justice resources!
Hello,
An introduction from Communications Coordinator, Lucy Wicken
Dear Be The Change community,
As we approach mid-October, I’m reflecting on the changing seasons, from the warm and active days of summer to the cooler and quieter days of autumn. Personally, I’ve noticed a desire to slow down, take on fewer responsibilities, and stay inside where it’s cozy. Have you felt this way too?
As 21st century humans living in a world that operates under capitalism, white supremacy, and other oppressive systems, we can be made to feel guilt or shame about listening & responding to our needs. We are expected to maintain the same energy and productivity levels throughout the year, no matter how cold or dark the days are, how heavy world events feel, or how much we’re struggling in our personal lives.
This is where the concept of regenerative education comes in. Introduced to the BTCEA team by former staff member Jake, regenerative education calls on us to slow down and turn inward to consider our connection with the natural world. It asks us to examine the living systems that are breaking down due to violent human activity (such as fossil fuel extraction, destruction of Indigenous lands, and human-caused flooding and wildfires) and connect this breakdown with our own high levels of stress.
