On September 29th nearly 100 faculty, staff, and students from across all disciplines and both campuses came together to launch UBC’s pan-campus initiative, the Climate Solutions Research Collective (CSRC). The collective is one of several initiatives driven by UBC’s response to the climate emergency.
Spurred by student advocacy, a climate emergency was declared by the university in 2019, recognizing its fundamental responsibility on climate through teaching, research, and community service and engagement. to foster a culture of engagement and advocacy on climate action. One of nine priorities identified by the Climate Emergency Task Force was to “expand, strengthen and coordinate climate research at UBC”. Through a climate change research working group and symposia at both campuses, the university community identified the desire for a body that could facilitate and support new research, connections and collaborations across students and faculty.
From this, the CSRC was established in 2023 with the mandate to:
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Foster engagement and improve connections between climate researchers, especially across disciplines and faculties;
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Raise the external visibility of UBC climate research; and
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Encourage new collaborative research on climate change solutions.
To do this, we want to engage with you and your research!
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Come participate in one of our many upcoming events;
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Follow along with our Solutions Scholars as they engage in research over the coming year;
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Sign up for our listserve to receive updates;
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Connect with us through climate.collective@ubc.ca.
If you were not able to make the launch on September 29th, 2023, you can listen to the welcoming remarks on our YouTube channel.