Category: Environment

Intergenerational Dinner a Success!

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Above: Food prep for the Intergen gathering in March 2019

Over 70 participants and volunteers had a great time at last Friday’s  March 15 Intergen gathering.

The evening started with a delicious dinner of appetizers, vegan curry, minestrone soup, spinach salad, organic bread, and  a table’s worth of desserts.

Thanks UBC Sprouts-Community Eats for your donation of produce! A big thanks to the volunteers from the Environment Team and Love Soup who planned and cooked the dinner, and cleaned up.

Dinner over, our stomachs full, we were eager to hear what the evening’s program would bring and we weren’t disappointed.

Vivian Davidson emceed the evening.

  • Tamiko Suzuki explained to the non-Unitarians in the audience about Unitarians having a long history of being loving  **** -disturbers.
  • Quoc Nguyen from Leadnow, spoke of the mental health benefits of volunteering in these uncertain times.
  • Dr. Dave Steele of EarthSave spoke with passion and emotion about animal cruelty in industrial farming.
  • Dr Tara Cullis, president of the David Suzuki Foundation, spoke of the campaigns with First Nations in the Amazon and up the coast of BC fighting to save their lands from dams, and logging.
  • Lorimer Shenher, writer and ex-member of the Vancouver Police Department, touched on racism, sexism, and mental health in his time working on the Missing Women portfolio in the DTES.

Above: Discussion circle with Tara Cullis

Above: Discussion circle with Lorimer Shenher

After they gave their 15 minute ‘elevator speeches’, the guest speakers spread out in Hewett Hall and the audience was invited to go sit at one of their circles to listen, ask questions or share stories. They could get up and check out another circle whenever they want which kept the energy level high.

The photos taken of these circles all show people deep in thought or listening intently but there really was movement between the circles.

The speakers said they wished they too could have been able to sit in on the other discussion circles as the topics were so varied and fascinating!

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The event wrapped up with a group of Sto’lo and Haida guests who sang a few songs to close out the evening
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Guests were urged to take home some of the produce that hadn’t been used for the dinner; a head of broccoli, a bunch of bananas, or whatever was left in the boxes as a parting gift!

Vancouver Unitarians protest NEB approval of TMX

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Vancouver Unitarians Carry the Flame
Rally to Protest NEB Approval of TMX
Feb 22, 2019

At least 10 Vancouver Unitarians rallied around our Vancouver Unitarians banner and joined hundreds of others on Friday, February 22, to raise our voices in protest to the National Energy Board report that recommended going ahead with the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project.

We marched down Burrard Street and then along Georgia Street to the final rally on Georgia Street between the CBC and the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

We were proud to be among the voices speaking out.

Intergenerational Activists Gathering. What Is This?!

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Above: Intergenerational Dinner at Hewett Centre, January 2017

On Friday March 15, the UCV Enviro Team is hosting its
Third Intergenerational Activists Gathering

What’s this “Intergenerational thing-a-ma-jig?” you wonder.

We’re glad you asked!

Aside from the somewhat unwieldy name, the “Intergen dinner” (short hand title) first arose in 2017 from a chance encounter that UCV member, Tamiko Suzuki, had with a group of young environmental activists in the community.

The young women were complaining of burnout, feeling isolated and unheard, and were wondering if their efforts were worth it.

Coincidentally, Tamiko had been hearing the same complaints from the UCV Environment Team as veterans of past campaigns such as Clayoquot sound, and the anti-nuclear and anti-war movements wondered who would take up the battle after them.

1st Dinner

Tamiko proposed inviting the young activists to share dinner and stories in Hewett Hall with the Environment Team and the first Intergenerational Activists Gathering was born.  Karl Perrin of the Environment Team, and Anjali Appadurai of West Coast Environmental Law, were the key note speakers.  The E Team put on the dinner, and guests were given a series of questions to discuss at their table and encouraged to ‘be brave’ and share emails.

2nd Dinner

At the second Intergen dinner in the fall of 2018, the definition of ‘activist’ was broadened to include supporters and anyone who cared deeply about the environment.  Millenial speakers from UBC (Andrew Sheroubi, Arman Mottaghi ) and the community (Nada Grocery) were invited who could share their stories of how they were working to solve environmental and social justice issues.  UBC Sprouts-Community Eats, which  focuses on food sustainability and food security issues, provided the food.

3rd Dinner

The third Intergen dinner, which will happen Friday March 15, will be different again, but promises to be just as fun and interesting! This time, four veterans will be speaking:

  • Dr Tara Cullis, president and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation
  • Dr David Steele, vice-president of Earthsave Canada
  • Quoc Nguyen, organizer Leadnow and director, Humanity Refugee Society
  • Lorimer Shenher, acclaimed author and advocate for marginalized people and police reform.

At this evening’s event, to contrast with the previous dinner which was about ‘success stories’, the topic will be: Lessons Learned When Things Went Wrong.

Failure, near failure, or simply when things don’t turn out as expected, can often teach us more than if everything worked out perfectly.

You won’t be sitting quietly and listening to the speakers all evening, however. During dinner, you will have a chance to meet and chat with your table companions, some of whom will hopefully be of a different generation from your usual friends.

After dessert, the keynote speakers will stand up and each give their 10 minute “elevator speech” on the evening’s topic. They will then move to sit at 4 different tables and the audience is invited to circulate among them. It will be a free flowing hour with everyone encouraged to move about, sit with the speaker for a while, ask questions, and share stories.

Once again UBC Sprouts/Community Eats will provide the food. Entry is by donation with proceeds to be shared between Community Eats and the Environment Committee Green Fund to further their projects.

To volunteer or if you have questions, contact: environment@vancouverunitarians.ca

As this event will be very popular, and seating is limited, it is recommended you reserve a seat through EventBrite.

Get RADICAL With The Environment Team

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With breathtaking cinematography, The RADICALS is a documentary film that follows four snowboarders and surfers driven to become social and environmental stewards through their connection with the environments in which they play.

At least 80 people braved our snowy Vancouver weather on Friday, Feb. 15 to come watch the incredible movie “The Radicals” – where environmentalism meets action sports. — The event introduced the audience to members of a new generation of activists in British Columbia.

The filmmaker and some of those involved in the film provided commentary and answered questions. Over $1200 was contributed to the three Indigenous groups featured in the film.

Another successful event from the Environment Team!

UCV Members March in Support of the Unist’ot’en

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Many UCV members came to listen to and march with Indigenous supporters of the Wet’suwet’en people who are defending their land by opposing construction of a gas pipeline by TransCanada Coastal GasLink.

The Solidarity Action with Wet’suwet’en took place on Tuesday Jan 8, 11:30 in Vancouver. Similar rallies and marches took place locally, nationally and internationally.

Supporters followed the Indigenous led march from the Provincial Courts Building to Victory Square.

Click on any image below to start slideshow

Women’s March – Discussion and Poster-making

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Sunday January 13 7:30-8:30 pm Fireside Room, Vancouver Unitarian Centre, 949 West 49th at Oak

Women’s March – Discussion and Poster-making

Cayla Naumann  just moved to Vancouver in May of last year after having lived 15 years in Victoria. She grew up in the Unitarian Church San Jose, California.

She will share her knowledge of Women’s March Canada, the H.E.R.S. principles and participation in the March On event on January 19th, and other events year round. She’ll share her experience of what WMC – Victoria has done, ideas for what she thinks WMC – Vancouver could do, but mostly she wants to try and build a network of women supporting women.

Here’s what she says about herself by way of introduction:

I’m a biologist, very passionate about social justice and environmentalism. I’m involved with Women’s March Canada, I organized the Victoria March last year and am trying to get the Vancouver chapter up and running. I’m also interested in gardening and reading/bookclub (some friends and I started a badass ladies bookclub in Victoria and I haven’t found a similar group in Vancouver yet). I’ll be 30 years old in April and live in Marpole (South Vancouver) and I’m the admin for the Buy Nothing Marpole FB group part of the Buy Nothing Project.

Optional: Make a poster to take on the march.

If you can bring felt pens, poster board, cardboard sheets, glue guns, wooden dowels or sticks, etc. please let Cayla know at cayla.naumann@gmail.com or just bring with you.

This is part of the Annual Women’s Gathering which starts at 5:30 pm with a potluck dinner.

More information here: http://vancouverunitarians.ca/events/annual-womens-gathering/
If you’d like to come to a poster-making session at a different time, contact Cayla and we’ll try to set something up.

 

Links:

March On Vancouver (organizers of Vancouver’s March) https://marchoncanada.ca/march-on-cities/march-on-vancouver/
Women’s March Canada https://www.womensmarchcanada.com/
Women’s March Global https://womensmarchglobal.org/

Three Environmental Events Coming to UCV

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Above: Connecting to the environments in which we play. — Image from The Radicals

Whether you are a longtime environmentalist concerned about oil tankers and other issues, a social justice activist supporting First Nations concerns — or if you know nothing about these topics and feel now is a good time to start learning — the Environment Team is hosting three upcoming events for you!

EVENTS

(1) Ravens People Rising
(2) The Radicals — by Beyond Snowboarding
(3) Intergenerational Activists Dinner

RAVEN PEOPLE RISING
Saturday January 19th, 2019
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location the Sanctuary

This is a film screening, fundraiser and discussion with Heiltsuk Nation members about their court challenge to enshrine governance of their homelands and waters into law.

With the Unist’ot’en conflict in the news every day, hearing about the Heiltsuk case is relevant and important for us to gain an understanding of Indigenous issues in BC and Canada.

Click here for more information.

The RADICALS — by Beyond Boarding
Friday February 15, 2019
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location the Sanctuary

The RADICALS is a documentary film that follows four snowboarders and surfers driven to become social and environmental stewards through their connection with the environments in which they play.

Follow them as they show the Tahltan fight for the Sacred Headwaters, BC Hydro’s destruction of salmon waters in Xwísten territory, art as resilience on Haida Gwaii, and a coastal uprising against fish farms off the coast of Vancouver Island. Each Indigenous community teaches the athletes to understand what it means to be truly Radical.

Intergenerational Activist Dinner

Friday March 15, 2019

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Location Hewett Hall

Following the success of the fall 2018 Inter-generational Dinner, we are holding another gathering.

This time the topic: Lessons Learned When Things Went Wrong.

Come join us in Hewett Hall for dinner (courtesy once again of UBC Community Eats). We will follow dinner with stories from some seasoned environmental and social justice activists as they talk of lessons learned from past campaigns. This is a great chance to make new connections, share stories, and learn from their experiences.

Reconciliation “Network” — We Are All Part of the Network

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Why a Reconciliation “Network”?

Many of us are actively involved with reconciliation.  Many of us have questions and aren’t sure where to turn for answers.  Many of us would like opportunities to learn more and to have dialogue with others. In acknowledging all of this, our Reconciliation Network reflects the fact that we have no special committee or group responsible for reconciliation. We are all part of the network.

A fluid working group is meeting at various times (rather than a set time/day) to nurture this network and you are welcome to join us. The Reconciliation Network webpage and working group will be evolving and changing.  For now, Melody Mason and Lynn Armstrong are co-facilitating meetings of the working group.

You are welcome to contact us with questions, ideas and suggestions.

Kids, Youth, and Justice

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What are UCV kids doing with Social and Environmental Justice?  

Justice work is integral to Unitarian Universalism; for many of us justice work—whether social or environmental—is spiritual work. When we take a good look at living the seven principles, we find that they call us to act for justice, equity, compassion, and democracy and we are called to take interdependence seriously.   

We bring these values of justice, equity, compassion, and democracy into our children and youth programs through stories, games, activities, discussion, and outdoor explorations. Our upper elementary students worked with the CUC’s Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation Reflection Guide last year. We are looking for more opportunities to build relationship and learn about our indigenous neighbors. The Harry and UU Summer Theatre camp group chose to focus on “Waste” as the Horcrux (societal ill) they would fight, and we brought the Zero Waste Challenge to class in October under the theme of “Abundance.” We are continuing the challenge this month with “Courage.”  

The UCV Youth Group is currently exploring a focus for an Environmental Justice action project. Zero Waste and fighting the pipeline expansion are top of their list. Stay tuned for more information from our Youth! 

Justice Work Philosophy

My philosophy regarding doing social justice with children and youth is evolving. Sometimes we adults have a passion to bring knowledge and awareness of big issues to our kids; we want to make sure they are culturally, socially, and environmentally aware. I certainly have had this tendency with my own kids. However, I have recently noticed a sense of overwhelm in some of our middle elementary students. There’s a tendency to joke about wrecking the world which seems to be defensive humour in the face of very real problems. Adults are failing to protect the world, how are kids supposed to help? Why should they take on that burden? Where is the hope? 

Erin Leckie, from Be the Change, sent me a 1998 article from Yes! Magazine by David Soebel after I talked to her about kids and hope. I was inspired by Mr. Soebel’s perspective. He has important points to keep in mind as we feel excitement around bringing justice work into our programming with children and youth.   

What Shapes an Activist? 

“If we prematurely ask children to deal with problems beyond their understanding and control, then I think we cut them off from the possible sources of their strength.” 

“… there are healthy ways to foster environmentally aware, empowered students. One way to find the answer is to figure out what contributes to the development of environmental values in adults. What happened in the childhoods of environmentalists to make them grow up with strong ecological values? A handful of studies like this have been conducted, and when Louise Chawla of Kentucky State University reviewed them for her article, “Children’s Concern for the Natural Environment” in Children’s Environment Quarterly, she found a striking pattern. Most environmentalists attributed their commitment to a combination of two sources: “many hours spent outdoors in a keenly remembered wild or semi-wild place in childhood or adolescence, and an adult who taught respect for nature.” Not one of the conservationists surveyed explained his or her dedication as a reaction against exposure to an ugly environment.

photo: family plotWhat a simple solution. No rainforest curriculum, no environmental action, just opportunities to be in the natural world with modeling by a responsible adult.”  –David Soebel, 1998 YES! Magazine 

My takeaway goals for social and environmental justice with children and youth are: 

  1. Early Childhood: foster awe, wonder, and connection with the natural world/real people 
  2. Middle Childhood: Explore wider–neighborhood, city, learn about the world/people 
  3. Early Adolescence and up: Take initiative for Social Action–saving the world 

Within this outline, any idea for action that a child brings up independently is worth exploring and supporting. We believe in our ideas and act on them, that is our 5th principle after all! 

Go well, 

Kiersten E. Moore 

Director of Religious Exploration with Children and Youth