Organized by CLEAR, the forum brought together Downtown Eastside communities, researchers, students, and policymakers to connect and learn from each other.
By Geoff D’Auria, Communications Specialist, UBC Learning Exchange; photos by Paul Joseph, UBC Brand & Marketing.
Apr 11, 2025
It’s rare to see “inspired” and “climate” in the same sentence. Rarer still to see Vancouver’s “Downtown Eastside” mentioned soon after.
After all, every year seems to bring new extreme weather events that disproportionately impact communities like the Downtown Eastside, despite those communities being the least responsible for the changing climate.
While the challenges are daunting and no one meeting or forum will ever be enough, many who attended said they came out of the Community Climate Justice Forum held at 312 Main in the Downtown Eastside energized—inspired even.
Organized by the CLEAR project—a collaboration between Downtown Eastside organizations, UBC Learning Exchange, UBC Sustainability Hub, and SFU CERi, (more on CLEAR below)—the forum brought together community members, researchers, students, policymakers and others to learn, connect, and strategize for climate justice. More than 100 people attended, including staff representing 28 different community organizations, seven from the City of Vancouver, one from BC Housing, and about 25 community residents.
The centerpieces were presentations from government representatives and community organizations from in and around Portland, Oregon speaking about some of the remarkable progress they are making, as well as lightning talks from UBC researchers.
Here are a five inspiring themes that emerged:
1. Community engagement is good; community ownership is better
After feedback from marginalized communities that previous climate plans felt tokenistic, policymakers in Multnomah County, working closely with the City of Portland, which resides within the county, decided to take a different tack for their soon-to-be-released Climate Justice Plan.
In a session called Community Climate Justice in Portland, panelists from the Portland area shared how they developed governance structures and strategies that led to more community ownership of the plan, leaning into a “co-creation” approach.
For example, they assembled a steering committee comprised of community members and representatives from community organizations. According to the panelists, the steering committee improved much of the subsequent efforts at community engagement.
“The steering committee was our strength,” said Monique Smiley, Sustainability Engagement Specialist with Multnomah County.
Monique explained how the committee would identify which groups were missing from the conversation, and she would meet with those groups one-on-one, building strong relationships along the way. In turn, those groups would take it upon themselves to spread the word about plan.
“As much as government can do community engagement, everyone needs to see themselves contributing to it,” Monique said.
“For a long time, climate planning has been a technocratic thing,” said Jairaj Singh, Climate & Health Facilitator with Multnomah County who worked closely with Monique engaging with communities. “Working side-by-side every day with community members, we are informed every day—it’s more powerful than issuing a survey,” said Jairaj.
Many throughout the day echoed the sentiment that those closest to the problem are also closest to the solution, and that lived experience is expertise, which is why co-creation not only works but is essential.
The resulting Climate Justice Plan has just been released for more public comment and feedback and is receiving praise for being a community toolkit as much as a plan.
2. We have to work together because climate cuts through everything
In a panel called Snapshots of Community Responses to Climate Impacts in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, representatives from six local community organizations highlighted how their work had to shift to respond to issues caused by a warming climate.
Ingrid Mendez, the executive director of Migrant Workers Centre, shared how their work to promote and advance justice for migrant workers has had to shift to support workers living in housing without ventilation, finding housing for workers whose housing was destroyed by floods, or supporting workers who have to work in rural areas dangerously close to forest fires—all the direct result of climate warming.
Other local groups on the panel—Recycling Alternative, Environmental Youth Alliance, Vancouver Urban Food Forest Foundation, and La Boussole—shared similar stories, all highlighting how we can’t talk about climate without also talking about justice, be it justice for housing, poverty, labour rights or any other issue of inequity we face as a society.
3. Positive changes can happen; sometimes faster than you expect
In an afternoon session called Portland Clean Energy Fund & Climate Action Projects, people involved with the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) talked about how this wildly successful initiative came about, and panelists talked about some of the projects receiving funding.
The background: In 2018, 65 per cent of Portland residents voted for a one per cent tax on retail corporations that make more than a billion dollars a year, earmarking the money for environmental initiatives for all Portlanders, but prioritizing those most impacted—communities similar to the Downtown Eastside. The fund has been raising more than $30 million a year.
According to this description of the fund, “nonprofit organizations, alone or in partnership with for-profit companies, schools and/or other government agencies, apply for grants to weatherize homes, install solar and other renewable energy projects, provide job and contractor training, expand local food production, and build green infrastructure in Portland,” which were some of the projects panelists described. The panelists included representatives from groups such as Verde, Unite Oregon, Northwest Native Chamber, Trash for Peace, and Groundscore Association.
Panelists talked about how the fund is also supporting community members to lead—from leadership programs to mentoring people on how to testify in from of commissions or run for public office.
4. Small steps can make big differences
In lightning talks throughout the day, individual UBC researchers presented quick summaries of their research on topics related to the Downtown Eastside and climate.
One of those was Radhika Singh, a UBC Sustainability Scholar and architect who partnered with Union Gospel Mission to research low-cost ways to cool single-room occupancy hotel rooms, like the ones in which many in the Downtown Eastside live.
Her research noted three potential low-cost ways to cool buildings—insulating the insides of rooms with boards covered with tetra-paks as makeshift insulation, painting building roofs white to reflect the sunlight, and hanging wet towels on windows to cool incoming air. cooling air.
Each of these require further investigation and, in some cases, pilot projects to assess the efficacy, and none are replacements for long-term solutions, Radhika said, but she also said the City of Vancouver is now considering a program to paint building roofs.
5. Where possible embed art, joy, and storytelling
“Reading government reports is not fun,” said Sonrisa Cooper, as she explained why the framework report for the Multnomah County Climate Justice Plan was done in ‘zine style with bright colours, dynamic illustrations, and artful touches.
Sonrisa is the Sustainable Economy and Just Transition Analyst for the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. She facilitated the first session, Community Climate Justice in Portland. While her comment was made with a laugh, it held a serious truth: art, joy, and storytelling invite people in and make them feel welcome.
“It makes you want to pick the report up and read it,” Sonrisa said.
Organized by the CLEAR (Climate Equity Activation and Resilience) project, the Community Climate Justice Forum was held on Friday, March 28 at 312 Main St. in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
CLEAR is a collaboration between four Downtown Eastside organizations—EMBERS Eastside Works, Working Gear, Union Gospel Mission, Recycling Alternative—and SFU CERi, UBC Learning Exchange, and UBC Sustainability Hub. CLEAR aims to increase climate resilience and advance environmental justice by amplifying voices and facilitating more equitable community participation shaping municipal climate action. Financial support has been provided by McConnell Foundation, Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, the City of Portland, and Vancity Community Foundation.