The Climate Equity, Action, and Resilience (CLEAR) project is a partnership between UBC and Downtown Eastside organizations to:
- Make research related to climate change more accessible
- Identify collaborative climate-related research projects
- Add capacity to local organizations and residents advocating for just climate policy and action.
Who is involved?
Funded in part by the McConnell Foundation, CLEAR is a collaboration between the UBC Sustainability Hub, UBC Learning Exchange, and four community organizations:
It employs community residents as climate ambassadors who also help guide the project as they engage with other community members. The project includes UBC students in a variety of capacities who are interested in learning about various aspects of climate justice, community-based research, and advocacy, and who want to use their research skills on applied research projects defined by Downtown Eastside community mentors.
“CLEAR has helped energize Union Gospel Mission to become more active in speaking about the climate emergency when discussing our core mission of helping folks overcome poverty, homelessness, and addiction,” said Bobby MacDonald, Manager of Community Engagement & Government Relations, Union Gospel Mission (UGM).
“The reports we’ve worked on together so far have not only opened new avenues for the DTES to become a voice within city-level climate policy, but have created a new level of understanding that the climate emergency cannot be silo-ed away from other issues faced by marginalized communities.”Bobby MacDonald, UGM
Why partnership?
A young woman stands behind a table under a tent in an outdoor urban setting. She is talking to two people standing in front of their desks. There backs are to the camera. The young woman is framed between the two people standing in front of the desk.
Equity deserving communities like Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside disproportionately bear the weight of fossil fuel extraction and climate destruction while being least responsible for it and least resourced to respond to it. People in the Downtown Eastside also have unique perspectives and insights that come from direct experience and can lead to innovative solutions to complex challenges. While this community has historically been the focus of significant research effort, the research hasn’t always been aligned with community priorities and realities, and can be hard to access once complete. This can make it difficult for communities to turn research into policy change.
Project activities
Meeting people where they are at is a key principle of the CLEAR project. Students have invited feedback from residents about their climate needs and priorities at pop-up events such as clothing and equipment exchanges. Relevant research has been compiled and added to the Downtown Eastside Research Access Portal. UBC graduate students have been working with community organizations on research and reports about climate adaptation in equity deserving communities (see “Learn more” section, below). Staff and elected officials from the City of Vancouver have attended CLEAR meetings and events and discussed advocacy opportunities to improve climate policy to meet the neighbourhood’s needs. The project presented at the UBC Knowledge Exchange conference and to classes in a variety of disciplines at UBC. The project has also been distributing cooling kits at events around the Downtown Eastside and also supports hands-on workshops, like how to assemble home-made air filters to mitigate forest fire smoke.
Want to work with us?
Please reach out to discuss ways we can support each other’s work. Contact Kathleen Leahy, Director of the UBC Learning Exchange, or Michelle Hak Hepburn, Climate Emergency Specialist at the UBC Sustainability Hub.
Learn more
Report: Unhoused Under Pressure is a collaboration between UBC Sustainability Scholar Taryn Plater and Bobby MacDonald from Union Gospel Mission that showed how unhoused people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) experience significantly more detrimental health impacts when facing extreme heat and extreme cold. It received 55 mentions on broadcast over the week it was released and seven print/online mentions (CBC News, CBC Vancouver, CBC On The Coast , CityNews, CTV News, The Tyee). Potential broadcast reach was 14.2 million and potential print/online reach was 36.3 million, according to UGM.
Report: DIY Passive Cooling Techniques for residents of Vancouver Downtown Eastside by Singh Radhika Singh working with Union Gospel Mission makes the argument for low-cost, short-term passive cooling options for social housing while advocating for longer term improvements. Featured in: A United Front for Climate Equity, The Hill Times.
Report: Exploring City-University partnership models to inform climate policy in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside by UBC Sustainability Scholar Tim Linsell analyzes models, best practices, and common stumbling blocks for city-university partnerships on climate justice. It aims to inform the development of the CLEAR project.
Story: Extreme heat, extreme inequality: Addressing climate justice in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, The Conversation
Story: UBC students turn cups into art while Binners’ Project turns cups into change in the Downtown Eastside, UBC Sustainability
Story: Cooling the Heart of the City, UBC Sustainability
Summary: Oppenheimer Park Extreme Heat Pop-Up: Summary of feedback, UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning.
