Grâce au financement octroyé par la Fondation Rideau Hall, le programme BRE soutient des projets axés sur l’adaptation, la réponse et la résilience aux changements climatiques.
Note : Les projets ci-dessous sont affichés dans la langue de travail de l’initiative.
Project title: Partnerships for the Goals: building better communities.
Summary: Building off established partnerships with Universidad Castro Carazo, Green Communities Costa Rica, Rotary International, and Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC), the proposed project will provide students with the opportunity to engage with sustainable development goals through experiential learning while earning not only the Cultural Awareness Certificate but academic credit towards their program of study.
Students will begin by participating in the Cultural Awareness course, which will include sustainable production and environmental protection, carbon measurement and sequestration, Indigenous culture, and lessons on well-being from residents of the blue zones in the Nicoya Peninsula.
Students will then apply these concepts to obtain academic credit or additional academic credentials by completing activities on Canadore-owned land in the cloud-forested Los Santos region. This will include the construction of an outdoor classroom, forest inventory and tree planting, and construction of an accessible walkway to the Savegre River.
Project title: Adapting for Resilience: Interdisciplinary Strategies for Climate Change in Biodiversity, Health, Water, and Agriculture
Summary: Objectives: We continue to build upon existing partnerships in three African countries to deepen our academic diplomacy within a climate change adaptation and resilience framework. Build students’ interdisciplinary leadership skills and enhance their academic training, research capacities, and professional networks.
Partners: This program leverages established relationships with three academic institutions, two NGOs, and one government body in three Sub-Saharan nations – Tanzania, Uganda, and Ghana. Our partners focus on diverse issues including agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and water/public health/girl’s education.
Activities: Partners and QEScholar cohorts will engage in climate-themed cross-cultural knowledge sharing through community workshops, peer/academic mentoring, and real-world climate issue projects. QEScholars will participate in experiential learning /research and engage in academic diplomacy through co-authorship of journal articles, conference presentations, and community engagement.
Expected Results: 22 highly trained QEScholars (16 Canadian, 6 international) who have developed broad and effective professional networks, produced publications, and led impactful research projects.
Project title: The Sustainable Polygeneration for Communities Initiative
Summary: The Sustainable Polygeneration for Communities Initiative is a groundbreaking international initiative that offers students a unique experiential learning opportunity to integrate renewable energy sources in community settings, allowing for more resilience and sustainable local value creation. Partnering with institutions from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico and international organisations will enable international students to learn how to co-develop and transfer revolutionising community-scale energy solutions.
Canadian students will gain hands-on experience in diverse settings. They will work alongside experts on different real-world projects in international community projects to advance and bridge academic knowledge with real-world applications. Training in academic settings and with a network of universities will be complemented by fieldwork with Gaia Amazonas in the Amazon rainforest, the Commune 22 in Cali, the Campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and community energy projects in Canada, which will provide insights into sustainable land use practices and biodiversity conservation, while partnering with different community groups will expose them to the practical applications of renewable energy integration to improve the local value creation and resilience. This initiative will equip students with the skills, knowledge, and cross-cultural understanding needed to become future leaders in sustainable development and empower communities with improved energy access.
Project title: Global Student Exchange for Community Resilience: Sustainable Urban Agriculture, Training, Capacity Building, and Innovation Exchange
Summary: The Global Student Exchange for Community Resilience project immerses students in cross-cultural experiences to understand climate change impacts on well-being and develop as informed community changemakers. The project focuses on sustainable urban agriculture and building social and emotional resilience, supporting World Vision’s Vision for Vulnerable Youth initiative. Inbound students to Durham College’s (DC) Horticulture Food and Farming program gain practical skills such as crop planning and produce processing through work-integrated learning. Alumni of World Vision’s initiative receive scholarships at DC to deepen their understanding of global community adaptation to climate change. Outbound students from various programs, including Horticulture Food and Farming, Social Service Worker, Child and Youth Worker and Developmental Services Worker, will engage in knowledge-sharing programs facilitated by World Vision.
Project title: Young Leaders for Climate Action
Summary: The « Young Leaders for Climate Action » scholarship program aims to develop young leaders with the skills and expertise in combatting climate change, through internships and study programs in Bhutan and Canada. Humber College, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, Bhutan, will create internships for 20 students from Canada to work with TVET institutions, government departments, and community partners on innovative approaches to environmental sustainability. Additionally, five TVET scholars from Bhutan will have the opportunity to undertake a year-long study in Canada focused on building skills in renewable energy, sustainable built environment, and natural resource management, which are crucial to Bhutan’s adaptation efforts. By leveraging its existing project in Bhutan, which emphasizes environmental sustainability and Gross National Happiness, Humber College strives to equip students with the tools, resources, and global engagement opportunities to become leaders in climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Project title: Transnational Climate Justice Collaboration through Strategic Litigation and Legal Research
Summary: The Transnational Justice (TJ) Clinic of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at McGill University and the Environmental Law Clinic at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) propose a multi-year project focusing on climate change adaptation, response, and resilience through strategic litigation and legal research. The project empowers young leaders to combat climate change through law, offering QEScholars opportunities for impactful research, contributing to publications, policy work, and legal advocacy.
McGill students gain hands-on experience through internships at PUCP and partner legal clinics, preparing climate justice litigation cases and enhancing their legal expertise. Simultaneously, PUCP students research North American climate justice movements, collaborating on conferences, publications, and comparative fieldwork with McGill. The project fosters early career scholars through a curriculum focused on leadership, academic networking, and community engagement, connecting them with experts and facilitating transnational collaboration and applied research to advance legal frameworks for global climate justice.
Project Title: Empowering Future Healthcare Leaders: Pediatric Echo Training in Urban and Rural Guyana
Project Summary: Our initiative aims to build healthcare capacity in the critically under-resourced field of pediatric echocardiography in Guyana, where currently there are no cardiac sonographers trained in pediatric sonography. The absence of these professionals creates significant care gaps and imperils the children of Guyana. Our objective is to equip local healthcare providers with diagnostic imaging skills for early detection and management of critical illness in infants and children in rural and urban communities. A partnership between Mohawk College, Institute for Health Sciences Education Guyana and University of Guyana will offer intensive short-term training in Canada, earning a micro-credential. By fostering cross-cultural collaboration and knowledge sharing, the program aims to strengthen healthcare systems, promote preventative healthcare, and raise congenital heart disease awareness in Guyana. The anticipated outcomes will empower Scholars who will return to their communities to implement and share their acquired skills and to enhance patient outcomes in under-served communities.
Project Title: Indigenizing the Climate Change Response: Fostering Inter-Cultural & Inter-Disciplinary Resiliency Through Study Abroad
Project Summary: The project will provide experiential and land-based learning opportunities for students to explore social, economic, and environmental sustainability topics through an Indigenous lens. Leveraging the expertise gained from past international student mobility projects funded by the Global Skills Opportunity (GSO) fund, this initiative will encourage students to engage in study abroad projects that investigate the impact of colonization on the environment and climate through semester exchanges and service-learning/work-integrated learning activities. For this project, NIC will strengthen existing partnerships in New Zealand and Mexico and seek to explore new opportunities to engage and collaborate throughout this project.
The project aims to enhance diversity and accessibility by specifically targeting low-income students, Indigenous students, and students with disabilities, aligning with NIC Build 2026 Strategic Plan, Working Together Indigenization Plan, and Journeying Together, the Indigenous-serving Internationalization Plan. Expected outcomes include enriched global learning experiences through an Indigenized perspective, increased inclusivity, and enhanced institutional collaborations.
Project Title: Transdisciplinary Knowledge Translation for Social Transformation: Building Climate Resilient Communities through Co-development
Project Summary: This QES project provides future leaders with the skills required to tackle the challenges of building climate-resilient rural communities. First, the project integrates Queen’s upper-year undergraduate students from Engineering, Global Development Studies, and Health Sciences into interdisciplinary teams. Working with university supervisors, graduate students, and community groups, each team undertakes a 12-week, community-based climate resilience project in Botswana, Colombia, or India to gain a deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of rural communities, learn how to co-develop community transition initiatives, and convey solutions to garner implementation support. Second, to ensure enduring research engagement, graduate students from partner institutions undertake one-semester visits to Queen’s. Third, the project enhances academic diplomacy by creating a community of practice for collaboration between all participating scholars, institutions, and communities. Finally, all QE Scholars will enhance their professional skills by earning three micro-credentials focused on leadership, entrepreneurship, and cross-cultural collaboration.
Project Title: Pacific Rim Ocean Training Exchange (PROTÉGÉ)
Project Summary: In partnership with UBC’s International Office (Go Global), PROTÉGÉ will develop young leaders in Canada and Chile equipped with interdisciplinary expertise in marine resource stewardship and climate impacts informed by Indigenous knowledge. Coastal British Columbia and Chile share many striking similarities and a strong need for science-based, Indigenous-informed approaches to marine resource stewardship in the face of rapid climate change. To address this need, PROTÉGÉ will build a graduate student exchange program between UBC and Chile, fostering education and research on climate change impacts and mitigation in the coastal fjords of both regions. Working with several universities and private foundations in Chile and Canada, students will participate in interdisciplinary, bilateral research visits and experiential field-schools in Patagonia and BC, conducting research and community engagement activities under the supervision of hosts at the partner universities. Educational and research activities will be supplemented with community-based projects.
Project Title: Sustainable Water-Energy Nexus for a Circular Economy
Project Summary: Through collaborative research between Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and the State University of São Paulo (UNESP) in Brazil, this project aims to address the global challenge of climate change and the transition to a circular economy. The project focuses on the development of a sustainable water-energy nexus (WEN), with an emphasis on producing green hydrogen through solar- or/and wind-powered water electrolysis, using treated wastewater and poorly purified water sources. The research will develop multifunctional engineered materials for various components of the WEN system, considering the socio-economic aspects of the stakeholders involved, ensuring that the technology is accessible and beneficial to a diverse group of users. Through this talent-exchange program, the development of a WEN will be facilitated, which creates a system that is both environmentally friendly and cost-effective, contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to clean energy, water, and climate action.
Project Title: United Global Plan of Action for One Health and One Climate
Project Summary: This project will develop a united global plan to address issues related to the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment (One Health) while improving resilience to the impacts of a changing climate. The International Institute for Environmental Studies (IIES) hosted at Trent University will collaborate with partners in Chile (Universidad San Sebastián), South Africa (University of the Witwatersrand), the United Kingdom (University of Edinburgh) and Vietnam (Phenikaa University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and University of Technology) to coordinate the program. 24 graduate students (16 outbound and 8 inbound) will be exchanged between Trent and its partners to participate in climate-based research. Topics include sustainable development of critical minerals vital to the green transition; greenhouse gas emissions from natural ecosystems and human activities; carbon capture using sustainable agriculture practices and enhanced rock weathering; and the impacts of climate change on water quality and resources.
Project Tite: Mobilisation et renforcement de capacités des jeunes leaders mondiaux dans l’adaptation aux changements climatiques.
Project Summary: Le projet porté par l’Université de Montréal et ses partenaires vise à appuyer 23 boursières canadiens et internationaux pour réaliser des stages de recherche sur la thématique de l’adaptation aux changements climatiques. Différentes disciplines seront représentées dans le but de favoriser l’interdisciplinarité des approches. En tant que futurs chefs de file mondiaux, ces jeunes seront accompagnés dans le renforcement de leur compétences scientifiques et transversales, et auront l’occasion de s’insérer dans plusieurs réseaux. La sélection favorisera la diversité des profils et sera réalisée sur la base d’offres de stages sur des thématiques précises de recherche comme la santé des écosystèmes, les perspectives d’adaptation dans les milieux précaires urbains, l’évolution des maladies vectorielles et des zoonoses ou encore l’enjeu des droits des communautés autochtones sur les stratégies d’adaptation. Le projet associe des partenaires universitaires dans sept pays, ainsi que l’organisation non gouvernementale « Projet réalité climatique Canada » pour le volet d’engagement communautaire.
Project Title: Innovons ensemble pour le climat: jeunes leaders du Canada et du Maghreb pour la résilience climatique.
Project Summary: Notre projet comprend des bourses pour les stagiaires canadiens sortants, des bourses pour les stagiaires internationaux entrants. Nous accueillerons au Canada 21 boursiers et boursières aux cycles supérieurs du Maroc et de la Tunisie pour des séjours de recherche à l’UQAR. Nous attribuerons également 15 bourses pour des stages crédités au Maroc et en Tunisie dans le cadre de programmes d’études à l’UQAR. Les 36 stages du projet de 4 à 6 mois seront ouverts à tous les programmes de formation (génie, éducation, travail social, informatique, océanographie, etc.) sur la thématique de la résilience et l’adaptation aux changements climatiques au Maghreb. Notre projet favorisera des expériences à l’étranger promouvant la diplomatie académique. Il repose sur un partenariat entre l’UQAR et six institutions et organisations du Maroc et de la Tunisie, incluant des universités, des instituts de recherche, des organisations de la société civile et des ONG.
Project Title: Our Changing Climate: Community Resilience and Education
Project Summary: This QES proposal between Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand increases research collaboration, deepens peer relationships and networking among scholars, and facilitates personal and professional growth to enrich the program experience. Both inbound and outbound QEScholars will strengthen their research skills and gain a deeper understanding of adaptation, response and resilience to the changing climate taking place in each country. The project supports graduate student mobility between University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education and Faculty of Social Work and Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland ‘s Faculty of Education and Social Work. Eight inbound New Zealand and eighteen outbound Canadian scholars will complete placements as Visiting Student Researchers under supervisors at each university. Scholars will participate in community engagement, research and leadership activities, focusing on community resilience and education in adaptation, response and resilience to a changing climate, taking into account diversity and inclusion of identities and perspectives.
Project Title: Youth Leadership in Climate Action for Resilient, Inclusive and Equitable Communities
Project Summary: Our project strengthens youth’s involvement in addressing the effects of the changing climate in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Kenya, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Canada through collaborative efforts by universities, research institutes and NGOs. UFV students will intern with applied community-based projects that respond to environmental challenges across key areas: (1) Ecosystems and Water Quality, (2) Disaster Risk Reduction, (3) Planning for Sustainable Development, (4) Climate and Public Health, (5) Education and (6) Biodiversity and Agriculture. Through internship placements, students will gain hands-on experience in facilitating workshops, monitoring environmental change, research analysis, community outreach, policy advocacy and collaborative projects. UFV will host graduate students from Bangladesh, Kenya, the Philippines, and Tanzania, focusing on research aligned with the changing climate to promote reciprocal knowledge exchange, open-source database development, and collaboration opportunities. These areas include Indigenous knowledge and climate adaptation, climate policy and governance, resilient infrastructure and intersectional gender aspects of climate change and responses.
Project Title: Navigating Complexity Together: Community resilience and adaptation to the impacts of a changing climate in Southeast Asia
Project Summary: The Navigating Complexity Together project provides 25 University of Victoria students with work and learning opportunities to address the impacts of a changing climate in Thailand and Indonesia. Students will work with established partner organizations, community leaders, climate activists, land-rights defenders, migrant and refugee communities, and young entrepreneurs contributing to climate change initiatives, leadership training programs, and socio-economic development projects.
QEScholars cross academic, cultural, sectoral and geographic borders to complete 6-month internships developing leadership skills and knowledge necessary to become competent, confident, and compassionate global citizens.
Working with the Global Alliance Against the Traffic in Women, Earth Rights, Chiang Mai University’s Environmental Law Clinic, and the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies, QEScholars will:
1. Strengthen impact on local and global communities working on climate change initiatives.
2. Increase knowledge, skills and critical thinking, contributing to strengthening individuals and communities beyond traditional academic borders.
3. Enhance cross-cultural networks and deepen QES relationships.
Project Title: Beyond Borders: Co-Learning to Tackle Climate Change and Plastic Pollution for Resilient Communities in Africa
Project Summary: With Ain Shams University (ASU), University of Cape Coast (UCC), and Ashesi University (AU), this experiential field course gives University of Waterloo (UW) undergraduate students opportunities to study with local communities, stakeholders, and experts, the interconnected challenges of plastic pollution in coastal communities, the drivers of global and regional climate change, and efforts to build adaptive local capacity and resilience. Egypt is the largest contributor of plastics pollution in Africa, much of which finds its way into marine waters, and such that Ghana suffers from significant accumulation of (micro) plastics off its coast. Students will use an inclusive and culturally sensitive approach to study these interconnected problems to improve response methods tackling pollution through bottom-up stakeholder engagement and locally appropriate action. Building local resilience to climate change must contend with plastic pollution impacts and through this academic diplomacy activity, students gain awareness and leadership skills to become global change agents.
Project Title: Addressing Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific – Leveraging University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) for Action
Project Summary: Our project aims to support Canadian students in a one-semester international exchange program focused on climate change, supplemented by a community engagement project and/or research internship for academic and/or co-curricular credit. The project leverages institutional partners in the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) consortium. UMAP international partners in eligible countries will offer interdisciplinary coursework and a hands-on research or community projects that compliment existing efforts and expertise in the local context that highlights their work towards the adaptation, resilience, to a changing climate. The project activities include a suite of robust wraparound supports, including virtual check-ins, mentorship, on-the-ground facilitators, and a variety of training. Expected results include deepened partnership activities between Canadian and international partner institutions, a strong network of global leaders that have a variety of experiential learning and academic engagement related to climate change in the Asia-Pacific region.
Project Title: Face aux changements climatiques: les jeunes Canadiens-Sénégalais œuvrent ensemble vers une réduction des risques climatiques et sanitaires.
Project Summary: Le projet vise à former de jeunes leaders qui contribueront à la réduction des risques climatiques et sanitaires sur l’Île de Vancouver et au Sénégal. En collaboration avec l’Université Gaston-Berger principalement Dr. Mbaye et MABRRI, ce projet réunira trois cohortes impliquant au total 18 étudiants canadiens et 6 étudiants sénégalais. Les activités impliquent deux cours universitaires (printemps/automne) et deux stages. En été, les étudiants effectueront 4 mois de terrain au Canada et au Sénégal et à l’automne les jeunes représenteront les communautés locales à la Conférence des parties – Climat. Les boursiers deviendront des mentors pour les autres cohortes, ce qui renforcera leur contribution. Les résultats attendus incluent la création d’un réseau de jeunes leaders, une augmentation de la contribution des boursiers aux collectivités locales et aux négociations internationales, et des leaders bien formés qui accélèrent l’adaptation climatique et la résilience sanitaire en temps d’urgence climatique.
Project Title: University of Ghana—Wilfrid Laurier University Partnership for Community Resilience, Human Rights, and Migration in a Changing Climate
Project Summary: This partnership between two research centres at the University of Ghana (UG) and two research centres and three departments at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier) takes a human rights approach to advancing community resilience in the face of climate change impacts, focussing on the links between environmental change and human migration. A changing climate forces individuals and communities to adapt or migrate as human rights to food, water, shelter, physical and mental well-being are threatened.
Working together in leadership training and volunteer engagement activities in Ghana and Canada, 31 students will become QE Scholars as they develop skills, experience, and networks empowering them to address the challenges of climate change and migration.
All told, 8 UG graduate students will advance their research and expand their professional networks while studying at Laurier and 23 Laurier undergraduates will gain first-hand experience conducting research and interning with research centres and NGOs in Ghana.
Project Title: Canada-Global South Interdisciplinary Initiative on Climate Change & Displacement: Cases of Costa Rica, Ghana and the Philippines
Project Summary: The proposed project aims to bring together and co-create a network of interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students from Costa-Rica, Ghana, and the Philippines to: 1) study the current human displacement caused by the climate change related extreme events; 2) model and predict the future trends of population displacement caused by climate change; 3) understand the impacts of climate displacement on different groups, economies, health systems, cultures, and environments; and 4) examine the current and future planning and policy challenges of climate change related population displacement. The results of these studies will guide local, regional, and global planners/policy makers/NGOs to better understand the current and future trends and challenges of climate change displacement and design effective mitigation and resilience strategies. This project will also train the next generation of planners, policy makers, engineers, and community leaders who will be managing population displacement at various levels.
