Key Current Projects

My Climate Story
Heritage Rivers Storymap Project

My Climate Story

The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) is currently seeking climate stories from youth in BC to profile on an interactive, online storymap called My Climate Story.

If you are 30 years old or younger and have a story to share, please provide a brief summary by filling this survey. We are looking for a wide range of stories, including stories that are focused on climate change and watersheds in BC. We will contact you if your story is selected to be featured on the website.

CLICK HERE TO SHARE YOUR STORY!

My Climate Story project description

My Climate Story is an online platform for youth (30 years old or younger) to share their personal stories of climate change impacts and learn about youth-led climate solutions. These stories will be collected in a GIS storymap as a first step towards expanding knowledge of climate change impacts on a personal and community level as it pertains to youth. The stories will support the broader vision of building a BC-wide Youth for Climate Solutions Network that will connect youth in regional hubs and increase local youth-led climate initiatives.

My Climate Story will provide a space for youth to share their diverse perspectives on how climate change affects them and their communities. The storymap will also showcase inspiring climate solutions and communicate opportunities to take action and create a positive narrative for the future. Youth will be more aware of inspiring grassroots climate actions led by their peers and will see how individual actions can add up to make a change of global proportions.

The online platform is a highly engaging and interactive tool that can shift perceptions of climate change by providing a positive outlook on a topic usually perceived as bad news. My Climate Story will shed a light on the stories, struggles, and successes of BC youth in actively securing a viable future for themselves and others, and the undervalued role of youth in shaping actions and solutions to climate change. By engaging youth and providing a space for their stories on climate solutions, we validate their efforts and encourage policy and decision makers to make it common practice to consult and integrate youth voices.

Heritage Rivers Storymap Project

The Fraser Basin Council’s Youth Program is developing two storymaps of the Fraser and Cowichan Rivers to highlight their cultural, natural and recreational heritage values. The storymap will be an interactive, visual storytelling tool that provides easy access to information and an in-depth look at particular locations. This project is part of the national storymap project being developed by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System and Parks Canada.

This project is led by the FBC’s Youth Program and will encourage a strong youth component. Through this program, two FBC Youth Advisory Committee members traveled down the Fraser River for a month long trip. FBC sponsored Brock Endean and Riley Brennan to take this trip in order to learn more about the Fraser as well as conduct interviews along the river and collect images for the Canadian Heritage Rivers System Storymap Project.  

Through our partnerships with Destination BC, Tourism Cowichan and Tourism Vancouver Island, we will be reaching out to youth and the general public via social media to get broader input on areas of importance along the river.

We will also be engaging youth through classrooms to talk about the Cowichan River and to hear directly from youth about why the river is important to them.

Our overall goal for the project is to inspire people to experience more of the Fraser and the Cowichan riversheds. The storymaps can be used as travel and learning resources for those visiting the rivers and surrounding areas.

After the storymaps are created, a further goal is to reach out to teachers in both riversheds in order to integrate the map into classrooms.

We are looking for your help!

FBC Youth Program is seeking the following partnerships and support throughout this project:

• Strategic partnerships with local First Nations and community leaders to support the development of a comprehensive list of natural, cultural, and recreational values along the Fraser and the Cowichan Rivers;
• Advisors to support the overall process of the two storymaps;
• Youth and young adult participants to ensure that youth stories and values are embedded throughout the storymap;
• Additional funding partners who are interested in collaborating on additional projects with the stories, values, and data collected along the Fraser and the Cowichan Rivers in order to integrate these maps into classrooms.

For more information on the project or if you are interested in being involved, please contact Cherry Tam at ctam@fraserbasin.bc.ca or by phone at 604 488 5354.