Key Current Projects

My Climate Story
Heritage Rivers Storymap Project

My Climate Story

The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) is currently seeking climate stories from Indigenous and non-Indigenous 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 climate stories, including stories related to the Fraser River and the Cowichan River in BC. We will contact you if your story is selected to be featured on the website. The survey is asking you for a summary but the finished stories can be in any format chosen, for example, it could be a simple write-up, a piece of visual art, spoken word, video, song etc.

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.

Example stories to get you inspired!

We are looking for a wide range of stories. Here are some examples to get you inspired: 

CLIMATE ACTION STORY: 

Marina is one of the founders of Climate Guides, a Vancouver based non-profit that focuses on youth engagement in climate action. Climate Guides envisions youth as climate leaders. They facilitate a hands-on mentorship program that connects youth to professionals addressing climate change.

PERSONAL CLIMATE STORY: 

Celia is a recent masters of Global Health graduate working as a research coordinator at BC Children’s Hospital in infectious diseases. Her work in Northern BC inspired her to dig deeper into how extractivist industry and global warming are impacting the health of Canada’s most vulnerable populations. Celia’s passion for our natural world and educational voyage has led her to realize just how inextricably linked human health is to climate change and that as our world gets sicker, so do we.

Watch Celia's video of impacts of climate change on health

For stories that are related to the Fraser or the Cowichan Rivers, we invite Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth to share their personal stories and images about their experience with the impact of climate change and the ways it affects natural, cultural, and recreational heritage values. We're also looking to share how climate action initiatives spearheaded or led by youth can help to conserve those values. 

Thank you to our supporters

Many thanks to all the groups and individuals that are supporting this project. Our amazing project advisers come from a wide range of backgrounds and are helping us ensure the final product meets high standards. The advisory team includes: 

- Kari Tyler, User Engagement and Training Specialist, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium
- Brock Endean, Youth representative of FBC Board of Directors
- Craig Lauridsen, Cowichan School Board
- Rebecca Reid, Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Patrick Lucas, Aboriginal Youth Mountain Biking Program and Storyteller
- Dana Reiter, Regional Climate Change Coordinator, BC Assembly of First Nations
- Blaine Grinder, Councillor at Tl'etinqox-t'in Government Office
- Candace Charlie, Project Coordinator, Cowichan Climate Change Collaborative

The first phase of this project is made possible with generous support from our funding partner, BC Parks and Canadian Heritage River System (CHRS). 

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 once-in-a-lifetime trip with the Rivershed Society of BC's Sustainable Living Leadership Program. FBC sponsored Brock Endean and Riley Brennan to take this month-long 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 collaboration with Destination BC, Tourism Cowichan and Tourism Vancouver Island, we reached out to youth and the general public via social media to get broader input on areas of importance along the rivers. Thank you to all those who shared their photos and stories on Instagram and Facebook!

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.

A huge thank-you to the Fraser River Heritage Storymap Advisors who shared their knowledge and time for this project: Brock Endean, Riley Brennan, Chris Kelly, John Haugen, Chief Ian Campbell, Blaine Grinder, Larry Casper, Katherine Gizikoff, and Heather Deal. 

This project was made possible with the generous support from Canadian Heritage Rivers System and BC Parks. 

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.