Get involved in climate action & sustainability

$3,200 annual tuition credit for graduate students

The Climate and Sustainability Impact Award provides an annual award of $3200 tuition credit for RRU graduate-level students conducting applied research on climate action and/or sustainability issues and solutions. 

$2,500 in-course award

Students in the School of Environment and Sustainability who are actively promoting sustainability or demonstrating an environmental commitment can apply for the Recycling and Sustainability Bursary. This in-course award totals $2500.

$1,000 Sustainability Bridge Award

Graduate students researching food security, climate change impacts on food production, water supply demands and/or green technologies can apply for the Sustainability Bridge Award of $1000. 

Monthly stewardship initiatives through Healthy Planet Club

Healthy Planet Club offers monthly stewardship initiatives to learn more about removing invasive species, promoting native species, supporting biodiversity and more! 

Contact our Climate Leadership team to sign up.

The Farm at RRU

The Farm at RRU is home to a Giving Garden, polyculture orchard, market garden and more. Volunteer and learning opportunities are blooming at RRU’s small-scale food gardens.

Regenerative Sustainability & Living Lab initiatives

Get inspired by Regenerative Sustainability and Living Lab initiatives at RRU.

Annual Design Thinking Challenge

If you’re an undergraduate business student, you can work with a team to find innovative solutions for real-world dilemmas through an annual Design Thinking Challenge.

Resilience & Reconnection Circle

Nurture your health and wellbeing as a staff or faculty member. 

Contact our Climate Leadership team to sign up.

Experiential learning opportunities

RRU’s Experiential Learning Hub connects students and faculty with external partners to offer hands-on opportunities and projects in professional settings. 

Students can also check out the Community Service Leadership Program for local or virtual volunteer opportunities.

Community Service Leadership program

Students can check out the Community Service Leadership Program for local or virtual volunteer opportunities.

Esquimalt Lagoon Stewardship Initiative

Check out the Esquimalt Lagoon Stewardship Initiative for ways to support nature-based projects for this thriving ecosystem.

Other community initiatives making a difference

Beach cleanups through the Surfrider Foundation

If you’re interested in meeting others for beach cleanups around southern Vancouver Island, the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation organizes monthly events.

Activities through the Greater Victoria Green Team

The Greater Victoria Green Team host a variety of environmental activities and volunteer opportunities across the region. 

Climate campaigns and events through ReImagine Westshore

ReImagine Westshore is a community-based non-profit bringing people together for climate campaigns and informational events. 

Check out their initiatives around the Westshore to connect with others, learn more or volunteer.

Talk about it

The first step is to talk about it. Communicating complexity can be a challenge, find tools to help through Re.Climate.

Build it into your day-to-day work

Every job can be a climate job! 

Check out the Drawdown Labs Job Function Action Guides. They offer high-impact, tangible climate actions employees within specific jobs and fields can take.

Explore the Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators, equipping both educators and their students with tools for advancing climate justice.

Make it both personal and collective

Personal and collective action creates empowerment, agency and impact.

Whether it's through what you eat, what you buy (or don’t), how you move in your region, use your voice and skills, or the relationships you make.

Individual agency is a gateway for group efforts, and a critical mass of people can create societal tipping points that the planet desperately needs.

Wondering where to start?

David Suzuki Foundation’s Top 10 things you can do about climate change provides a great starting point.

Connect with others. Join or start a local group to mobilize meaningful action. 

Slow down, learn & listen

By “slow down” we don’t mean delay or denial on the urgency of the climate and nature emergency. Instead, allow yourself time to cultivate a greater sense of your values, the issues we face and our inseparability from the world around us. 

Spend time figuring out your climate action (check out the Climate Venn for a helpful place to start).

Broaden your perspective

Watch videos from RRU’s Climate Week featuring diverse conversations about how to go beyond individual actions.