My CityStudio journey has come full circle. I am a CityStudio alumna, and now I have the privilege of collaborating with CityStudio cohorts through my work at the City of Vancouver. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, I realized that my passions exist at the intersection of science and engagement. I wanted to transform technical concepts about sustainability into action at the community level. The Master’s program in Education for Sustainability (through UBC, in partnership with CityStudio) helped me do this. Following the CityStudio model, we collaborated on projects that had real world outcomes. I worked with a team to create “rewilding kits”, which encouraged native species on private land. We sold the kits at the Park Board tree sale and were able to engage residents about biodiversity and ecosystem services. The kits sold out each of the three years they were available.

During the Masters program, led by Rob VanWynsberghe, Allison Earl and other instructors, we peeled back layers of Vancouver to learn about local sustainability challenges and opportunities. We became comfortable being uncomfortable by engaging in dialogue that disrupted our frames of reference and transformed our ways of thinking. We learned to trust the process, even if the process was messy. The program was place-based and experiential; we learned in canoes, in tree canopies, and on the seawall. Our projects involved place-making and had real world impacts on the city. As you create place, it shapes you too, and these real-world projects have helped form my path.