Combatting social isolation during COVID-19
With visiting restrictions in place at long-term care facilities across Canada due to COVID-19, families in every community are facing challenges. As part of a new initiative, Connecting with Compassion, UBC faculty and students are looking to technology to help families stay connected with their loved ones and combat the social isolation being felt by […]
UBC Learning Exchange marks 20 years in the Downtown Eastside
Over the last 20 years, the Learning Exchange near Main and Keefer in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has quietly worked to become a trusted part of one of the most complex neighbourhoods in North America, an important academic unit of the university, and a model for university-community engagement. According to Kathleen Leahy, director of the Learning […]
UBC community celebrates launch of new Indigenous Strategic Plan
Created with input from more than 2,500 students, faculty and staff across our campuses – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous – as well as from Indigenous community partners, UBC’s new Indigenous Strategic Plan is an important milestone in UBC’s commitment to truth and reconciliation. Launched this month, the plan represents a university-wide response to the United […]
Community-based research in action at the UBC Learning Exchange
Thinking about a research project related to the Downtown Eastside? You might want to talk to Dr. Heather Holroyd. Community-based research (CBR) is an approach that works in partnership to produce academic scholarship while also addressing pressing community goals. Put simply, it tries to ensure mutual benefit for everyone involved. Not an especially difficult concept, […]
IRSHDC awarded funding for multi-year exhibition documenting Indian hospitals in BC and Alberta
The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC has received more than $200,000 for a Virtual Museums Canada grant for a forthcoming exhibition focusing on the history of the Indian and tuberculosis hospitals in BC and Alberta. The Centre has a mandate to support education, provide access to records, support research and […]
UBC 2020 Indigenous Strategic Plan Celebration: Sept. 14
UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan sets out eight goals and 43 actions that the university will collectively take, to advance our vision of UBC as a leading university globally in implementation of Indigenous peoples’ human rights. The goals and actions are informed by more than 2,500 unique engagements and over 15,000 ideas, opinions and comments that […]
UBC team launches art initiative to support mental health of people in prison
UBC School of Nursing Professor Helen Brown and her team have launched a project to support the mental health of people disproportionately impacted by the Canadian criminal justice system, through the distribution of “art and reciprocity kits.” The kits will be distributed across two medium-security federal prisons, five halfway houses and selected urban Indigenous community […]
Apply for 2020 Community-University Engagement Support funding
Are you a community group working with UBC on a shared social, environmental, health-related or cultural project? Are you a UBC faculty member, staff or student seeking funding for your community partner? Community-University Engagement Support (CUES) provides funding for charitable organizations in British Columbia to build partnerships and pursue shared projects with UBC. We support […]
Geering Up for a changing world
As B.C. schools closed to in-person classes in order to slow the spread of COVID-19, a UBC Applied Science-based education organization worked quickly to bring its STEM-themed programs to online platforms for homebound kids and teens. Since March, Geering Up has provided daily Internet-based content to help youths from kindergarten to Grade 12 connect with […]
Allard Law’s Indigenous Community Legal Clinic goes virtual
Like so many downtown storefronts impacted by physical distancing measures, boards have gone up over the office windows of 148 Alexander St., the home of Allard Law’s Indigenous Community Legal Clinic (ICLC). But the ICLC’s much needed services are far from shut down. Located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the ICLC provides free legal services to […]