Staying Connected to Nature

CapU and the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative Society (HSBRIS) formally recognized their relationship in 2019, creating a working group tasked with exploring their common mission of connecting youth with nature and funding student research opportunities.

This culminated in 2023 with the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two organizations.

Also sketched out in the MoU is an emphasis on “cultivating distinct, transformative and life-enhancing learning experiences for students.”

The agreement outlines a pledge to work on projects that align with their shared values, including existing commitments to Truth and Reconciliation, Indigenization and decolonization.

They also emphasize a need to enhance the health and well-being of community members while building a shared sense of trust.

A collaborative history

CapU and HSBRIS have shared several synergistic moments over the years.

In 2021, CapU launched Skw’cháys, the University’s legacy canoe, in honour of the designation of the UNESCO Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region, Canada’s 19^th UNESCO Biosphere Region.

In June 2023, Simons was awarded an honorary degree from CapU in recognition of her five-year campaign to earn that UNESCO designation.

While the working group officially formed in 2019, the seeds of this collaborative relationship were planted years earlier.

“The MoU has grown from almost a decade of work by CapU EarthWorks faculty and other CapU faculty who have built and managed curricular and co-curricular projects across the Howe Sound region,” said CapU Associate Vice President of Creative Activity, Research, and Scholarship Dawn Whitworth, who played an important role in MoU.

More funding and opportunities for students

For CapU students, this partnership means more funding for research projects, field schools, scholarships and opportunities with nonprofits and community organizations.

“This will include the hiring of CapU students to work on in-class and co-curricular projects,” Whitworth said.

Several imaginative student research projects have already impacted Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound, as students are given the opportunity to solve real-world problems.

In 2022, CapU student Sophie Cheshire spearheaded a research project to improve sustainable tourism practices in Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound, where a booming tourism industry threatens to degrade the fragile ecosystems within the Biosphere.

For now, the MoU is a formal way of strengthening the bond between CapU and HSBRIS as they work together to develop new student opportunities.

Looking long-term, CapU’s purchase of Quest University in Squamish – located directly in the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region – confirms the two organizations will work together to protect vulnerable ecosystems across the North Shore long into the future.