A two-day workshop, held at the University of Victoria in the fall of 2013 explored the merits and potential challenges to a province-wide Environmental Stewardship Community of Practice. Attendees came together from across British Columbia—with experts ranging from local and provincial government to environmental professionals, educators and stewards—to voice their desire for a more holistic approach to environmental stewardship in BC. Learn more…
| British Columbia’s environmental stewards see a distinct need to act in partnership in order to focus on priority environmental issues. Yet, many say they fall short in resources to do so. |  |
| Fueled by the momentum of the province’s already strong stewardship movement, an Environmental Stewardship Community of Practice (CoP) will bridge gaps across environmental groups by offering forums for collaboration, participatory action research and sustained interaction. | |
| CoPs are groups of individuals or member organizations sharing like-minded values and/or goals. Many CoPs evolve organically, through a gradual sharing of knowledge and ideas that builds community capacity. |
| This network seeks to effectively connect expert knowledge and research with future generations of stewards. By welcoming actionable input from the social sciences in addressing critical global issues, such as climate change and habitat destruction, even broader benefits of the CoP can be realized. |
Workshop SummaryAn informative summary of a two-day workshop, which took place at the University of Victoria in the fall of 2013. The workshop explored the merits and potential challenges to a province-wide Environmental Stewardship Community of Practice. Attendees came together from across British Columbia—with experts ranging from local and provincial government to environmental professionals, educators and stewards—to voice their desire for a more holistic approach to environmental stewardship in BC. |
ProceedingsA detailed compilation of results from a two-day Community of Practice workshop, which took place at the University of Victoria in the fall of 2013, including daily proceedings, participants’ profiles, presentations, results from group discussions and decisions made, and concluding remarks. |
Keynote SpeechDr. David Blades delivered in the fall of 2013 an innovative keynote speech on “New Collaborative Concepts” for environmental stewards. He critically scrutinizes the concept of sustainability—both as a means of deconstructing harmful “long-standing discourse” of a resource-driven culture and as a powerful way of cultivating systemic change. A distinguished Professor of Science Education and Curriculum Studies at the University of Victoria, Dr Blades’ areas of focus include philosophy and science education, ethics, post-structuralism and curriculum theory, science for citizenship and the role of authentic science experience in science education pedagogy. |
PostersThe following posters examine the various barriers inhibiting effective environmental stewardship—barriers a province-wide Community of Practice could better overcome. |
Tools and Resources BookletTools and knowledge mobilization resources used by an Environmental Stewardship Community of Practice in managing natural capital. |