‘Climate+ Talks’ bring awareness to KPU climate initiatives

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Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Climate+ Challenge is putting on “Climate+ Talks,” a free and hybrid speaker series being held every Tuesday at 12:00 pm until April 2. 

The series, which features a presentation and question and answer period, is an opportunity for KPU students and faculty to learn about climate initiatives at the university.

“Science tells us really unambiguously that we are headed for some serious issues if we don’t change the trajectory of our social, economic, technological, and political systems,” says David Sadoway, an advising Climate+ Challenge faculty member. 

“It’s good to profile different perspectives, experiences, research, or stories. That’s really the motivation behind having [this] speaker series.” 

The Climate+ Challenge started almost three years ago as an initiative by KPU faculty members to encourage instructors to add climate content into their courses and promote courses containing a climate component to the students. 

Each year Sadoway and the team think of new ways to bring awareness to the Climate+ Challenge. This year, “Climate+ Talks” was decided on with many faculty members eager to participate.  

Candy Ho is an educational studies instructor and lead of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at KPU. She is incorporating climate content into her fourth-year career planning course, EDUC 4100, and presented it as a case study to “Climate+ Talks” on Feb. 27. 

“I tell students you might come in with preconceived notions of what you want to be when you grow up. That’s good,” Ho says. “I want you to put that aside, and I want you to tell me how you intend to serve the world first.”

Ho, who was recently awarded the Chancellor’s Research Chair, a multi-year research opportunity at KPU encouraging students in her course to use the United Nations SDGs as a framework to think about their career for the greater good. 

“We need to challenge the system and look at what’s broken, and how we can make it equitable for all,” Ho says. 

“That’s ultimately what the United Nations stands for, or the SDGs. Their motto is to leave nobody behind. If we were to truly do that, it’s not just about individual change, it’s about systemic change.” 

The Climate+ Challenge is going beyond course content initiatives. It also serves as a call to action for people to challenge their colleagues, peers, institutions, governments, and businesses to be more intentionally climate focused. 

“We should be able to critically analyze things in a peaceful, fair minded, diplomatic, and collegial way, [and] talk about some of the most intractable issues on the planet,” Sadoway says. 

“So the Climate+ Challenge is to really challenge us to figure out how we can come up with holistic strategies to address these wicked problems.” 

Upcoming talks are taking place via Microsoft Teams with subjects like the future of water scarcity presented by John Martin, who’s chair of KPU’s geography department, on March 5, and the link between food security and climate change by Naomi Roberts, a research associate at KPU’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems, on April 2. 

“It’s really important, even if you feel like you’re the only student going to one of these things, just show up,” says Sadoway. 

“I would like to challenge students, if they don’t really know what role they can play [in the climate crisis], come to these talks, attend some of these events, challenge your thinking a bit, and sign up for some of these courses.” 

For a full list of Climate+ Talks and links to the virtual meetings, and to see recordings of past talks, visit https://bit.ly/3wC9bQn.