The University of Victoria Sustainability (UVSP) is a student-run organization working on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən-Speaking Peoples and WSÁNEĆ Nations. We strive to re-conceptualize sustainability, observing how it has been reduced to a buzzword or a check-box in recent years. We seek to expand conceptions of what sustainability truly encompasses and how it can be activated.
Our work on-campus centres itself in inter-organizational collaborations and unifying environmental initiatives, a strong commitment to accessibility, inclusivity, and breaking down barriers, and collectively pursuing ecological and social health—from local to global scales—for the benefit of all beings and future generations. Simply put, we believe working towards sustainability means working towards intersectional justice.
The UVSP offers a variety of programming for students on campus—all created by members of our student board! We run campaigns, host events, facilitate action and discussion groups, offer small grants for student-led projects, and create zines, among many other activities. Our projects and programs cover topics related to recycling, conservation, pollinator health, active transport, stewardship, climate change, ecological restoration, water security—and much more! In sum, our work on-campus centres itself in topics and issues that impact all of us, regardless of our career paths or degree programs.
Our work on-campus centres itself in inter-organizational collaborations and unifying environmental initiatives, a strong commitment to accessibility, inclusivity, and breaking down barriers, and collectively pursuing ecological and social health—from local to global scales—for the benefit of all beings and future generations. Simply put, we believe working towards sustainability means working towards intersectional justice.
The UVSP offers a variety of programming for students on campus—all created by members of our student board! We run campaigns, host events, facilitate action and discussion groups, offer small grants for student-led projects, and create zines, among many other activities. Our projects and programs cover topics related to recycling, conservation, pollinator health, active transport, stewardship, climate change, ecological restoration, water security—and much more! In sum, our work on-campus centres itself in topics and issues that impact all of us, regardless of our career paths or degree programs.
Our HistoryThe UVSP has began as a club and has been around on-campus since at least 1997—more than 25 years! Learn more about our history at UVic.
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Our BoardOur Board is comprised of UVic students across all faculties—from Math to Environmental Studies. Meet our current Board of Directors and learn more about what it's like to be a UVSP Board member.
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Our Staff TeamOur student staff members support our initiatives with behind-the-scenes and administration work. Meet our current staff team and learn more about job opportunities with the UVSP.
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Territorial Acknowledgement
We acknowledge with respect and gratitude the Lekwungen speaking peoples on whose unceded lands and territories the University of Victoria Sustainability Project (UVSP) meets and works, and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEC peoples whose relationships with these lands and waters have existed since time immemorial and continue to this day. We also acknowledge that our membership currently consists of a majority of Settler individuals who are occupying these unceded territories.
With this recognition, the UVSP centres our work in a conscious and ongoing commitment to actively decolonizing the spaces and places in which we work and the fields we engage with. We also recognize that decolonization requires individual, collective, and systemic actions, involving us all. We acknowledge that the University of Victoria is a colonial institution founded upon the establishment and perpetuation of structures of systemic racism, and the systematic oppression of marginalized peoples existent within the walls of the institution, within Canadian borders, and beyond. In direct recognition of these statements, we are committed to actively contributing to decolonial action at all scales, dismantling systemic discrimination, violence, and harm that continue to oppress marginalized peoples within our institutions and this country as a whole. We acknowledge that tangible action is needed and we commit to ensuring that these words are not empty.
With this recognition, the UVSP centres our work in a conscious and ongoing commitment to actively decolonizing the spaces and places in which we work and the fields we engage with. We also recognize that decolonization requires individual, collective, and systemic actions, involving us all. We acknowledge that the University of Victoria is a colonial institution founded upon the establishment and perpetuation of structures of systemic racism, and the systematic oppression of marginalized peoples existent within the walls of the institution, within Canadian borders, and beyond. In direct recognition of these statements, we are committed to actively contributing to decolonial action at all scales, dismantling systemic discrimination, violence, and harm that continue to oppress marginalized peoples within our institutions and this country as a whole. We acknowledge that tangible action is needed and we commit to ensuring that these words are not empty.
Our definition of sustainability
Our definition of sustainability is: A way of ongoing and reciprocal coexistence with each other and the natural world. Our social systems perpetuate unsustainable structures and practices, founded on oppression and designed to put profit above the needs and wellbeing of living beings. We currently face a multitude of sustainability crises, not just environmental, but social and cultural. The continuance of systemic racism is not sustainable. The hate and oppression faced by queer, BIPOC, disabled, working-class, and other individuals belonging to marginalized groups is not sustainable. We must dismantle the profit-oriented systems that are harming the people, and the other biotic communities and abiotic components of our planetary systems. Simply put, we believe working towards sustainability means working towards intersectional justice.
The UVSP's Making a Difference Together Grant ProgramThe UVSP runs a small grants program designed to assist the funding of sustainable projects that benefit our campus community. This grant program is primarily for undergraduate students at UVic, but graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community groups with ties to UVic are also welcome to submit applications.
With our grant program, we hope to make funding for student-led projects more accessible. Our grant program prioritizes funding for projects rooted in sustainability, anti-colonialism and decolonization, accessibility, intersectionality, and community, and that seek to have a lasting positive impact on our campus community. Grants for up to $500 may be applied for. |
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