The UVSP’s Ventures into Sustainable Recreation Campaign is a year-long initiative with multi-faceted objectives. This campaign aims to get students outside and on the land, moving their bodies and developing relationships—rooted in respect, honour, stewardship, curiosity, and a commitment to learning—with the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən-Speaking Peoples, today known as the Songhees and Esquimalt, and WSÁNEĆ Nations, as well as the territories of the Quw'utsun and Pacheedaht Nations, and the Sc'ianew Cheanuh (Beecher Bay First Nation).
Through this campaign, we encourage students to develop their 'senses of place' and their capacity to care for and learn from these lands through recreation and community. We hope to provide opportunities for students to discuss issues of environmental degradation and environmental justice, inaccessibility, exclusion, barriers, oppression, and colonialism in relation to recreation. We will also facilitate opportunities for students to engage in community-led dialogues about the intersections of stewardship, decolonization, community, recreation, and sustainability. This campaign aims to create space for all students and individuals in recreational spaces and ensure easy access to these opportunities (through subsidization, commitments to inclusion and co-creating safe spaces for all, providing accessible transport and gear, etc).
In sum, through developing deeper understandings of the relationships between stewardship, decolonization, and recreation, we hope to support students in gaining skills and knowledge that will allow them to become responsible, critical, caring, and inclusive proponents of recreational sports and activities.
This year, the UVSP plans on hosting events related to: hiking, walking, cycling, bouldering, flat-water canoeing, birding, tide-pooling, and whitewater canoeing.
Through this campaign, we encourage students to develop their 'senses of place' and their capacity to care for and learn from these lands through recreation and community. We hope to provide opportunities for students to discuss issues of environmental degradation and environmental justice, inaccessibility, exclusion, barriers, oppression, and colonialism in relation to recreation. We will also facilitate opportunities for students to engage in community-led dialogues about the intersections of stewardship, decolonization, community, recreation, and sustainability. This campaign aims to create space for all students and individuals in recreational spaces and ensure easy access to these opportunities (through subsidization, commitments to inclusion and co-creating safe spaces for all, providing accessible transport and gear, etc).
In sum, through developing deeper understandings of the relationships between stewardship, decolonization, and recreation, we hope to support students in gaining skills and knowledge that will allow them to become responsible, critical, caring, and inclusive proponents of recreational sports and activities.
This year, the UVSP plans on hosting events related to: hiking, walking, cycling, bouldering, flat-water canoeing, birding, tide-pooling, and whitewater canoeing.
Upcoming events
Take a look at and sign-up for our upcoming events! More events and details will be coming soon—so stay tuned! Event participants can expect to receive emails detailing their participation in the event(s) they've signed-up for five days prior to each event. These emails will outline event schedules, participant expectations, and travel arrangements (if applicable), and will also remind participants to sign their event waivers (if applicable).
Intro to How to Use iNat WorkshopJoin the UVSP for an engaging workshop to introduce you to the ins and outs of iNaturalist on February 25th from 9:30am-12:30pm at Uplands Park! This event will be taking place on the unceded territories the Lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Songhees Nation.
During this event, there will be opportunities to discuss our responsibilities in identifying species (particularly to those species) and as users of apps like iNaturalist. We will also discuss the importance of respect and reciprocity in these relationships, as well as how recreation and species ID intersect with wider dialogues and actions related to stewardship, community, decolonization, and sustainability. We also hope this workshop can be a way for participants to learn about deepening their relations with the living beings they are interacting with through their use of iNaturalist. Throughout the event, we will walk slowly through Uplands Park, visiting both the Kwetlal (Camas) meadows and the Garry Oak forest. Our pace will be friendly and slow, with lots of opportunities to stop and appreciate our surroundings and peer at plants, birds, and more. |
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Who is this campaign for?
The short answer is... all students! This campaign has been created with UVic undergraduate students in mind, but graduate students are also welcome to participate in events and follow along with the campaign on social media.
With this campaign, the UVSP wants to provide recreational opportunities for students who are:
This campaign has been created to benefit all students interested in or passionate about recreation. Whether you have previous experience with any form of recreation or not, the UVSP is committed to ensuring that the events we host as a part of our Ventures into Sustainable Recreation Campaign will be safe, learning-oriented, supportive, and inclusive spaces to learn, share your knowledge and skills, and gain new experiences.
Our campaign celebrates diversity and upholds inclusivity in recreational spaces and the outdoors, and strives to break down barriers and co-create safe spaces for students who self-identify as belonging to communities that have historically been excluded from these spaces.
If you are interested in participating in an event but have safety- or accessibility-related questions related to the event or require any accommodations, please reach out to us! We hope to make these events as accessible, safe, and welcoming as possible for all students.
With this campaign, the UVSP wants to provide recreational opportunities for students who are:
- Passionate about sustainability, environmental issues, and stewardship.
- Interested in recreation as a way to connect with land, be active, and support their mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual health and wellbeing.
- Curious about and committed to recreating safely and responsibly, equipping them with the tools and training that will allow them to.
- Hoping to meet new, like-minded students and build community.
- Wanting to develop stronger relationships with these unceded territories, and wanting to learn how to respect, honour, and learn from them.
- Wanting to learn more about the intersections of recreation, decolonization, stewardship, and sustainability.
- Interested in building skills and feeling empowered through movement and recreation.
This campaign has been created to benefit all students interested in or passionate about recreation. Whether you have previous experience with any form of recreation or not, the UVSP is committed to ensuring that the events we host as a part of our Ventures into Sustainable Recreation Campaign will be safe, learning-oriented, supportive, and inclusive spaces to learn, share your knowledge and skills, and gain new experiences.
Our campaign celebrates diversity and upholds inclusivity in recreational spaces and the outdoors, and strives to break down barriers and co-create safe spaces for students who self-identify as belonging to communities that have historically been excluded from these spaces.
If you are interested in participating in an event but have safety- or accessibility-related questions related to the event or require any accommodations, please reach out to us! We hope to make these events as accessible, safe, and welcoming as possible for all students.
Our goals
The UVSP's Ventures into Sustainable Recreation Campaign seeks to:
- Centre decolonization and stewardship in responsible recreation, and support students in learning more about these intersections.
- Help students develop stronger relationships with the unceded territories upon which this campaign takes place, centring these relationships in learning how to respect, honour, and learn from the land, and Indigenous life-ways.
- Empower students through outdoor recreation.
- Promote recreational sports and activities, movement, exercise, and time spent in nature as ways to positively impact mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual health.
- Support the creation of a culture of recreational stewardship and sustainable recreation.
- Build and grow community and community connections.
- Create a safe, supportive, welcoming, inclusive, learning-oriented, and accessible space for beginners (and people of all skills and abilities) to try out new sports and activities.
- Break down barriers to participation in recreational sports and activities, particularly for students who self-identify as belonging to communities that have historically been excluded from recreational spaces.
- Give students a basic understanding of the training, understandings, and gear required to recreate safely and sustainably, as well as where to obtain them accessibly and affordably.