February 7, 2020

UBC Tree Walk: Integrating Wellness, Environmental Sustainability and Citizen Science

Vancouver Campus | 3:00pm–4:00pm

Human activities and actions, which are increasingly interconnected in the Anthropocene, are rapidly depleting underlying ecosystems and planetary health, leading to environmental crises such as climate change and species mass extinction. How do we act with heart and mind in this scenario and stay focused to be agents of positive change? The tree walk we designed relates to this question, and connects local to global, social to ecological, science to spiritual, individual to collective as we look at our unique backyard on campus.

The UBC Sustainability Ambassadors and Wellness Peers invite you to join us for exercise and sharing Friday, February 7 at 3-4 pm. We will start just outside the entrance of the Pacific Museum of the Earth and go in a loop first to ginkgo trees and Wollemi pine and circle back onto Main Mall ending in a grove of conifers next to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Throughout the walk there will be connections while we explore the wonderful world of botany and trees!

More specifically, we will:

share stories about trees and land and their connection to us as individuals and communities
tell stories about tree species and their connection to global issues
exchange views on shared values and the importance of reciprocity in the context of planetary health
experience practices that help improve our well-being through contact with nature
explore the pathways of agency to support global sustainability through local action, research and citizen science with concrete examples linked to data and values related to green spaces in UBC.
learn about solutions we can all be part of to integrate wellness, resilience thinking and sustainability in our daily lives at UBC and beyond.