GTEC Update – January 2025
The Climate Response Centre in Brief
The first of its kind in Canada, the GTEC Climate Response Centre is a scalable, multi-faceted resource and community hub, a centre for public education about climate change, as well as a gathering place for the many involved people and organizations.
Direct Indigenous engagement guides Climate Response Centre programming reflecting our conviction that Indigenous reconciliation is closely tied to responding effectively to climate change. Our response needs to be informed by Indigenous wisdom and culture based on thousands of years of stewardship of the unceded, ancestral land of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation upon which this Centre will be located.
Climate Response Centre programing for the public features an arts and culture informed approach and takes the form of ongoing exhibits and expositions. The Centre will open with a ground breaking exhibit entitled The End of Fossil Fuel developed by The Climate Museum in New York in conjunction with exhibits from the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation.
Concept drawing by Perkins & Will
GTEC embodies depth of experience and expertise in community engagement, community-driven planning and community-led activism. This is no ivory tower from which we’ll preach about what others should be doing. We will roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirty enriching the soil of community, engaging directly in reconciliation with Indigenous nations, seeding ideas, nurturing growth and activity, resulting in community-driven solutions that convert into initiatives which have real on-the-ground impact.
Building social and emotional resilience is a critical dimension of a sustained and constructive response to the impacts of climate change. Along with its educational and community development programs, the Centre provides a range of programs especially designed to support the next generations who will bear the burden of the impacts of climate change.
Many of the necessary technologies to achieve a low-emission society are available today and many others are under development. But large-scale systemic change only comes about when enough minds have changed. That means climate change isn’t only an individual, technical or environmental problem, it is a systemic challenge that requires educational and community development solutions.
Climate Response Centre Program Dimensions
At the centre of GTEC’s Community-based, Collaborative Model, the Climate Response Centre will become the source of programs and services that prepare communities for the impacts of the climate crisis and inform the shift to a regenerative, socially just, and resilient society:
- Community Development and Education
- Health and Well-Being Support Services
- Indigenous Engagement
- Media and Communications
- Research and Development
The initial Climate Response Centre also incorporates a Green Café that provides a friendly social environment where climate change responding stakeholders, friends, allies, and colleagues gather to problem-solve and build a more resilient future for their communities. The family friendly Green Cafe will include arts and culture programming, and welcome out-of-town visitors. The goal of a social amenity at the Centre is to complement the programs with an informal environment in which people can gather and get to know one another.
Progress To Date
– Agreement reached with The Climate Museum of New York;
– Discussions with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) have identified key components of the Nation’s potential exhibits;
– In January 2025, the GTEC Board of Directors will include a member from the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation);
– Discussions are underway on several fronts about the pro bono/low-cost use of space for an initial pop-up version of the Climate Response Centre. These discussions are guided by GTEC Advisor and former City of Vancouver General Manager Community Services, Jackie Forbes Roberts and, more recently, have involved the Association of Neighbourhood Houses Executive Director Liz Lougheed Green;
– Initial funding suppport has been provided by the Trottier and Wellspring Foundations;
– A draft implementation business plan is available for interested partners.
Help us make the Climate Response Centre a reality! Follow this link to support GTEC and our projects. Or contact us for more information.