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New Grants Support Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Climate Resilience
New Grants Support Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Climate Resilience
At their June 2022 meeting, the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s Board of Governors approved 34 grants totalling $2,177,114.
This funding supports applied research, public education, and policy and law reform to advance sustainable, equitable, and socially just land use and real estate with a view to upholding Indigenous rights and title and racial equity and justice.
Including these latest grants, REFBC has awarded more than $100 million to non-profit organizations working to strengthen BC communities and protect our shared land and water.
The Summer 2022 grants are listed alphabetically by recipient organization below.
The BC Society of Transition Houses will create a design toolkit in support of a women-centered approach to building affordable housing. ($20,000)
The Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable will support equitable access to land for local food production and the inclusion of Indigenous foodways in the development of a regional foodland trust. ($150,000)
The Community Energy Association will pilot the Retrofit Assist program, a one-stop shop for homeowners undertaking energy-efficiency upgrades, in New Westminster, Squamish, and Whistler. ($115,000)
The Cowichan Watershed Board will support formalizing the decision-making authority of Cowichan Tribes in the Cowichan and Koksilah watersheds through the development of a water sustainability plan and co-ownership of a replacement weir. ($180,000)
Create Climate Equity will provide linguistically and culturally appropriate workshops on home energy efficiency and costs to racialized immigrants in the Lower Mainland. ($75,000)
The David Suzuki Foundation will produce a series of videos to educate Canadians about the governance ramifications of modern Treaties, historical Treaties, and untreatied lands. ($20,000)
The Elk River Alliance will revamp its community-based water monitoring program in order to better contribute to the goals of the multi-stakeholder Elk River Watershed Monitoring Collaborative. ($20,000)
The Fraser Basin Council will provide community training, facilitate peer networking and learning, and produce case studies on energy-efficient housing in Indigenous communities as part of the First Nations Home EnergySave program. ($150,000)
The Fraser River Discovery Centre Society will develop the River Champions program to engage students in the Fraser River basin and facilitate the sharing of stories and knowledge from Indigenous perspectives. ($30,000)
Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society will engage Indigenous knowledge holders to explore how schoolyard farms can support Indigenous food sovereignty and decolonization. ($20,000)
Kanaka Bar Band (T’eqt’aqtn’mux) will rebuild local food systems for community resilience in the face of the climate emergency and in response to major wildfire, drought, and flood impacts. ($60,000)
The Little Shuswap Lake Band (Skwlax) will engage the community on the vision, planning, and design for the future Secwepemcúlecw Heritage Centre. ($20,000)
The Living Lab Project at the University of Victoria will connect and support experiential learning programs that advance Indigenous-led land stewardship in the Capital Regional District and Gulf Islands-ṮEṮÁĆES region. ($225,000)
Moccasin Footprint Society will produce a documentary, The Spirit Who Swims, celebrating the reciprocal relationship between Indigenous peoples and salmon in the Fraser River. ($20,000)
The Na̲nwak̲olas Council will train Guardians to identify, document, manage, and protect important cultural and ecological sites in Aweenak’ola (“the lands we are on”). ($100,000)
Nawalakw Culture Project, hosted by MakeWay Charitable Society, will promote local food security and build capacity for land stewardship among Kwakwaka̱’wa̱kw people. ($20,000)
North Shore Community Resources Society will host forums to generate dialogue and build mutual understanding about the housing affordability crisis. ($17,000)
The North Wind Wellness Centre Society will develop an Indigenous-focused agricultural skills and healing program as a part of the ARCH (Addiction Recovery Community Housing) model of treatment. ($20,000)
Prince George Community Partners Addressing Homelessness Society will convene stakeholders to build consensus around the design of a one-stop homelessness crisis coordination centre. ($17,114)
Raincoast Conservation Foundation, in partnership with the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council, will lead CENENITEL, a collaborative project emphasizing Indigenous leadership in the protection of lands for ecological integrity and climate resilience in the southern Gulf Islands. ($50,000)
RAVEN will provide research and communications support for the Gitxaała Nation’s legal challenge of the Mineral Tenure Act with respect to the Crown’s duty to consult and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ($20,000)
Reel Youth, a project hosted by MakeWay Charitable Society, will offer an online film program that will see participants, including Indigenous youth and Elders, from across BC contemplate the Indigenous context of their local area and create video poems about reconciliation. ($20,000)
RESEAU Centre for Mobilizing Innovation will work with First Nations youth to articulate water-health issues in their communities by developing vocabularies and datasets for machine learning and mapping interactive webs of knowledge and relationships. ($75,000)
Roots to Roofs Community Development Society will scale up the “Resources Group” model to increase the capacity to build climate-resilient housing and carry out deep retrofits in First Nations communities. ($150,000)
The Society for Children and Youth of BC will pilot a Play Streets initiative in low-income Vancouver neighbourhoods and deliver seminars on child-friendly community planning for local government staff. ($34,000)
The Squamish Nation (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw) will develop the Wa Lhkwáyel Skwiyíńtsut (Climate Action Strategy) to support community resilience and contribute to the global target of net-zero emissions by 2050. ($150,000)
The Stein-Nahatlatch IPCA Initiative, hosted by MakeWay Charitable Society, will work toward the establishment of an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area in the territories of the Nlaka’pamux, St’át’imc, and Stó:lō peoples. ($80,000)
Swepath Sustainable Housing Society will undertake research and engagement to help Indigenous Elders and young families at risk of homelessness access or retain housing in the Fraser Valley. ($20,000)
The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association will support the Thompson-Nicola Conservation Collaborative as it develops a Priority Ecosystems Mapping Tool to aid in sustainable long-term land-use planning. ($53,000)
The Trails Society of BC will provide opportunities for Indigenous women to engage Indigenous youth in Metro Vancouver, the Okanagan, and along Highway 16 with respect to outdoor recreation and trail projects. ($60,000)
The Ts’msyen Culture Society will initiate a youth-led response to food security and sovereignty challenges in the Gitga’at, Gitxaala, Lax Kw’alaams, and Metlakatla First Nations. ($55,000)
West Coast Environmental Law Association will continue to cohost the Living Dikes Roundtable and provide legal support to the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance in order to advance nature-based solutions for climate adaptation, ecological restoration, and flood management informed by Indigenous laws. ($80,000)
The Xeni Gwet’in First Nation Government will implement high-priority action items in the Xeni Gwet’in Watershed Plan and take steps to protect important water bodies. ($45,000)
Zero Waste BC Association will convene Indigenous and local government leaders and waste management and circular economy experts, produce a policy brief, and help inform the BC government’s forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy. ($6,000)
Looking for project funding?
Our upcoming Real Estate Industry Grant application cycle is set for fall 2022. This intake will be open to regional real estate boards, the BC Real Estate Association, and the Real Estate Institute of BC.
Our next General Grant intake takes place in early 2023.
For information on eligibility and funding priorities, visit refbc.com/grants or email grants@refbc.com to discuss your project idea.
[In the photo: Elk River Alliance volunteer Chris Bush samples Lizard Creek for benthic invertebrates. Chad Hughes and Kaileigh McCallum are at the ready for sample processing.]
Published on: July 2, 2022
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