Workshops

Confirmed workshops - More will be added as workshops are being confirmed by organizers

#15 - Creating Climate Resilience: An Arts-based Approach to Addressing Climate Emotions

Facilitator(s): Sabrina Guzman¹

Affiliation(s): ¹University of Victoria

As inheritors of the climate crisis, young people in particular are struggling with disproportionately high rates of climate anxiety and related forms of eco-distress triggered by current and anticipated climate impacts. This can have a myriad of short-long term impacts, including burnout, apathy, PTSD and disruption of daily functioning (ability to eat, sleep etc.) In her thesis, Sabrina Guzman Skotnitsky (M.A. in Environmental Studies, 2025) investigated can visual artmaking and dialogue help young people cope with climate anxiety and related eco-emotions? Furthermore, in what ways can these arts-based approaches help youth generate active hope? Mobilizing methods from Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and arts-based research (ABR) her project engaged youth ages 17 - 21 in so-called Victoria in a series of artmaking sessions in Fall 2023. Participants were provided the space and materials to discuss and create artworks about climate emotions, particularly climate anxiety and their visions for what a climate resilient and socially just future could look like. Her findings support existing evidence from psychology, social work, art therapy and related fields of the power of arts-based approaches for healing, resilience-building and fostering community among people who share similar mental health challenges. This conference session will include a short presentation on Sabrina’s thesis “Creating Climate Resilience: An Arts-based Approach for Helping Youth Process Climate Anxiety and Generate Active Hope” followed by an interactive artmaking activity employing her novel approach.

Attendees will take away 1) A greater appreciation for the unique challenges but also the strengths of youth living through the climate crisis, 2) Ideas of how to integrate arts-based approaches in research, pedagogy and/or practice and 3) A list of climate-aware mental health resources. They will also get to take home artwork they will produce in the session, exploring their own relationship to their climate emotions.

#48: Advancing Biodiversity Research through Community Mapping

Facilitators: Lily Charette¹, Crystal Tremblay¹, Bianca Gunther¹, Pamela Spalding¹, David Castle¹, Bethany Woodbridge¹, Walter Lepore¹, Albert Ugochukwu¹, Eva Shaffer¹, Brennah Agnew¹

Affiliation: University of Victoria

Description: BIOSCAN is an international biodiversity genomics initiative to build reference libraries of biological diversity. To foster this work, biodiversity scientists work with communities around the world to sample and sequence biodiversity. Integrated into this project is the recognition of diverse knowledge systems and cultural perspectives, an approach that recognizes that multiple forms of value are associated with nature - cultural, spiritual, social, and ecological - beyond just monetary considerations. Understanding these diverse values is essential for stewardship practices that honour place-based relationships and Indigenous self-determination and rights. Our UVic team specifically focuses on partnerships with Indigenous peoples using tools like participatory community mapping to support Indigenous-led biodiversity stewardship and monitoring.This interactive session will blend case study presentations with hands-on learning. Drawing on First Nations partnership experiences, we will facilitate a lively discussion exploring community mapping applications, the evolving role of researchers working in community contexts, and the benefits of community-centred research approaches. Following the presentation, participants will engage in a community mapping activity that introduces various mapping methods supporting land stewardship and biodiversity protection. Through this experiential learning, participants will gain insights into how participatory mapping can advance both research outcomes and community priorities.

#108 - Walking Otherwise: Feminist and Participatory Walking Methods in Victoria

Facilitator(s): Robin Westland¹, Jennifer Mateer², "Adrienne" Johnson³

Affiliation(s): ¹Thompson River University, ²Brandon University, ³Wilfrid Laurier University

Description: This participatory walking session invites delegates to “walk otherwise” by exploring feminist and participatory walking methods in Victoria. Drawing inspiration from the Participatory Geographies Research Group's walking workshops in Birmingham and from the work of Morag Rose, Aled Singleton, and Stephanie Springgay & Sarah Truman, this session uses the city as a living laboratory for thinking-and-moving through place. Participants will experiment with walking as a mode of inquiry: sensing power, memory, accessibility, and belonging in urban space. The workshop foregrounds feminist, decolonial, queer, crip, and more-than-human perspectives to challenge assumptions about that everyone moves or experiences the city in the same way. The session includes an opening orientation, guided walks in small thematic groups, and a collective reflection in a nearby public space where participants will have the opportunity to co-create and contribute to a Zine. Zines are DIY pamphlets or booklets that contain colourful text and dramatic images. They have roots in the informal, underground scenes of science fiction, and the social and political activism movements of feminist punk and homocore. Our vision is to have all conference participants contribute to a ‘living’ zine throughout the CAG conference through which we will capture and archive special conference moments and experiences. In practical terms, we propose to have a table set up in a central conference location that will host the zine and FIGS / SOGS volunteers. The station will be equipped with craft materials such as paper, magazines, glue, markers, and stickers. Workshop and conference participants will be invited to stop by and contribute to the zine such in the form of drawing, poetry, text, etc. At the end of the conference, we will print the zine and distribute it to conference participants.

#75: Walking Resilience: Health, Ecology, and Story in Mystic Vale

Facilitator(s): Evan J Hoskins¹

Affiliation(s): ¹University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC)

Description: Background in an era of climate change, habitat loss, and widening health inequities, resilience is not only ecological—it is cultural and relational. Mystic Vale, a vital urban park adjacent to UVic campus, offers a living example of how land, water, and community intersect. This session invites participants to explore resilience through multiple lenses: human health research, Indigenous ecological knowledge, watershed science, and human geography. Resilience depends on integrated thinking across disciplines. Human geography reminds us that places are not neutral—they shape and are shaped by cultural narratives, health outcomes, and stewardship practices. By walking through Mystic Vale, participants will engage with the land as a text—considering how stories, species, and streams inform wellbeing and how urban green spaces function as critical geographies of resilience. This approach reflects anti-colonial and health humanities frameworks that emphasize relational accountability and ecological justice. What Will Happen, Participants will join a 45-minute guided walk through Mystic Vale. Along the trail, presenters will share: Human health perspectives (Evan J, PhD student at UNBC): How access to green spaces supports mental and physical wellbeing, and why narrative approaches matter for health equity. Indigenous ecological knowledge (Ben Olsen, SX̱I¸HOLEȾEP, ecologist with Tsartlip First Nation): Teachings about land stewardship, cultural resilience, and the restoration of lands on Vancouver Island.Watershed science (Katrina Adams, Senior Aquatic Biologist, Peninsula Streams Society): Insights into stream restoration, biodiversity, and community-led conservation as strategies for ecological resilience. Expected Outcomes Participants will leave with practical and conceptual tools for integrating land-based learning into research, education, and policy. They will gain a deeper understanding of how ecological health, cultural knowledge, and human wellbeing are interconnected—and why these connections matter for resilience in a changing world.

#78: Planning communities with participatory mapping through a gender perspective lens

Facilitator: Carolina Monteiro de Carvalho

Affiliation: University of Victoria

Description: This workshop aims to present the concepts of participatory mapping applied to urban planning with a gender perspective. Through a combination of theoretical discussion and practical participatory approaches and participatory mapping exercises, participants will explore how participatory methods (specially the mapping) can serve as a powerful tool to identify and address the unique needs, experiences, and challenges faced by women and gender diverse groups within urban environments. The session will delve into methodologies that empower community members—particularly women, gender-diverse, and marginalized populations—to actively contribute to the planning process, ensuring that their voices inform decisions about public spaces, transport, safety, and accessibility. By highlighting case studies, the workshop will demonstrate how integrating a gender lens into participatory mapping fosters more equitable and inclusive urban development benefiting society in general. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding participatory methods suitable to implement gender-sensitive planning initiatives in our cities. Suggested program is: A short theoretical background about participatory mapping and other approaches that can be integrated into it, an overview about urban planning with a gender perspective lens and participatory mapping exercises applied to identify places in Victoria and other cities where a change is needed. Lastly, we will work in groups to build local proposals for urban planning considering the mapped information.