Grant: Catalyst Grant: CBR in Climate Change Priority Area - Climate Justice

There are known health benefits to spending time in nature, particularly for children. Despite this, there is unequal access to nature in cities, with greater numbers of trees and parks in higher income regions. During climate-related events such as the heat dome of 2021, regions with fewer trees have higher temperatures, increasing risk of heat injuries. School grounds provide an opportunity to reach all children and adolescents in an area in an equitable way. The BC Parks Foundation has secured funds to pilot increasing the natural elements at public school grounds. The purpose of this project is to develop a plan, in collaboration with the BC Parks Foundation, to ensure children and adolescents who need access to nature the most, get this access first, and make sure that they are receiving the intended benefits of the nature. We will use previously collected information about child and adolescent health and development, historical weather and temperature data, and maps of tree canopies in cities to determine which secondary schools would benefit the most from adding nature to the school grounds. Along with our community partners group, we will co-develop strategies to evaluate the success of adding nature to school grounds, and how best to expand the scope of this project to schools across BC, and ultimately nationally. This will be informed by teacher and secondary student community advisory boards formed to support this project. We co-write applications for further funding for this project to support the long-term success of it. Our long-term goal is that all children across the country have easy access to nature and receive the long-term health benefits of this access.