We’re All in This Together… Now What?, the final webinar of Creatively United’s Climate and Artists fourth season, explores how we can collectively reduce our carbon footprint by 40% by 2030 and transformatively shift to healthier…
How to deal with Freedom of Speech and Liars I am a dual citizen, born and raised in New England, the son of French Canadian grandparents and, since 1980, I am a Canadian citizen living on beautiful Vancouver Island. I love my dual heritage, warts and all. I am... Read more
MPs from across most of the political parties have come together to organize a National Day of Action to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies on Tuesday, May 3rd. For context, MP Laurel Collins introduced a study on fossil fuel subsidies at the Environment Committee and wants to... Read more
All of us can contribute to a healthy environment in our communities. CENiC—the Citizens’ Environment Network in Colwood—is celebrating the efforts of some of the community leaders who are showing the way. Colwood residents Abby and Roger St. Pierre were recently... Read more
Do you feel paralyzed when you can’t see a solution or a way forward with the seemingly endless bad news? Creatively United’s founder and webinar host, Frances Litman, is dedicated to showcasing and sharing positive solutions that offer transformational... Read more
The 10 year anniversary of Creatively United for the Planet’s first Earth Day event was celebrated with an incredible panel of youth voices that featured five young Canadian changemakers working in creative ways to help amplify youth voices…
We are seeking more volunteers, especially for our Monday markets at Gorge Park! Volunteering is a great way to get involved to help develop a more sustainable food system and help create a vibrant farmers market and community gathering space. We could always use... Read more
Thank you to everyone who has lent their support, time, and talent to Creatively United over the years! It takes a village! Photos by: Matthew Davies, Mo Parker, Melawend Photography, Daniel Etiene, and Frances... Read more
Right now, globally, we have experienced global warming of about 1.1 C, and we saw last summer here in B.C. what that can mean. Two recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change paint a grim picture.
Housing is fundamental to health. That should not be a surprise, especially in a country with Canada’s climate. The health impacts of being homeless or living in poor-quality housing are well understood, and must be obvious to anyone. But it is not just homelessness that is a concern — there is a much larger problem of affordability. Lack of affordable housing can markedly affect people’s physical, mental and social wellbeing.
Join Christine Lowther, Tofino’s Poet Laureate for the launch of Worth More Standing: Poets and Activists Pay Homage to Trees Anthology. About this event The launch of Worth More Standing: Poets and Activists Pay Homage to Trees will open at 12:30 p.m. and the... Read more
Housing That Heals the Future features nine inspiring interviews on a wide range of projects that are charting the future towards healthier, happier communities. This information rich webinar also includes the incredible new six-minute film, The Animal Forest Campaign... Read more
A few weeks ago, before Russia invaded Ukraine and began committing war crimes that have shocked the world (in a way that should have but, to our shame, did not shock the world when Russia did the same thing in Chechnya and Syria), I was writing about inequality and health in the context of creating a wellbeing society.
Seed the City is a program for high school students where they can gain work experience in gardening and farming, earn credits towards graduation, and become part of the local food movement in their city. During this 8-week summer program, students build community and... Read more
The CRD’s Regional Parks Strategic Planning process is underway and the need to ensure biodiversity is the primary objective in our parks can not be understated. The CRD’s current public survey (due April 4th) is open to interpretation and written in a... Read more
Join us for the Global Climate Strike on Friday, March 25, 2022 as we demand policymakers and world leaders to prioritize #PeopleNotProfit! The catastrophic climate scenario that we are living in is the result of centuries of exploitation and oppression through... Read more
BCers are invited to join a virtual group of 6-10 people who will come together for 28 days to take daily action on personal sustainability and community engagement. Participation is free and groups are supported by experienced facilitators. We’ll use the... Read more
This is a short poem to remind us about all the little things that make our hearts sing, a short poem to encourage us to reflect on what we can say and do to leave a better world for all the little things that make our hearts sing.
We welcome all grade 6-12 students in Greater Victoria to participate in the One Planet Living Student Challenge. Thanks for sharing this information with students or teachers in Greater Victoria. Students can enter one of two categories (video or illustration) – to... Read more
In this toolkit, you will find template emails, shareable graphics, quick links and template social media posts to amplify the response from Gidimt’en Checkpoint. WET’SUWET’EN HEREDITARY CHIEF’S MET WITH RBC In this toolkit, you will find template emails, shareable... Read more
I write my weekly columns a week or so before they are published, and submit them five days ahead. So when I wrote my column last week, while there was always the possibility of Russia invading Ukraine, there was still some hope that the Madman of Moscow would not actually do so.
CRD Parks is NOW seeking public input on a proposed vision, values, mission statement and priorities for our Regional Parks. Recently there has been pressure on the CRD Board to ‘balance’ recreational use with conservation. At a time when biodiversity is globally... Read more
At the event, the “Ministry of Just Transition” will present a 3-year update on what it has accomplished since its inception in 2022. The climate champions leading the charge will share progress updates on the new programs and institutions they have created by the... Read more
The topic of rewilding will be discussed at a forum to be hosted on Zoom by the Highlands District Community Association (HDCA) on March 15 starting at 7:00 pm. As part of the HDCA Speakers’ Series, the Rewilding Forum will feature two local conservation and... Read more
Given the well-documented relationship between high levels of inequality and poor health and social outcomes in high-income countries, which I discussed last week, high levels of inequality cannot be tolerated. But as I also noted last week, the World Inequality Report 2022 states simply: “Inequality is a political choice, not an inevitability.”
This song is the result of the convergence of various aspects of my life: a forty-plus-year career in forest fire research, dabbling in writing song lyrics, a love of music and collaborating with others. The lyrics for Tree of Life came about in response to a challenge from a friend to write about a topic I know well: BC’s old growth forests. A local songwriter, Sian Elen, agreed to set the lyrics to music…
Close to 600 artful solutions to the climate crisis by participants from Victoria, British Columbia and abroad will be displayed in The Postcard Climate Show at Gage Gallery, Victoria, BC, from February 22 until March 6, 2022.
I’m a Métis singer/songwriter from Victoria/Vancouver BC. Recently, I’ve been blessed to spend 60 days in my car feeling and learning about homelessness and have now become a humanitarian and advocate for many causes! I recently met a lady in a wheelchair at the... Read more
Last week, I described the growing global attention to the concept of a well-being society and economy. The latter has already been the focus of work by several national governments. In particular, New Zealand (Aotearoa) was the first country in the world to develop and present…
We wanted to share some exciting news with you in hopes that you may share it to your circles, as well as in any upcoming e-newsletters. POLIS is collaborating with the University of Victoria Sustainability Project, the Canadian Freshwater Alliance, and the Cowichan... Read more
Dear Friend of the HeArt, Greetings! The year 2020 was grappled with the global pandemic and we were caught in the midst of it when we moved from one island to another – to settle at my mother’s hometown; a farming community located 35 miles from the capital city of... Read more
Happy Lunar New Year ! Let’s spread good fortune and support Asian-owned businesses, Asian artists and BIPOC organizations in 2022 Hi there My name is Ella and I am the social media coordinator for CU I am half-Korean and my step family is Chinese, so I am lucky to... Read more
Learn how communities around the world are developing new solutions to mitigate risks by working with nature. Water is the essence of life. Rivers are the arteries of life. Coasts are the gateway to the oceans. All three ecosystems are threatened by the climate crisis — more severe droughts…
The Little Creek that Could is a children’s story written by Mark Angelo celebrating his life long commitment to bringing degraded urban streams back to life. Mark Angelo is a globally renowned conservationist, teacher and writer who is an Order of Canada recipient... Read more
The BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy today released a Discussion Paper on Watershed Security and and associated Fund to support community engagement in watershed management across the province.
I am now of the view that the scientifically validated discovery of nonhuman sentience and intelligence in the natural world offers the greatest potential for transformation in natural and cultural interpretation and education since the rise of the ecological movement... Read more
I have recently come across a new source of information, inspiration, and opportunity to act. Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) is a relatively new non-profit environmental group. They have just been granted charitable tax status. The executive director is Ken Wu. One of the science advisors is Andy MacKinnon. To me, those participants signal knowledge, integrity, courage, and smart ideas.
Congratulations to Vancouver’s sixth and Poet Laureate, Fiona Tinwei Lam. Fiona has been a guest on CreativelyUnited.org Climate & Artists Series free webinars. She just launched a new competition for young, emerging and established wordsmiths as her legacy... Read more
On January 24, 2020, School District 61 Trustees will be deciding on the sale of a parcel of 1.9 acres of publicly-owned land and section of Bowker Creek at Lansdowne South (previously Richmond Elementary School) We have been told that the number of emails the School... Read more
With more than 80 million views since its release on December 24th, the film Don’t Look Up has become one of the top three films ever shown on Netflix. It is a brilliant parody on our inability as a global community to focus on an immediate existential threat to... Read more
I have been struggling since the beginning of the pandemic to find meaning in, and to give value to this transformational moment in the human journey. At last, after many months, I have got as far as an outline, at least, for a personal approach to dealing with the accelerating…
Next week the federal government’s online consultation on our 2030 climate targets closes. It’s a crucial opportunity for us to have our say about Canada’s climate targets and the plan to reach them. The consultation was launched under the radar in December, and... Read more
… well, world peace, of course; an end to poverty, hatred and discrimination in all its forms; reconciliation with Indigenous people in Canada and around the world; serious action on climate change, an end to the ravaging of nature…
On Sunday evening, I will gather with others in our neighbourhood at Lights on the Gorge, our annual event to mark the midwinter solstice. We will light some of the trees along Gorge Road, sing songs appropriate to midwinter and the solstice and have a lantern parade for the kids.
Eight cellists from University of Victoria Cello class, under the direction of Pamela Highbaugh Aloni, recently debuted a new composition by Hollas Longton, featuring the poems of Creatively United’s Frances Litman. he commission, funded by the Gail O’Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund, is presented…
