🌎Climate Action Week at VPL: From November 1 to 7, explore ways to learn and take climate action through sustainable transportation workshops, art and more at library branches across Vancouver. Check out VPL's recommended books and find events in our "Local Green Opportunities" section.

📑 Emergency Preparedness Report: UBC, in partnership with the Vancouver Emergency Management Agency, released the results of last year’s Emergency Preparedness Survey. The report offers insights that will be used to improve community-based preparedness and readiness for climate hazards and emergencies.

Do you remember the atmospheric river Vancouver experienced last fall? With over 200 mm of rainfall soaking the lower mainland in one day, our green rainwater infrastructure across the city was put to the test.

This October, the City is launching Rainspection — a new community science program that helps us monitor how well local rain gardens are capturing and filtering rainwater runoff.

Climate change is causing more frequent, intense rainfall events. As a Rainspector, your observations will provide valuable, on-the-ground data to City staff, helping us improve rain garden maintenance and designs across Vancouver. It’s an easy, impactful way to contribute to climate adaptation and help improve water quality.

GET INVOLVED
Become a Rainspector! No experience is needed and it just takes a few minutes:

• Choose a rain garden near you to observe during and after it rains.
• Take photos or videos to show how the garden is performing.
• Complete a short online checklist.

SUPPORTING: CLIMATE ADAPTATION

The City of Vancouver is inviting the public to review and share feedback on the draft Vancouver Official Development Plan (ODP), a city-wide land use plan that will guide how Vancouver grows and changes over the next 30 years and beyond, mapping out where things like housing, jobs, parks and schools can go.

The ODP is the next step in implementing the vision of the Vancouver Plan, and builds on years of engagement with the public, community groups, businesses and equity-deserving groups.  Like the Vancouver Plan, at the centre of the ODP are the Three Big Ideas: equitable housing and complete and connected communities; an economy that works for all; and restored ecosystems.

Planning for complete and connected communities supports our Climate Emergency Action Plan target to ensure that 90% of Vancouver residents can live within an easy walk or roll to their daily needs by 2030.

GET INVOLVED 
Share your thoughts on the draft ODP: 

• Complete the survey by October 29. 
• Attend an open house at locations throughout the city or virtually. 
• Sign up for the mailing list and stay tuned on future updates.

SUPPORTING: CLIMATE EMERGENCY

Vancouver’s School Active Travel Program is expanding two initiatives to promote safe, fun and climate-friendly ways for students to get to school this fall:

• School Slow Zones on Arterials: Building on the success of previous years, the School Slow Zones program is expanding speed limit reductions to 13 more corridors, covering 15 schools. Slower vehicle speeds dramatically improve safety for students walking, biking and rolling to school.
• School Streets: We're encouraging active travel with the return of Spring School Street activations at several schools and the launch of the first year-round School Streets pilot program at Lord Selkirk Elementary. The program transforms one street next to schools into a car-free zone during drop-off and pick-up times on school days, creating a safe space for families to walk, bike and roll.

Choosing active transportation can reduce traffic congestion, cut carbon and air pollution and help contribute to our goal to make two-thirds of trips in Vancouver by active transportation and transit by 2030.
 
GET INVOLVED
Want to encourage more walking, biking and rolling to your school? Complete an Expression of Interest for your school to participate in Spring School Streets by November 7.

SUPPORTING: CLIMATE EMERGENCY, VISION ZERO

The City of Vancouver has just published its annual Transportation Snapshot, highlighting the city's evolving transportation landscape, key trends, initiatives and achievements in 2024.
Here are some notable milestones from 2024:

• 52% of all daily trips in Vancouver were made by walking, biking, rolling and transit.
• Metro Vancouver recorded the second highest per capita transit ridership in Canada at nearly 241 million transit trips.
• 22 accessible landing pads were installed to make getting on and off the bus safer and more comfortable.
• Over 10,000 rides were taken on Lime, Vancouver’s newly launched shared electric scooter system.
• Over 1.1 million trips were taken via the Mobi by Rogers public bikeshare system.
• Safety upgrades, such as new walking and cycling paths (including the Granville Connector), new or improved traffic signals and slower speed limits, are making it safer and easier for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike and roll around the city.

These advancements are vital in helping Vancouver achieve our Climate Emergency Action Plan target of two-thirds of all daily trips made by active transportation and transit by 2030.

GET INVOLVED
Learn more about the latest trends, projects, and the city’s ongoing commitment to sustainable transportation in the full report. Find past annual Transportation Snapshots here.

SUPPORTING: CLIMATE EMERGENCY

Nature is for Everyone Planting
📅 October 18
Help Free the Fern plant hundreds of native plants along the Red Alder Trail in South Vancouver. Gloves, tools, snacks and drinks provided. All ages and abilities welcome.
📍Douglas Fir Teaching Garden
 
Halloween Free Swap
📅October 25
Swap your gently used Halloween costumes, accessories and decorations for a zero-waste Halloween! Participants are welcome to leave 2 items per person and take as many as they like.
📍Renfrew Community Centre
 
Climate Action Dialogues: Climate Action Under Pressure
📅October 29
Hear from a panel of experts and network with climate-minded individuals at this dialogue focusing on issues like climate investments, clean energy progress and the trends shaping our collective future.
📍UBC Robson Square
 
Documentary: Incandescence
📅 October 23
Watch Incandescence, a documentary that weaves on-the-ground footage of wildfires, with first-person accounts from Indigenous Elders, first responders and ordinary people responding to climate change. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow.
📍Central Library
 
Going Green: Sustainable Choices for End-of-Life
📅November 1 at Kensington Library
📅November 8 at Dunbar Library
Learn about sustainable end-of-life arrangements with a death educator as part of VPL Climate Action Week.
 
Eco-Voyage: Sustainable Journeys for All
📅November 3 at Britannia Library
📅November 4 at Champlain Heights Library
📅November 6 at South Hill Library
Are you a newcomer learning to navigate Vancouver? Learn about Vancouver’s public transit system and car and bike share opportunities to move sustainably, with confidence.
 
K.A. Colorado: Portraying Climate Change Through Art
📅November 4
Join artist and poet K.A. Colorado for a talk on how art can serve as a powerful lens for understanding and responding to the climate crisis.
📍Mount Pleasant Library

Close the Divide
📅November 7
Watch Close the Divide, a documentary unveiling a gripping journey to bridge the deep divide on climate change, revealing how uniting diverse perspectives can spark innovative solutions in the clean energy transition. VPL Climate Action Week event.
📍Mount Pleasant Library
 
Invasive Pull and Planting
📅November 8
Join the Everett Crowley Park Committee to plant native shrubs and learn about the history and ecology of Everett Crowley Park. Gloves, tools and light refreshments are provided.
📍Champlain Heights Community Centre
 
Youth Climate Ambassadors
📅 Ongoing
Register your high school class or youth extracurricular group for Youth Climate Ambassador Program workshops, facilitated by UBC students in partnership with Be the Change Earth Alliance and the UBC Sustainability Hub.

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