In 2025-2026, the FEELed Lab is extending its commitment to centering syilx-led work towards (what settlers call) climate justice in several ways. This includes support to a series of ‘Land as Teacher’ experiential land-based workshops hosted at the FEELed Lab and specifically designed and lead by IndigenEYEZ to encourage settlers to move beyond Land Acknowledgements in developing their relationships to syilx land.
As we extend this work, it aims to create an archive of resources on syilx approaches to Land and climate justice. With the support of the UBC Centre for Climate Justice (CCJ) and the UBCO Principal’s Research Chair in Communities, Justice and Sustainability, two Graduate Research Assistants (Lola Melchior and Robin Metcalfe) are also taking steps to enliven UBC Okanagan climate justice graduate student community and promote collaboration with the CCJ.
Depending on resources and graduate students’ preferences, this will include looking at opportunities such as teach-ins, creative workshops, and potential collaborations with the Climate Solutions Scholars program and other sustainability and climate justice initiatives in the campus community.
In October, Lola and Robin organized two gatherings to hear from graduate students about what climate justice community can mean for them. You can read more about what we discussed in those meetings in this FEELed Note. An emphasis surfaced around deepening the justice orientation, looking at the framing around climate action and making the justice issues more explicit in this effort. As we move forward, we want to hear more from UBCO graduate students.
What tools or formats can we create together to strengthen the community?
This project is supported by the Principal’s Research Chair in Communities, Justice and Sustainability, The Centre for Climate Justice and the FEELed Lab.
The FEELed lab 