The SPARK initiative

SPARK supports collaborative environmental work shaped by community priorities, existing relationships and the knowledge of faculty, students and partners.

Through small, flexible investments of funding, student time and other support, SPARK helps move work forward that may be difficult to begin, sustain or develop through conventional research funding.

Why the initiative exists

Some environmental initiatives begin before there is a fully developed project or formal funding proposal.

It may begin with a conversation, an emerging community priority, a relationship that needs time to develop or a practical opportunity that cannot wait for a lengthy funding process. These early and often less visible stages of collaboration can be essential, but they are not always well supported through conventional grants.

This initiative creates room for that work. It helps people explore ideas, strengthen relationships, involve students, develop useful resources and respond when a relatively small amount of support can make a meaningful difference.

Community priorities and the knowledge and responsibilities of those involved help shape the work from the outset.

Projects and resources

SPARK has supported work across the School in areas including ecological resilience, Indigenous authority, environmental justice, stewardship, policy, restoration and student learning. We are beginning to bring selected projects, resources and learning together here so that useful work can be more easily found and shared.

We share these projects not simply to celebrate outcomes, but to make the learning useful. Meaningful collaboration often involves uncertainty, adjustment and lessons that emerge over time — experiences that can be valuable to others doing related work.

Changemakers Library

The Changemakers Library is an open-access resource featuring stories of successful community-scale change. Developed as a teaching and learning tool for students, educators, and community members, the project is expanding with a companion curricular guide to support changemaking education in classrooms and communities.

Galiano Conservancy Knowledge Hub

The Galiano Conservancy Association Knowledge Hub is an online archive that makes more than a decade of student and community-engaged research publicly accessible. By bringing together reports, data, and restoration knowledge in one place, the hub supports ongoing stewardship, research, and learning.

Community Bioblitz Toolkit

Drawing on experience from biodiversity surveys and community science projects across British Columbia, this toolkit provides practical guidance for organizing and reporting bioblitz events. Available in print and video formats, the resource helps communities, educators, and organizations collect and share high-quality biodiversity data in support of local conservation efforts.

Cultural and Community-Based Fire Report

SPARK-supported work has brought together Indigenous organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and fire practitioners to identify barriers and opportunities for cultural and community-based fire stewardship. An emerging report from the project will support future collaboration, knowledge sharing, and regional dialogue on prescribed and cultural fire practices.

How SPARK works

Based in the School of Environmental Studies, SPARK supports projects that are partner-driven and faculty-enabled. Community partners help shape the priorities, questions and uses of the work, while faculty bring established relationships, relevant knowledge and responsibility for work undertaken through UVic.

Collaborations may involve Indigenous Nations and organizations, community groups, public bodies, non-profit organizations and other researchers. Undergraduate and graduate students contribute research, creativity and practical capacity while gaining experience in community-engaged environmental work.

Each collaboration takes shape around the people involved and the work itself.

Our approach is guided by four principles:

Relational
Strong environmental work depends on trust, listening and responsibilities built over time. Relationships are not simply a step on the way to a project; they are part of the work.

Responsive
Community and environmental priorities do not always follow funding schedules. SPARK can provide timely support for emerging needs, opportunities and collaborations.

Experimental
Not every worthwhile idea begins with a predictable outcome. SPARK supports careful exploration, testing and learning, including work that does not yet fit the requirements of a larger grant

Practical
SPARK helps develop useful resources, such as maps, guides, reports and teaching materials, and supports sharing them with people who can use them. Not every project or result will be public: decisions about what is shared should reflect the wishes, responsibilities and consent of those involved.

What it can support

The initiative supports different stages of collaborative environmental work.

Beginning a conversation or exploring an idea
This may include relationship-building, preliminary meetings, project scoping, early research, workshops or other work needed to understand whether and how an idea should move forward.

Moving existing work forward
Support may help add student time, bring people together, undertake a specific piece of research or analysis, develop a practical resource or address a gap that is holding useful work back.

Building on what has been learned
Where previous work has created a promising direction, the initiative may help deepen the collaboration, make an output more useful or accessible, or support a next stage of work.

The initiative is not a conventional granting agency and does not replace larger research funding. Its role is to make space for timely, focused work that might otherwise be difficult to support.

Connect with SPARK

SPARK projects usually grow through existing relationships and are anchored by faculty in Environmental Studies. If you already work with someone in the School, you are welcome to start the conversation with them.

For general questions about SPARK or connections with the School, contact ses@uvic.ca.

SPARK grew from the Environmental Transformation Hub (ETH) initiative, established with support from a generous donation.