UVic researchers awarded $800K for advancing climate solutions

The University of Victoria (UVic) has announced that eight research teams at the university will receive $800,000 from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PCIS).

According to the University, the projects will study critical climate issues, opportunities and solutions.

The projects’ topics include economic transitions, the effect of wildfire on groundwater, regenerative housing, Indigenous climate leadership and story work, managing the harms of climate misinformation, clean tech adoption and more.

UVic says the institution is a nexus for climate leadership and innovation in Canada, and that the funding will support that work.

“UVic has a long history of addressing urgent challenges facing oceans, lands and human well-being in local communities and across the globe,” said Lisa Kalynchuk, UVic vice-president research and innovation.

“This investment from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions will mobilize vital climate action research in Greater Victoria and beyond.”

The eight projects being funded are as follows:

• Managing Sustainability Transitions in British Columbia: Analytical Tools, Governance Frameworks, and Transitions Management Practice
• Beneath the Fireline: social–ecological dialogues on groundwater, wildfire resilience and governance in a changing climate
• Understanding and Addressing Climate Disinformation in British Columbia
• Beyond Rebates: Capital Recycling Mechanisms for Clean Tech Adoption
• Wuikinuxv Clam Garden Restoration Project
• Gitxsan Climate Storywork: Weaving Knowledge, Art, and Relationships with Land
• Restoring suuḥaa to haʔukmin: A Climate Adaptation and Watershed Rebuilding Initiative
• Operationalizing the “Kaska adaptive stewardship cycle” (KASC): Weaving Kaska knowledge and western science for informed climate-related decision-making and Kaska climate leadership

“This set of funded projects aptly demonstrates the breadth, depth and calibre of climate research happening at UVic,” said PICS Executive Director Ian Mauro.

“PICS is supporting UVic’s incredible expertise and capacity to address and co-develop solutions to the pressing challenges facing BC and the world.”

PICS is an organization intended to amplify BC research and insights to answer climate change issues.

For more information on the projects being funded, visit the PICS website here.