MABRII research coordinator Graham Sakaki, MABRII research director Dr. Pam Shaw, and MABR coordinator Monica Shore are looking forward to not only teaching about the biosphere but learning from the ElderCollege participants who enroll in the ‘Exploring the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region’ course in Parksville.
August 31, 2016 - 2:30pm
New four-week course aims to inspire community experts and ‘biosphere champions’
With class titles like ‘Biosphere Basics’ and ‘A Collective Vision of the Region’, a new course at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) ElderCollege takes an in-depth look at the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR), what it means to be a UNESCO biosphere reserve and what makes the region so unique.
The course “Exploring the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region” runs over four weeks at VIU’s ElderCollege and gets underway Sept. 16. MABR coordinator Monica Shore says as they continue to improve their outreach and education programs in the MABR, they recognize their greatest biosphere advocates come from the more than 45,000 people who live within the almost 1200 sq. kilometre region. It’s an area that stretches from the top of Mount Arrowsmith to the bottom of the Salish Sea and includes communities like Qualicum Beach, Parksville, Coombs and Nanoose as well as seven First Nations communities.
“The MABR demographic includes a high percentage of people over 50 and we know many have an active interest in the biosphere which is why partnering with ElderCollege is so exciting to us,” said Shore. “Our goal is to create biosphere champions. Program participants will become community experts. Our hope is they’ll be inspired to use their knowledge to spark interest in the biosphere and that they’ll stay connected with our team on outreach initiatives and research projects.”
VIU ElderCollege offers learning opportunities to those who are 50 or better by providing a range of unique programs designed to share information and knowledge on a wide range of topics of interest to communities served by VIU. Program coordinator Regan McKeever says collaborating with another VIU community-focused organization like MABR represents an opportunity for VIU ElderCollege. She says it will be a model they will use to encourage future partnerships with various community organizations.
“We are trying to collaborate more with organizations like MABR which can work with us to provide challenging and important course content,” said McKeever. “Through a partnership like this we can expand the experiences and courses we offer. It also allows us to reach a new group of people by introducing VIU’s ElderCollege to the members of organizations who may not have heard about our other programs and courses.”
VIU professor Dr. Pamela Shaw is the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute (MABRRI) research director. She will be co-teaching several of the courses with MABRRI research coordinator Graham Sakaki and Shore.
“I’m looking forward to teaching at ElderCollege because I know that those who take the class will have an interest in the biosphere and will be bringing a lifetime of knowledge to the table,” said Shaw. “I will be sharing what we are working on and I am interested in hearing from the people who have lived and worked in the region for many years. I’m interested in learning what inspires them about the biosphere and what’s important to them going forward.”
‘Exploring the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region’ will include interactive workshops with mini-lectures and hands-on activities that explore the diverse relationships between people and nature. The course gets underway at VIU’s ElderCollege in Parksville Sept. 16 and runs each Friday until Oct. 7. To register call 1.866.734.6252 or go to VIU ElderCollege.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Dane Gibson, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University
P: 250.618.7296 | E: Communications@viu.ca | T: @viunews
Tags: Teaching and Learning
