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OVERVIEW

University graduates are entering a world characterized by climate change, biodiversity loss, food and water inequities, and upheaval in economic, technological and social systems. Addressing these issues requires transformative perspectives, innovation, and new approaches. If you have a great idea for a new course or program (or would like to update existing ones) that uses applied, experiential and interdisciplinary approaches to learning, we’d love to hear from you. We encourage applications that support advancements in climate change action, planetary health, human health and wellbeing, biodiversity and circular economies. 

If your grant application is successful and you become a Sustainability Education Fellow, the expectation is that you (up to two faculty members per project) will participate in monthly meetings with other Sustainability Education Fellows for the duration of the grant period (2 years). You will meet in person once a month (dates to be determined with the group) throughout the academic year, to report on your project progress, share your experience in integrating specific content into your teaching and possibly collaborate on emergent projects. Sustainability Education Fellows are viewed as champions for sustainability education within their departments.   

 

 

Eligibility

To apply for funding, please review the application process and eligibility criteria and submit a proposal to the Sustainability Hub. We encourage proposals from teams of faculty members who have not previously engaged with UBC Sustainability Hub’s curriculum grant programs. The funding must be used for curriculum project work, including hiring students or consultants, attending relevant conferences, purchasing resources, or a teaching buy-out if approved by the grant holder's home Department and/or Faculty. 

1. Interdisciplinary Faculty Teams
We accept proposals from teams of at least two faculty members who wish to work together to build or refine curricula on sustainability issues or topics that demand an interdisciplinary approach. At least two of the leading applicants must be in ongoing faculty roles at UBC and come from different departments, faculties or disciplines. Typically, teams are made up of two faculty members, but more than two is also acceptable. In your application, please describe the interdisciplinarity of your team. In some cases, interdisciplinarity within a department will be considered eligible.

2. For Credit
Curriculum projects can be of any scale but must focus on a for-credit option. For example, your proposal could be to create a course, create a cluster of courses around an issue or theme, or develop a minor or a major program. Proposals for field, summer and online courses are also accepted.

3. Funding and Budget
Each project can be funded for up to $20,000 over two years (up to $10,000 per year). All project proposals must include a project budget that reflects the scale and scope of the project. 

Eligible expenses include:

• Student wages
• Materials
• Conference fees
• Consultant fees
• Faculty buy-outs

Funding for hiring students must align with UBC student salary guidelines.

4. Impact

We are seeking high-impact projects that significantly advance sustainability education at UBC. In evaluating proposals, we will consider elements such as:

• Broad student reach: Projects that engage large numbers of students over time.
• Disciplinary inclusion: Initiatives that involve underrepresented disciplines in the sustainability education space.
• Cross-disciplinary accessibility: Curriculum that is designed to be accessible to students from multiple fields or faculties.
• Open Educational Resources (OER): Projects that result in the creation and sharing of high-quality OER materials.
• New applicants: Preference may be given to faculty who have not previously received a Sustainability Education Fellowship. (If you have received funding in the past, you are still eligible, but must wait two years before reapplying.)

Explore recently funded projects to understand what a successful project looks like.

5. Expectations and Deliverables

These are the expectations and responsibilities we have for participating Sustainability Education Fellows:

• Fellows (project leads) appointments are for two years (depending on your project timeline), beginning in April 2026.
• Fellows are required to attend a 2-hour launch meeting at the beginning of the academic year, as well as six monthly 90-minute program meetings during the academic year. There is a final year-end meeting in April that will be 2 hours long. Typically, meetings will not be scheduled over the summer.
• Project leads must submit an interim progress report at the end of Year 1 (this might be in the form of a presentation to the group and will be decided closer to the date), and a final project report at the end of Year 2. The final report must include a financial report, and any unspent funds at the end of Year 2 will be returned to the UBC Sustainability Hub to support future grants.
• Fellows are to be available for an interview or email Q&A so that we can share stories of your work.
• Fellows will endeavour to implement the new curriculum as soon as possible.

6. Timeline

• Application opens January 5, 2026
• Application closes on February 16, 2026, at 12 pm.
• Funding announcement by March 10, 2026
• Funds transferred to recipients by April 15, 2026
• Fellows' monthly meetings from September 2026 to April 2027 and from September 2027 to April 2028
• Final report due on August 31, 2028.

 

HOW TO APPLY

1. Attend an info session (optional) - We are hosting an online information session on November 26, 2025, at 12pm. Attendees will learn more details about the program and the application process. Click here to register

2. Review the application form – including the eligibility requirements, your responsibilities as a project lead, and signature requirements.

3. Prepare your proposal – this includes providing a summary of the project, a statement of interest, a detailed project description, the deliverables and anticipated benefits, and a project budget.

4. Provide your Curriculum Vitae – we require an up-to-date version of your CV in short form (up to a maximum of five pages).

5. Submit your application to the selection committee – The selection committee includes staff from the office of the Provost and VP Academic and the Sustainability Hub.

Download Application

Submit completed applications to Oliver Lane, Manager of Teaching and Learning, at oliver.lane@ubc.ca. 

 

SUPPORT WE PROVIDE

In addition to the Sustainability Education Fellows program, the UBC Sustainability Hub offers a range of support services that will be available to you, including:

• Making sustainability curriculum resources available, such as UBC’s Sustainability Education Framework, and other general resources
• Connecting you to curriculum development and open educational resource design experts. 
• Suggesting co-curricular student engagement options
• Helping promote new sustainability and wellbeing courses or programs to students across campus
• Providing comprehensive information on sustainability courses and interdisciplinary themes at UBC*
• Connecting you to resources such as the Climate Teaching Connector and the Climate and Wellbeing programs to support the delivery of in-classroom sustainability content

*We encourage you to review UBC’s existing courses that address sustainability-related issues. Our team curates an up-to-date database of 700+ sustainability courses. We can organize these courses by interdisciplinary theme and help expose barriers to access (e.g., pre-requisites) and availability (e.g. course popularity).

 

QUESTIONS?

Contact Oliver Lane, Manager of Teaching and Learning, at oliver.lane@ubc.ca if you have questions or would like to discuss your idea for a proposal.