(Our Memories) placemaking project highlights the power of connection (August 2021): https://ubyssey.ca/culture/our-memories-placemaking-project/
UBC faculty of education prof Robert VanWynsberghe wins award for advancing environmental learning (October 2020): https://www.straight.com/education/ubc-faculty-of-education-prof-robert-vanwynsberghe-wins-award-for-advancing-environmental#
Hi everyone! My name is Nathan Fong, and I am one of Rob’s graduate students in the Master of Education for Sustainability, Regeneration, and Resilience program at the University of British Columbia. I am also a Grade 7 Math, Science, and ADST teacher at an independent school in Vancouver, and a part-time Environmental Educator at VanDusen Botanical Garden. I was interested in this specific program for a few reasons. Primarily, I was interested in learning how to engage more meaningfully with sustainability education in my career and reflect more deeply on what sustainability education actually is and means for me personally. The interdisciplinary nature of the program also intrigued me, and the unique opportunity to take classes across three faculties was a big draw. Underneath all of that, however, I was honestly seeking a community of like-minded educators and people who value the role that sustainability education has in our future, and who are curious about peeling apart the system at large that intertwines sustainability, community, and education.
The EfS Master program is not the first time I’ve met Rob; I actually was a part of the EfS cohort for my Bachelor of Education in 2021-2022, and took EDST 401 (Education, Schools, & Social Institutions) with Rob, which is where I was first introduced to his unique teaching style. The words conventional and Rob don’t really go together, and I mean that in the best way possible. That being said, my BEd self was not prepared for the way Rob sees education. Our cohort’s version of EDST 401 was quite different from others, which became apparent to us when we joined with two other cohorts for the larger lecture-style classes a few times per term. Rob’s vision for the course was centered around community. Specifically, from the very first day, Rob emphasized interconnectedness, viewing sustainability and education as systems that were linked together. We discussed ideas around child-centred community planning, cultural appreciation, deep ecology, and Indigenous knowledge. Rob did his best to show us how sustainability is not separate from, but rather connected to all of those ideas.
At that time, I had a very narrow understanding of how sustainability fit into education. As someone without any formal classroom experience prior to the BEd program, my main focus was to gain practical knowledge and learn how to teach about sustainability. As a result, I was not personally ready to receive the teachings of the class at that time, because Rob didn’t focus as much on specific lesson ideas or teaching tips per se (sorry, Rob, if you’re only learning about this now). Reflecting on this time of my life, now having taught for a few years and being in the MEd version of EfS, I have gained a new appreciation for what Rob was trying to show us back then. Only now, after having the time to truly reflect on what it means for me to be an educator for sustainability, do I recognize the value of Rob’s EDST 401 course in preparing new teachers for navigating the complex system of education and schools. As a teacher candidate, I wanted quick and simple. Rob offered methodical and deep. I wasn’t receptive at the time, but thankfully, the MEd has allowed me to put some of Rob’s teachings from EDST 401 into practice.
At the end of my BEd program, our cohort had a final community gathering at Jericho Beach Park. In our closing circle, I distinctly remember Rob telling me, “Hey Nate, I haven’t gotten all of the pieces together yet, but give me two years and I’ll have a Master’s program that combines the faculties of Education and Land and Food Systems.” Two years later, I stood in an opening circle for the Master of Education for Sustainability, Regeneration, and Resilience program. To say this program is groundbreaking is a disservice. Not only did Rob manage to get Land and Food Systems on board, but he also got Forestry involved as well. It is in this Master’s program that I think I’ve genuinely been able to understand Rob’s vision of education, at least how it currently stands.
Our program is unique in that there is a strong emphasis on both applied community engagement and personal reflection. We have many opportunities to work with acquaintances, colleagues, students, and friends of Rob’s, quickly applying what we learn and getting ‘messy’ with the process.
However, the program has also been a source of reflection and personal growth for me. I started the program in July of 2024, two years into teaching and two months away from having my very first classroom. To say I was anxious is an understatement, because I was worried about how I would manage my teaching load with coursework. Rob reassured me from the beginning that we would ‘make it all work,’ and though it has been challenging at times, I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. When I was in my BEd, I was looking for practical, applicable lessons and activities. After teaching for two years, I realized that by looking for those things specifically, I was limiting what was possible in the classroom. What I was able to reflect on and apply from the MEd program right away was thinking about what it really means to teach for sustainability. As I said earlier, I was previously looking to teach about sustainability: projects on the Sustainable Development Goals, lessons about industrial vs. regenerative agriculture, activities on biodiversity monitoring, and so on. Teaching for sustainability goes beyond that idea. It involves centering student voices, emphasizing experiences and reflection, creating a culture of care for places and people, and taking time to consider one’s position. It is these specific ideas that I am now slowly integrating into my teaching practice, focusing on going deeper and building a desire to care for the planet instead of dumping a bunch of facts and decontextualized knowledge on a group of twelve-year-olds.
In the Summer 2025 practicum course, my group and I worked on supporting the UBC Farm (our community partner) with revitalizing the field trip program. We were feeling so good about the work we did that we decided to enroll in the Directed Studies course so that we could continue our project into the school year. We started off September strong, designing a wide range of field trip activities connected to the three different themes being offered.
When November hit, however, we were losing steam as our project pivoted to being more focused on administrative documents to support teachers who were booking field trips. This change, coupled with report card marking, general fatigue, and Vancouver’s typical wet and gloomy fall weather, caused us to nearly hit a dead end. In a last-ditch effort to revitalize the project, we had a Zoom meeting with Rob, who, in 15 short minutes, got us back on our feet. Rob drew us back to seeing our project within the system and guided us towards recognizing that a key component had changed. Instead of clinging to the UBC Farm as our partner and trying to fit a square puzzle piece into a circular hole, as it were, he suggested that our focus might be better tuned towards teachers themselves. Regenerated, our group pivoted into designing a teacher professional development workshop proposal, highlighting the importance of the work we had already done with field trips at the UBC Farm. This is a very small example of the way Rob sees education and how he has helped me to understand it as well. Rob describes himself as a facilitator, always ready to guide and step in when needed, but willing to allow the student to investigate and uncover themselves. This program has been a transformative experience for me, and Rob is the engine that helps it run the way it does.
With gratitude,
Nathan Fong
Hello everyone, my name is Yijing Lyu. I’m from China, and I’m currently a third-year PhD student in Comparative Education at Nanjing Normal University. This year, I’m very fortunate to be here at the University of British Columbia as a visiting international research student, working with Dr. Rob VanWynsberghe and learning together with the rest of the lab. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to join this academic community.
I come from Yantai, a beautiful coastal city in Shandong Province in northern China. Over the years, however, global climate change has gradually erased the snowy winters that shaped my childhood memories. At the same time, recent events surrounding the discharge of Fukushima nuclear wastewater have raised serious concerns about food safety and public health. These concerns feel especially close to home, as Yantai is only about 800 to 1,000 kilometers away from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. These real and personal changes made me realize that environmental problems are not far-away or abstract global issues—they are part of everyday life. From this, I began to understand more clearly that making a sustainable change starts not only with policies or technology, but also—and even more importantly—with people’s awareness, values, and sense of responsibility. Education plays a key role in shaping all of this.
Building on this understanding, and drawing on my background in comparative education as well as my long-standing interest in Canadian educational practices, my doctoral research focuses on a systematic examination of mechanisms for cultivating teachers’ sustainability competencies in Canada. My dissertation explores how Canadian teacher education responds to the global sustainable development agenda, while also thinking how insights from these practices may inform the integration of ecological civilization education into teacher education in China, in light of China’s specific policy context and educational realities.
I focus on Canada because its education system has a lot of variety and is very inclusive. Since education is mainly managed by provinces, each province has its own style for curriculum, teacher training, and sustainability education. At the same time, these styles are not completely separate—they connect in many ways. The national organization ESE-TE supports both teachers and educators working on sustainability education. Through this network, people from different provinces can share ideas, experiences, and best practices. This “mixed but linked” system makes Canada a great place to observe, learn from, and compare how sustainability education is put into practice.
Moreover, Canada is actively involved in issues like Indigenous reconciliation, environmental justice, climate action, and the social responsibilities of education. This makes it a very interesting place to study how education deals with complex social and environmental challenges. Instead of presenting itself as a “model” for others, Canada is more like a space for ongoing experiments, reflection, and discussion. Its openness and the fact that things are always evolving make it a very exciting place for research.
Teachers are key actors who bridge macro-level ideas and micro-level practices. Teacher education does more than just teach knowledge and skills—it also helps shape teachers’ values, professional identity, and sense of responsibility to society. Today, with climate change, social uncertainty, and fast changes in education all happening at the same time, it is very important that teachers understand complex systems, make thoughtful decisions, and take actions that support a sustainable future.
Accordingly, my research focuses on several interrelated questions: What key conditions and constraints do policy orientations, curricular frameworks, school cultures, and professional support networks provide for the development of teachers’ sustainability competencies? How are these competencies understood, interpreted, and gradually internalized through both pre-service and in-service teacher education? And how do different curriculum designs, pedagogical approaches, and practice contexts interact to collectively shape teachers’ judgment and capacity for action in the face of an uncertain future?
“All flourishing is mutual.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Working in Rob’s research team has helped me understand this much better. With the support of Rob and all members of the lab, I have been able to take part in real teacher education classrooms and practices in Canada, learning and reflecting through listening, observation, and dialogue. Through our meetings and discussions, I have truly felt teacher educators’ enthusiasm and confidence in bringing sustainability education into teacher education. I have also been fortunate to join this process as an observer, note-taker, and writer, which has allowed me to see up close how ideas are constantly discussed, adjusted, and put into practice in real institutional and teaching settings.
