荔枝视频

On Monday, Dec. 15, Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Nature, the Hon. Julie Dabrusin, visited the 荔枝视频 where she toured labs and met some of the researchers whose work is shaping Canada鈥檚 response to environmental harm. 

Part of the minister鈥檚 agenda was to announce 23 projects funded under the 2025 competition.

One of Dabrusin鈥檚 hosts at the U荔枝视频 event was , PhD, a professor in the based at U荔枝视频鈥檚 Edmonton campus and a nationally recognized leader in green social work and climate justice.

For Drolet, a previous recipient of grant funding from the Environment Damages Fund, the visit provided a good opportunity to update the minister on her innovative project and to underline the importance of social work research in building resilience, advancing environmental justice, and mobilizing communities toward meaningful action.

鈥淚t was a great opportunity to meet the minister in person and share some of our findings,鈥� Drolet says. 鈥淏ut it was also a chance to talk about the ongoing work we鈥檙e doing and how social work can contribute to climate solutions in ways that are grounded in community, hope, and action.鈥�

Turning research into accessible climate conversations

One of the projects Drolet updated the minister on is an innovative, student-led initiative that received a $50,000 Climate Action Grant from the $1.62-million received by U荔枝视频's Office of Sustainability for its Mobilizing Alberta initiative, which is funded through the Environmental Damages fund.  

Rather than focusing on traditional academic outputs, Drolet and her team partnered with U荔枝视频鈥檚 campus community radio station, , to create a podcast series titled  

The project partnership trained and mentored social work students to research, script, and produce professional-quality podcast episodes focused on climate action initiatives across southern Alberta. The result is a series of accessible, compelling stories that spotlight community-led responses to climate change, from grassroots sustainability projects to local efforts in adaptation and resilience.

鈥淚n Alberta, we don鈥檛 always have a lot of constructive conversation about climate change,鈥� Drolet says. 鈥淲hat we know from community development work is that there are incredible initiatives happening, but they often don鈥檛 get visibility. We wanted to change that.鈥�

Rather than focusing on climate impacts alone, highlights what communities are actively doing to address environmental challenges. The emphasis, Drolet says, was on building hope and resilience, and showing what鈥檚 possible when people come together.

Experiential learning with real-world impact

Students involved in the project worked as a team, identifying topics, conducting community-based research, developing scripts, and recording episodes at CJSW鈥檚 state-of-the-art facilities. With expert guidance from CJSW staff and faculty, they learned how to translate research into engaging audio storytelling, a skill increasingly valuable in today鈥檚 digital landscape.

鈥淎ll of the episodes have now aired,鈥� Drolet says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the CJSW website 鈥� and they鈥檙e being used as teaching tools in courses, as well.鈥�

For students, the experience offered far more than a line on a resum茅. It provided hands-on training in knowledge mobilization, community engagement, and digital communication, competencies that are increasingly essential in social-work practice.

鈥淲hat we heard from students was how much they valued learning about green social work in a practical way,鈥� Drolet says. 鈥淭hey were excited to explore how technologies like podcasts can be used to reach broader audiences and inform practice.鈥�

Climate justice is social justice

Drolet鈥檚 work is grounded in a central conviction that climate change is not just an environmental issue, but a social one.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a growing recognition in Canada that social justice is climate justice,鈥� she says. 鈥淓nvironmental sustainability, disaster risk reduction, and environmental justice are very much part of what social workers are engaged in, whether they鈥檙e working with individuals, families, or communities.鈥�

That perspective is especially important, Drolet notes, in interdisciplinary settings where climate conversations are often dominated by technical or scientific approaches.

鈥淪ocial work brings an understanding of the social dimensions of climate change, how it affects people differently, how it intersects with inequality, and how communities can be supported to respond and adapt,鈥� she says.

Building toward a larger, transdisciplinary vision

The success of Climate Action and Advocacy on the Airwaves has already sparked momentum for larger initiatives. Drolet and her collaborators have since secured Stage 1 (SSHRC) funding for a new national partnership grant proposal 鈥� Advancing Transdisciplinary Experiential Learning 鈥� with Stage 2 funding now under review.

If successful, the seven-year, $2.5-million project would bring together students and researchers from multiple disciplines, along with more than 70 partners across more than 20 countries, to explore climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction through experiential learning and digital storytelling.

鈥淭he podcast project showed us what鈥檚 possible,鈥� Drolet says. 鈥淭he lessons we learned 鈥� about partnership, storytelling, and student engagement 鈥� will directly inform how we move forward.鈥�

A timely national conversation

As Dabrusin prepared to announce 23 projects funded through the 2025 Environmental Damages Fund competition, Drolet saw the visit as an important signal that social dimensions of climate change belong in national policy conversations.

鈥淚 hope this visit helps highlight that there are academics in Alberta, including social workers, who are deeply engaged in this work,鈥� Drolet says. 鈥淎nd that we can be part of shaping future sustainability initiatives, training the next generation of practitioners, and strengthening the links between research, policy, and community action.鈥�