Inspiring Community Grant Recipients 2026-2027

Congratulations to all the Inspiring Community Grant recipients for their ideas and initiatives to support a sense of community at UBC, the University Neighbourhoods and Musqueam.

Growing Together”: Community Conversations for Parents A Community-Building Project on Parenting, Culture, and Sexuality Education by Afsaneh A., UBC Student, Acadia Park Resident

“Growing Together” is a three-session community dialogue initiative designed to create a safe, welcoming, and culturally inclusive space for parents and caregivers to connect, share experiences, discuss concerns related to sexuality education in schools, and exchange community knowledge and resources.

Learn Cube for Fun by Cole H., UNA Youth

Teach kids how to solve 3×3 and 2×2 cubes to connect community kids and have fun. Cole is a grade 4 NRP student who learned Cube for 6 months. He got good progress (15s for 3×3 and 2s for 2×2) and he wanted to share cube skills with other kids in community.

Post Cards Home by Celeste L., UBC Faculty

This academic year, I accidentally launched a successful project outside my office door. I found a stack of old “Vancouver” postcards that I set outside with a note that I would mail the postcards if they were slipped under my door. After posting over 50 postcards, I would like to more formally invite students/community to coffee/tea postcard writing once per month in the biology lounge.

University Hill Elementary (UHE) Multicultural Fair 2026 by PAC at University Hill Elementary (UHE), UNA Resident

UHE Multicultural Fair is an opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique cultural traditions and practices within our community. With families from over thirty different countries, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds, this single-day multicultural gathering is an amazing opportunity for all participating cultures to showcase their cultural highlights, including food, videos, posters, and interactive activities. Families and children are invited to explore, learn, socialize, and participate in hands-on experiences that celebrate the truly diverse culture of UHE while cherishing the unifying power of the school community that nourishes its members regardless of age, race, gender, or nationality.

Intriguing Connections: A Community Book Pop-Up and Book Club by Allan C., UBC Staff

A community bookstore pop-up and book club gathering that invites people to connect through books, conversation, and shared curiosity. Featuring a mixture of multilingual, translated, and independent books in the English language, the event will bring together students, staff, faculty, families, and neighbourhood residents for browsing, short readings, and informal discussion. By bringing the bookstore pop-up and book club-style conversations into both campus and neighbourhood settings, the project aims to create a more visible and inviting literary community experience.

Bike Buddy by Chloé K., UNA Resident

Bike Buddy is a bike commute and mentorship program aiming to share knowledge and reduce barriers into bike commuting while building community throughout the UBC point grey campus. This program is open to all UBC students, faculty and staff, whether they want to be a bike mentor or are a novice cyclist looking to get some support with bike commuting.

Ecologies of Garden Pedagogies: Community Art Making by Tahmina S., Acadia Park Resident

This project wants to invite community to create art with the garden. I envision bringing painting, drawing utensils, music, sketchbook and other artistic meduim for the community to attend to the relations and life in the garden and to build relationship with the garden and other people in the community.

Understanding Substance Use and Addiction: A Community Education Initiative by Saige P., UBC Student

he initiative involves hosting educational workshops within local communities for both high school students and their parents/caregivers, as well as distributing educational pamphlets in schools and community centres. The goal of the project is to promote informed decision-making, encourage early prevention, and increase awareness of the long-term impacts of substance use and addiction, particularly in times of increasing availability of both legal and illegal substances.

Terrarium Worshop by Jonathan L., UNA Youth

This project will provide a free, hands-on terrarium-building workshop for approximately 20 community members. Participants will learn the fundamentals of plant care, soil preparation, sterilization, and terrarium design while creating their own terrarium to take home. The workshop aims to foster community connections, promote creativity, and provide accessible gardening knowledge that can develop into a long-term hobby and enhance well-being.

Lego Family Night by Graduate Student Society

Lego Family Night is a pair of free Lego-building nights for graduate student families, held as part of fall orientation. Over snacks, children and parents build Lego sets together in a relaxed, welcoming space where families new to campus can meet one another. In an expensive city where kids’ activities are often out of reach, the project gives grad families an accessible way to connect early in the year and feel they belong at UBC.

Paint & Teach Series by Tengyu Z., UBC Student

This is a series of painting sessions, each led by a different member of the community who will teach something unique they are skilled at. Our club hopes to cover a diverse selection of painting mediums and art styles. Participants with ideas for sessions they would like to host are welcome to lead them if they are interested.

Beginner Mandarin Through Calligraphy by Xiwen J., UNA Youth

An introductory program that combines basic Mandarin learning with traditional Chinese calligraphy. Participants will explore Chinese culture through practicing simple characters, pronunciation, and brush techniques in a creative and welcoming environment. The aim of this program is to help participants build cultural confidence and encourage cross-cultural communication through hands-on learning experiences.

 UBC Community Concert Band Open Rehearsal & Music Night by Catherine D., UBC Student

An introductory program that combines basic Mandarin learning with traditional Chinese calligraphy. Participants will explore Chinese culture through practicing simple characters, pronunciation, and brush techniques in a creative and welcoming environment. The aim of this program is to help participants build cultural confidence and encourage cross-cultural communication through hands-on learning experiences.

Field Herbarium by Carmen D., UBC Student

Join Suhaila Ng (MSc Plant Sciences) and exposure for a walk through UBC campus, getting to know the native plants of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory. Along the way, you’ll sketch each plant and leave with your own creative herbarium to keep.

AI & Aging: An Intergenerational Co-Creation Workshop by David S., UBC Student

This workshop brings together older adult members of the UBC community with UBC students, staff, and faculty to explore how emerging technologies such as AI and social robots could better support aging, independence, and everyday connection. Participants will learn about human-centred and participatory design before working in intergenerational teams to co-create ideas and behaviours for the Reachy Mini robot. The workshop is designed as a two-way exchange: older adults contribute lived experience and perspectives on what technology should do, while students, staff, and faculty learn how to meaningfully involve community members in technology development.