Canada Programs Roots & Shoots Inspiring and equipping the next generation of conservation leaders. Find Your Path How It Started Dr. Jane Goodall started Roots & Shoots over 30 years ago when she met with some young people who were eager to fix local problems. She was struck by their energy, their optimism, and their willingness to tackle crises they didn’t create. Roots & Shoots helps young people harness this energy and become the community leaders not just of tomorrow, but of today. Watch Jane talk Roots & Shoots with Jimmy Fallon. Today, Roots & Shoots is a globally-recognized youth leadership program. In Canada, over 12,000 young people are actively involved in projects. Over 80,000 community members are being directly impacted. How It Works Roots & Shoots is open to young activists from pre-school to post-secondary. Anyone 18 and older can become a member and start their own project today. Adult champions who work with youth under 18 can start a project for their classroom, youth group, community centre, or anywhere youth gather. There are 4 steps to every Roots & Shoots project: Get Inspired Map Your Community Take Action Celebrate Your Impact! Using our online guide, and available support from JGI Canada staff, Roots & Shoots teaches young people how to design projects that tackle the intersection of biodiversity loss (animals), environmental inequity (people), and climate change (the environment). Oh, it’s free! Are you an adult champion? Get started here. Young advocates 18+, get started here. What It’s All About Hear from other Roots & Shoots members who changed the world, and were changed in return. That’s what it’s all about. What Others Have To Say Sara Rana, Grade 11 Student, Ontario “The program provided me with the opportunity to translate my ideas into action. Through Roots & Shoots, I have been able to channel my passion into implementing initiatives that bring Indigenous culture to life.” Jennifer Ward, Teacher, British Columbia “I am so honoured to be part of this program. Roots and Shoots and the APE grant allows for the students to have a voice, be heard, and allow them to share the knowledge they have received from local elders with our entire community. This program is invaluable. I am so grateful to be associated with such positive steps toward acknowledging the truth of the experiences of others, injustices of people in our community and injustices toward land/animals so we can move ahead to begin to move towards reconciliation within our community.” Robyn Matthews, Teacher, Newfoundland “Letting students choose what they want to learn about completely changed the goals of this project. Students became invested in beekeeping more than I ever thought possible. They conquered their fears of talking to the public as well as their fear of bees. The project has also created a lot of buzz throughout the community and initiated other families and community members to join the bee community.” Sophie Bordeleau Kent, student, Quebec I like that it encourages youth to help the environment, animals and people across the globe. I also like the fact that the organization encourages and supports many types of projects, however big or small. Find Your Path to Get Started Young Leaders (18+) If you’re 18 or older, you can start your own Roots & Shoots group or project in your community, on your campus, or in your home. Get Started Adult Champions Are you an educator, parent, or adult community leader who works with youth? You can start a Roots & Shoots project or group with the young people in your life. Get Started Our Program Partners Roots & Shoots Projects Across Canada Resources Our Resource section includes things like our Climate Change Curriculum Guide and our Biodiversity Guide. These can be helpful tools for any project! Discover Resources Current Projects Biodiversity Loss (Animals), Environmental Inequity (People) Food Security for All our Relations This project is building system-level awareness of food security, which takes into account the needs and gifts of the land, humans, and all our more-than-human relations. Past and present wisdom and food practices can teach us how to cultivate diverse food ecosystems for the present and the future. Biodiversity Loss (Animals), Climate Change (Environment) Forest Friends Garden Our Forest Friends Project is about caring for native wildlife trying to survive in the city. We want to build a garden that is filled with student chosen plants that support local pollinators. The entire school will participate by helping to research, select, and build the garden. Biodiversity Loss (Animals) Friends of Fauna The funds will be to make purchases from the Fauna Foundation’s Amazon Wishlist. Students in our community do not often have the opportunity to donate and we feel that researching the work that the Fauna Foundation does is an excellent opportunity for the students to learn about animal welfare. Environmental Inequity (People) From Our Garden Your Garden Classrooms in our school will plant and grow corn, bean, and squash (the 3 sisters) plants to learn more about indigenous gardening. We will also include some herbs plants that are native to our area. These plants will then be offered to school families to be planted in their home gardens. Biodiversity Loss (Animals), Climate Change (Environment), Environmental Inequity (People) Gardens for Seniors Our group has been growing our Niagara Butterflyway for the past 3 years. We currently have over 40 gardens across the Niagara Region. This year we hope to increase our intergenerational native gardens by setting up our team of youth with interested seniors and plant pollinator gardens for them. Climate Change (Environment) Greenovations Retrofit Project The Retrofit project is a free energy efficiency assistance program for university students to help reduce their utility bills. Retrofits include upgrading to efficient lightbulbs, changing taps to low flow aerators, and insulating drafty windows and doors to decrease energy consumption. Climate Change (Environment), Environmental Inequity (People) Hampstead School Community Garden We are proposing installing garden boxes to have a community vegetable garden for students and their families to maintain and benefit from. So much rich learning can happen in the garden and the lessons learned in the school garden can be carried home to make a more sustainable community. Environmental Inequity (People) Help for Homeless Families Room 7 is going to learn about what has led to the prevalence of tent encampments in our city – they will learn ways to help out the local shelters, particularly the shelters that help women,children and families Environmental Inequity (People) Helping hands Room 36 is interested in helping out the community of “unsheltered” people living in and around Winnipeg. We will be creating kits of supplies that we can donate to local shelters, especially ones that provide services to women, children and families experiencing homelessness. « 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 10 »
