​Brackendale, BC – Cheakamus Centre is proud to announce a contribution in the amount of $25,000 from the RBC Future Launch program. This generous funding will help to create opportunities for indigenous youth to explore, build, and share indigenous cultural practices in an environmental education setting.

Our Interconnected Nature project brings people together in a teaching longhouse providing for a powerful way to share traditional ways of knowing to better understand each other and how all of us are part of the Natural World," says Dr. Sarah Bainbridge, senior development officer for the Cheakamus Foundation.

The idea for this pilot project grew out of Skw'une-was, Cheakamus Centre's long-running cultural immersive program where since 1985, students have learned from First Nation interpreters the traditional way of life and historical practices of the Coast Salish people of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Valley.

Our Interconnected Nature project is part of a multi-stage approach to ensure the continuity of traditional practices, and to develop a framework for environmental education centres throughout Canada. The project aims to create meaningful employment opportunities, strengthen connections to post-secondary institutions, and contribute to the Truth and Reconciliation movement.

RBC Future Launch is a 10-year, $500-million initiative to help young people gain access and opportunity to the skills, job experience and career networks needed for the future world of work. "With this common goal of empowering Canadian young people for the jobs of tomorrow, RBC is excited to partner on the Our Interconnected Nature project," says Carmen Ryujin, manager of community investment for RBC.

Established in 1969, Cheakamus Centre is an environmental and indigenous cultural education organization located on the traditional territories of the Ch'iyáḵmesh people in Paradise Valley, just north of Squamish, British Columbia. Cheakamus Centre serves over 15,000 visitors annually from the Sea to Sky Corridor, Lower Mainland and beyond. The Centre also hosts visitors from around the world for special events, workshops, conferences, meetings, and retreats. Cheakamus Centre has received numerous provincial, national, and international awards recognizing it as a leader in place-based education.

Our Interconnected Nature pilot project is part of a larger, multi-year campus renewal initiative at Cheakamus Centre that includes new construction and renovations, enhanced programming, and public events and learning offerings associated with the Friends of Cheakamus.