Aurora College has received $1.46 million from the Government of Canada for its Building Climate Change Awareness and Environmental Literacy in NWT Youth Project, which aims to raise climate change awareness among elementary and secondary school students and their educators. The funding comes from the Climate Action and Awareness Fund, part of the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund.
The funding will provide the College with the opportunity to facilitate a wide range of locally and culturally relevant opportunities for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 to learn about climate change and its impact on the Northwest Territories.
In July, the Honourable Julie Dabrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that the Government of Canada is investing over $14.4 million from the Environmental Damages Fund's Climate Action and Awareness Fund to support 17 environmental literacy projects across Canada. These projects will develop the tools and skills young Canadians need as they work toward solutions to fight climate change. Aurora College is among the 17 recipients of this funding.
Through the Building Climate Change Awareness and Environmental Literacy in NWT Youth Project, Aurora College will develop and deliver age-appropriate, participatory, and place-based programming about climate change in the NWT, where the climate is changing at rapid rates up to four times faster than the global average.
The project will entail hands-on climate change educational programming in partnership with educators and community organizations through the Aurora Research Institute's STEM Outreach team. The Building Climate Change Awareness and Environmental Literacy in NWT Youth Project will run through 2029.
Quote:
"Similar to literacy and numeracy, environmental literacy is an understanding and skill level to talk about what makes up our environment, how systems interact and work, and how having this language expands the ability of youth to engage in conversations about the environment. By building this capacity in NWT youth, we are empowering them to be stewards of the land and advocate for the place they call home, where the impacts of climate change are being felt at a faster rate than the global average."
Chris Paci, Vice-President of Research, Aurora Research Institute
Links:
- https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2025/07/the-government-of-canada-invests-over-144-million-to-empower-young-canadians-to-address-climate-change-and-support-a-healthy-environment.html
- https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2025/07/the-government-of-canada-invests-over-144-million-in-17-projects-that-will-foster-youth-environmental-literacy-across-canada.html
For more information
PO Box 1290, 50 Conibear Crescent
Fort Smith Northwest Territories
Canada X0E 0P0
www.auroracollege.nt.ca
