Robert Service School
Students at Robert Service School in the Yukon are learning about net-zero and climate resilient building solutions and how to apply them to projects in their communities.
Robert Service School
Students at Robert Service School in the Yukon are learning about net-zero and climate resilient building solutions and how to apply them to projects in their communities.
The Problem
Communities in the North are facing the impacts of the climate crisis faster than others. Melting ice, unreliable temperatures, and increased forest fires are changing the landscape and forcing communities to rebuild homes to deal with these new realities. Youth are also uniquely impacted as the people who will inherit these communities in years that will be even more climate volatile.
The Solution
Grade 9 and 8 students at Robert Service School in the Yukon wanted to stay solutions-focused and learn how they could create the communities they want to live in. The students participated in a week-long training on modeling and solutions for net-zero and climate resilient buildings, using that training to create net-zero building prototypes that were presented at the annual Yukon science fair! The students are now doing further research on the prototypes and making a building plan for their school’s shop program to undertake next year to create a physical structure based off of their models that can be used to help address climate resilient housing shortages in their community.
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students received the full time training, with an additional 33 in different disciplines participating in part-time trainings offered the same week.
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community members were engaged by attending evening trainings that were held at the school.
Lessons Learned
“N:OW for Net-Zero funding was the essential component to do our Housing Unit. The project idea was several years old, but the timing of the funding fit perfectly with how our school could move to implementation. The success of the project has led to new projects for 2024-25!”
Peter Menzies, Shop Teacher
