As part of their second year Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA) program, a team of six students has begun their Global Policy Project (GPP 590B) with a domestic focus, consulting with the City of Vancouver to apply an equity lens to their Climate Emergency Response Plan.
Team Members: Schyler Edmundson, Shivangi Khanna, Alexandra Martin, Nyoman Nikki Wirawan Sugitha, Sean Wu, Yi Yang
Client: The City of Vancouver – Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability Department
This policy analysis explores how low-income Vancouver seniors are particularly vulnerable to ambitious municipal climate policies, as well as how policy instruments can mitigate potentially disproportionate impacts on this equity-seeking group. Our students’ work incorporates project design, fieldwork, client engagement, data collection and analysis.
Data gathered will be used to deliver recommendations presented in the form of a policy analysis report and a public presentation to the City of Vancouver’s Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability Department in April 2020 to inform their fall report to City Council.
The team are using a combination of literature reviews, interviews, a questionnaire and focus groups to answer the following research questions:
- How are seniors who fall into a low-income bracket particularly vulnerable to ambitious municipal climate policies?
- What best practices from other jurisdictions can inform policy alternatives for achieving low-income senior equity within Vancouver’s ambitious climate policies?
- How can achieving equity for low-income seniors advance the goals of ambitious municipal climate policy targets?
Students gain hands-on learning through either the domestic or international Global Policy Project, a defining element of UBC’s MPPGA curriculum which provides opportunities for students to directly engage with key stakeholders including policy makers and civil society. Read more articles about the seven international projects that our MPPGA students recently pursued as part of this course.
Visit Experiential Learning to find out more about the Global Policy Project.
