Building the next generation of eco-conscious leaders

Bohdana Chiupka-Innes, a 30-year-old Cree intern architect, is about to build her first house with help from the youth in her community.

The multi-generational home will have several bedrooms and an elders’ residence centred around a cooking tent. The cooking tent is the heart of every home in Moose Cree, a First Nation that borders the Hudson Bay in northern Ontario. It is where goose harvests and feasts are prepared, cultural teachings are shared and families come together.

Chiupka-Innes’ house is part of a project developing net-zero homes in Moose Cree First Nation. Net zero means the homes will have cut greenhouse gas emissions enough that the rest of the pollution created will be re-absorbed into the atmosphere. And so, the homes are insulated and equipped with solar panels, making them energy-efficient and energy-independent.

But more importantly, they are being built to suit particular community requirements, with many design elements arising from community engagement.

Chiupka-Innis credits the mentorship and resources she received from the ImaGENation Youth Mentorship Program for turning her master’s architecture thesis on the net-zero community-driven home from an academic requirement into a living project that will benefit her community.

The program initially gave her $10,000 for community engagement, but the mentorship support helped her obtain further grants from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to advance the project.

“I couldn’t do this without ImaGENation,” she said. “My project will be the first net-zero home within Mushkegowuk territory, and it’s based on our culture and way of life.”

The ImaGENation Youth Mentorship Program finished the pilot iteration, where Chiupka-Innes developed her project. The program is now ramping up for its second cohort of 18- to 30-year-old Indigenous youth. Applications close in February and the program will begin later this year.

The program is a collaboration between Indigenous Clean Energy, SevenGen and Student Energy. The three organizations tie together their expertise in Indigenous clean-energy projects, Indigenous youth programming and clean-energy youth programming, respectively.

Aware of the cliché of lauding a program’s uniqueness, Aubrey-Anne Laliberte-Pewapisconias, program manager for ImaGENation, maintains the program is unlike any other. She points to its forward-thinking and decolonizing approach.

For example, the program is led by Indigenous youth, for Indigenous youth, which Chiupka-Innis thinks is essential for understanding where the participants are in life and what supports they need. “They get it, right?” she said.

The program is also decolonizing because it steers clear of strict timelines, box-checking and hard deadlines in favour of soft deadlines, patient mentorship and ongoing support. For example, it took Chiupka-Innis two years to finish her program, past the allotted 18 months for design. The extra time and support she received then helped make her home come to fruition.

“We don’t want to force them out of the program before they’re ready,” Laliberte-Pewapisconias said.

Laliberte-Pewapisconias told Canada’s National Observer applications for the revamped program will now do more to support the youth in a decolonized way.

The program will continue to emphasize land, community and the needs of youth. And the second cohort of participants will have access to mental health support and child care. Wi-Fi and technological support will also be covered. And importantly, elder engagement will be prioritized to ensure the projects are built with land protection top of mind.

Through the program, participants went from the Microsoft team meeting to the SevenGen summit in Saskatoon. Some even travelled to the World Food Forum and COP28.

“It shows the confidence that's built in Indigenous youth when they're empowered and recognized as today's leaders in clean energy, honestly,” Laliberte-Pewapisconias said.

Chiupka-Innis said the program is essential to uplift the community's youth as champions and future leaders.

“Youth are our future, right?” she said. “They’re our champions and if they have ideas, they will go with it.

“It’s so important if the youth have these ideas, then we need to invest.”

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative