The IGS Speaker Series

At the IGS, we believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So as part of the Institute, we offering a bi-weekly Speaker Series that exposes students to many of the region’s most prominent leaders and innovators, from academics and politicians to entrepreneurs and activists.

This interactive series format provide students with an amazing opportunity to engage with a number of inspirational individuals.

From the outset, we have complemented classroom learning with seminars from distinguished individuals who share their progressive ideas.  This interactive format is known as the IGS Speaker Series and was designed to stimulate cognitive engagement around sustainability principles. 

Since its inception in 2013, the IGS Speaker Series has given students the opportunity to engage with many of our some of Canada’s most prominent leaders and innovators, from academics and politicians to entrepreneurs and activists.  Over the past four years we have put our learners in front of over fifty prominent speakers, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, CBC Massey Lecturer Ronald Wright, journalist Gwynne Dyer, climate change scientist and politician Dr. Andrew Weaver (Member of the BC Legislative Assembly), indigenous activist Wab Kinew, education expert John Abbott, and systems scholar Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon. 

Previous speakers include:

In addition to our speaker series, we were fortunate enough to develop a number of rewarding community partnerships with organizations from around the region.  The program heads at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Education and the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University were invaluable in helping us develop and refine our model.  Our relationship with UVic’s Faculty of Education led to a number of pre-service teachers co-teaching IGS cohorts as part of their final 12-week practicums. 

Our IGS team has also collaborated with two non-profit organizations whose mandates revolve around the promotion of innovative educational programs that seek to address societal challenges.  These partners have helped us raise funds for our program and have connected our students to a wide range of philanthropic initiatives.