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Sustainable development starts at home. That’s why our community programs address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from a grassroots perspective, working with local actors and organizations on change that begins in your backyard.
Community Connections
Connect with local non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and change-makers all working to make your community more sustainable.
Broaden Your Perspectives
Challenge your understanding of the world through hands-on activities that integrate authentic learning experiences without compromising any of the fun.
Authentic Experiences
From investigating invertebrates to making meals for communities in need, we've developed an itinerary full of experiences that will forever change how you see the world.
Breathtaking Landscapes
Whether it's the Amazon rainforest or Andes mountains, our adventure through Ecuador will take you to breathtaking landscapes.
Broaden Your Perspectives
From conservation to sustainable development and social innovation, our adventure through Ecuador will integrate authentic learning experiences without compromising any fun.
Authentic Experiences
From chocolate to plant-based handicraft workshops in the Amazon, we've developed an itinerary full of experiences that will forever change how you travel.
Global Community
Whether it's developing authentic connections with our Ecuadorian partners, or building friendships with other like-minded travelers, you'll leave Ecuador with a sense of belonging to a growing global community.
Everything's Included
With the program fee covering everything you'll need, you can truly immerse yourself in the experience without worries about unexpected expenses or hidden fees.
Get to know the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and understand the complexities in addressing them. Participate in group discussions and break-out activities led by our program facilitator. This session will lay the foundation for the rest of the program by making you comfortable with the SDGs abroad and at home.
Learn how the UN Sustainable Development Goals are localized in your community. Get to know organizations working to address these goals, then welcome community organizations and actors into the classroom to discuss their work.
Get out into the community to learn about social sustainability alongside local organizations.
Spend the morning addressing food insecurity in the downtown core by making and distributing meals to community members in need. In the afternoon, participate in an engaging discussion on poverty, drugs, and stigma with local activists.
Get out into the community to learn about environmental sustainability with local organizations.
Start the morning with a hike through the forest to learn the importance of cedar trees and salmon to local Indigenous communities. In the afternoon, get your hands dirty removing invasive species in urban gardens.
Learn about design thinking as a creative problem-solving process that can be used to address sustainability issues. Focus on developing a solution that can be shared with local organizations. Participate in ideation, prototyping, and building pitches in preparation for the upcoming Pitch Day.
Present your design thinking solutions to non-profits, social enterprises, and change-makers to get useful feedback on how to maximize their impact in the community. Then debrief as a class on what you learned and how you will apply your new perspective moving forward.
Coordinating activities with our amazing community partners takes a few months, so expressions of interest usually begin in the fall followed by collaborative planning with you to ensure the activities match with your students.
Insight develops immersive programs that incorporate fun and adventure with purpose driven learning. We use themes aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to frame student experiences and deepen learning, allowing students to connect dots between environmental and social sustainability at home and abroad.
We work with local non-profits, social enterprises, and change makers throughout Vancouver. Their passion and dedication to their work make them experts at sharing how they create positive change in the world.
The program fee includes a mix of classroom and community learning with hands-on workshops led by community partners and Insight facilitators, guest speakers, group discussions and debriefs to deepen learning, and program facilitators that steward the experience.
Group sizes are flexible and can range from 10 – 30 students. Activities with community partners are tailored based on expected class size so that you always get a personalized experience.
Teachers can be as involved as they choose, helping to collaboratively shape the program with Insight to ensure it reflects student interests.
Insight facilitators are university students passionate about sustainable development who are trained by Insight to steward the experience by leading group discussions and debrief, supporting community partner activities, and ensuring students are engaged throughout the program.
You can reach out to our Director of Community Programs at alicia@insightglobaleducation.com.
We take students out of the classroom and challenge them to learn about how the world really works in different places, delivering truly unique study abroad and student travel opportunities.