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CALD Curriculum Overview

Take an in-depth look at the CALD curriculum.

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CALD-class-03

What others have to say about CALD

“The climate crisis is the single greatest opportunity for innovation in human history.

“Political barriers are the most critical challenge to successful climate action. Pearson College UWC is uniquely positioned to break down these barriers by bringing together passionate young leaders from around the world.”

CALD Testimonial by Andrew Weaver

Dr. Andrew Weaver, OBC
IPCC panel, professor at UVIC and former MLA

CALD-class-01

University Destinations

Making an Impact Now and Beyond

The IBCP diploma is accepted by universities and other post-secondary schools around the world.

IBCP students are in demand and scholarship-eligible because post-secondary admissions staff know this challenging and intense program fosters the self-confidence, skills and enthusiasm students need for success in higher education and in their careers. We believe that the CALD program offers a deeper dive into the relevant skills, attributes, values, and behaviours that are necessary to solve complex problems, such as the climate crisis.

Check the IB Organization’s database of postsecondary possibilities for IBCP graduates:

UNIVERSITY LIST

GRADUATE DESTINATION

CALD-class-02

The Climate Action Leadership Diploma (CALD)

Pearson College UWC launched an exciting and innovative new IB program curriculum option in the 2022-23 academic year ​ for students with a passion for tackling the most pressing issue facing humanity – climate change. The new Climate Action Leadership Diploma is an IB Career-related Program (IBCP) and is the first of its kind, a two-year diploma for 16-19-year-olds who wish to specialize in climate leadership. CALD is a diploma program alternative to our existing IB Diploma Program.

CALD IB Program | Programmatic strengths

The CALD curriculum leverages unique programmatic strengths: our location on the shores of the Salish Sea and amongst the old-growth forests of Vancouver Island, a commitment to collaboration and community building with Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers, support for local partnerships with outstanding educational institutions and community leaders, and a deliberately diverse cohort of inspired students. Our curriculum is designed in alignment with the United World College values, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Career- Related Program (CP), partnerships with local universities – Camosun College and Royal Roads University – and informed by an analysis of what the world and our students need through the lenses of the UN SDGs and global intersectional movements for change and solidarity.

Curriculum overview

Climate Action Leadership studies

  • University-accredited courses in partnership with Camosun College and Royal Roads University (RRU)
  • Bespoke UWC Programming in Leading Climate Action
  • Training and certification in key skills to support climate action
  • Experiential learning through connection to land, sea, and Indigenous community partnerships 

IB Diploma program subjects

Students choose three courses at an level form the IB Diploma Program.

IB CP core

  • Service Learning
  • Reflective Project
  • Personal and Professional Skills
  • Language Development

A closer look at Climate Action Leadership studies

The Climate Action Leadership Diploma is delivered over 600 hours of instruction spread over 2 years and consists of:

1. University-level Courses, in partnership with Camosun College and Royal Roads University
Students in the CALD program complete four undergraduate-level courses, two from each of our partnered institutions. The students receive face-to-face instruction from university faculty who come to Pearson’s campus to teach their respective course. The cohort takes one course per term for four terms. Learning in these courses is assessed by the university instructor(s) at the end of each term, and successful completion can provide students with undergraduate-level credits.

2. Bespoke UWC Programming – Leading Climate Action
Developed and delivered in-house, with invited external speakers, guest lecturers, and direct place-based experiences, this course runs alongside and complements the knowledge, skills, values, and attributes students are learning in the university level and CP Core courses. Students gain knowledge to develop key skills necessary for leadership in complex systems, with climate change and climate action studies as the focus. Through this course, students also connect to land, sea, and Indigenous values and community.  Learning in this module is entirely internally assessed and exam-free. Student learning is demonstrated through project-based work and reflection captured in their portfolios that meet the unique Climate Action Competency framework.

3. Micro-credentials
The CALD program provides unique opportunities for students to develop specific skills in facilitation, conflict transformation, climate modelling, and understanding the legal rights of individuals participating in direct action. These certifications are achieved through either self-directed study or whole-cohort workshops led by external organizations.

University courses
Leading climate action
IB CP Core
Micro-credentials

Term 1 – Climate Science and Impacts (Royal Roads University)

Term 2 – Land-Water Stewardship (IST 142, Camosun College)

Term 3 – QCASET Indigenous Cultural Camp (IST 250, Camosun College)

Term 4 – Resilient Leadership in Action (Royal Roads University)

This customized Pearson College UWC course is integral to the CALD program and weaves a coherent thread through the program, optimizing opportunities for learners to apply a transdisciplinary lens and a multi-world view perspective to current climate action challenges. CALD students engage in discussion circles, work with subject matter experts, explore current theories, debates, policies and contemporary developments in the field of climate adaptation in Canada and globally.

Themes of study include:

Personal and Shared Values: Grounding in the UWC values and First Peoples’ Principles of Learning

Global Issues to Local Solutions: Connecting Big Picture Activism and Local Futures

Complexity: Understanding complex adaptive systems

Economics for Climate Action: Economics in policy and equity through exploring alternative economics systems

Just Transitions Towards Just Futures: Climate Adaptation & Mitigation Solutions and Social Justice

Design Thinking for the UNSDGs: High-tech, low-tech and tinkering solutions

Movements and Social Activism: How collective action creates deep meaningful change

Social Power & Power Structures: Accountability, transparency and equity

  • Service Learning
  • Reflective Project
  • Personal and Professional Skills
  • Language Development
  • Microcredentials allow students to specialize and develop practical skills in areas of interest related to climate action
  • Microcredentials in the form of digital badges (e.g. social impact design, practical futurism, blockchaining) can be pursued and earned remotely/virtually
  • Cohort participating in workshops led by external organizations 

CALD outcomes within the IB program

After a successful two-years of study in the Climate Action Leadership Diploma program, graduates will have:

12 university credits
f
Microcredentials

specialised in practical skills in areas of interest related to climate action

h
IB Career-Related Program Certificate
+
Access to Pearson College UWC partner universities
i
IB Diploma Course Certificates

For the 3 courses of their choosing, at either the Standard or Higher Level

What others have to say about CALD

“The climate crisis is the single greatest opportunity for innovation in human history.

“Political barriers are the most critical challenge to successful climate action. Pearson College UWC is uniquely positioned to break down these barriers by bringing together passionate young leaders from around the world.”

CALD Testimonial by Andrew Weaver

Dr. Andrew Weaver, OBC
IPCC panel, professor at UVIC and former MLA

A focus on experiential learning

Woven through this curriculum are immersive field/case studies on mitigation and adaptation to rising sea levels in coastal communities, eco-cultural revitalization and restoration, climate impact of wildfire risk reduction and forest management, decarbonized energy systems, negative emissions technologies, climate change displacement and migration preparedness, climate resilience of coastal temperate rainforests and underwater kelp forest ecosystems, and more.

These are more than field trips designed to illustrate concepts learned in the classroom, but immersive learning experiences that allow students to develop and meet the cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioral learning outcomes for the UN SDGs and Climate Action Competencies.

Climate action competencies

Climate-Action-Competencies-20231003
Identity & Positionality
  • Values
  • Critical Self-Location
  • Power & Equity
Working together for Climate Action
  • Supporting Partnerships
  • Facilitation
  • Conflict Transformation
Climate Action Literacies
  • Communication
  • Complex Systems
  • Scientific Literacy
Stewarding Transformative Change
  • Building and Supporting Movements
  • Solutions Design
  • Leading Change
Climate Adaptation & Climate Mitigation
  • Vulnerability & Impact
  • Modeling & Predictions
  • Personal & Collective Resilience
Faculty member Lucas Olscamp as the Climate Change Challenge winner

International recognition

In a momentous achievement, dedicated faculty member Lucas Olscamp has emerged as the winner of the prestigious 2023 Burjeel Holdings Oxford Saïd Climate Change Challenge, where Olscamp showcased his ground-breaking coursework, a pivotal element of our robust Climate Action Leadership Diploma program.

Meet some of the current CALD students

The CALD program is much broader than simply an “ecosystems or environmental” curriculum. Effective future climate leadership requires a broad set of skills, interests and applications to help accelerate the global and multi-sectoral change we need to make, and our course intentionally reflects this. Our first two cohorts are comprised of 27 students from 20 nations, and each student brings a unique perspective and breadth of experience as scientists, story tellers, political activists, anthropologists, engineers and artists, to name a few. 

However, any prospective student should approach this option having a strong desire to apply their study and interests to a solutions-focused agenda centred around climate and sustainability action.

Interested students should be prepared to take university-level courses from Royal Roads University and Camosun College that require experiential and applied learning projects in the field in different locations across Vancouver Island. 

The program attracts self-directed yet collaborative students who are critical and ethical thinkers wishing to acquire practical skills and knowledge. Students who are academically strong, as well as resilient, determined, confident, caring and reflective inquirers and thinkers will find this a fulfilling and transformative program. 

 

When Emma (Year 50/2025, Canada-NL) heard about the CALD program through her National Committee, she immediately aligned with the values of respect for the environment, reciprocity, and mutual responsibility. As a proud Inuk-Newfoundlander, Emma loves the centering of Indigenous knowledge within climate change studies present in this program. She appreciates the collaborative learning with peers, teachers, and guests in the classroom and on field trips.

Emma is deeply passionate about the ocean and biodiversity and plans to study marine biology or indigenous studies after Pearson. She is currently taking Marine Science SL, English A: Language and Literature HL, and Visual Arts SL/HL and is engaged in the coastal biodiversity ceramics activity. Emma appreciates the creative outlet that ceramics offers and thoroughly enjoys being on the land and by the sea, learning about native species of southern Vancouver Island in coastal biodiversity.

 

Maddy (Year 49/2024, Canada-YT) was inspired to join the Climate Action Leadership Diploma because they felt strongly that the climate crisis should be at the forefront of all educational systems. Back home, Maddy was part of the Yukon Youth Panel for Climate Change and they spent their summer working on conservation projects around the Yukon.

At Pearson, Maddy is taking Marine Science SL, English A: Language and Literature HL, and Mathematics: Analysis and Applications SL. He joined the wilderness hiking activity and the TED planning group, and they are a leader in the creative art collective that builds outdoor art installations with their peers.

For his Reflective Project, Maddy is researching the ethics of natural resource extraction in northern Canada. Maddy hopes to study environmental sciences in university, with the ultimate goal of becoming an educator.

 

Molly (Year 49/2024, Taiwan) came to Pearson College UWC after completing her Waldorf education in Taiwan. She is broadly interested in sustainability and is taking Chemistry HL, Economics HL and English B HL as her IB Diploma Program subjects. At Pearson, she pursued her passion for environmental sustainability through the Pearson Producers CAS where she worked in the greenhouse and volunteered at local farms.

As an upcoming CALD graduate, Molly has broadened her perspective and knowledge of climate change beyond scientific knowledge to social and political drivers for change. She valued the relationship with Indigenous elders in the classroom and understanding the complexities that influence climate change policies. Molly is proud of her participation in the inaugural cohort and encourages others to be brave and choose an alternative program to build their skills in leadership.

She hopes to study sustainability through business or engineering pathways at university.

 


Syarif (Year 49/2024, Indonesia) was new to the climate movement when he applied to UWC, but he was drawn to the CALD program, given his interest in sustainable agriculture, climate justice, and food security. His three IB Diploma Program subjects are Chemistry HL, English B HL, and Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL. On campus, he joined the coastal biodiversity, sustainability squad, and wilderness CAS activities.

He values the importance of collaboration in complex systems and the connection of land, culture, and community. Syarif volunteered with the Kali Ratu Sea Turtle Conservation in Indonesia for his Service Learning project. He cherished the opportunity to be professionally engaged in a climate action movement related to animal conservation.

Syarif wants to pursue studies in biochemistry and food science at university and apply his knowledge from CALD toward building sustainable food systems.

 

Mosab (YR 50/2025, Sudan) is passionate and enthusiastic about creating positive solutions to address climate change. Coming from an agricultural community in Sudan, Mosab saw first-hand the effects of climate change with decreased rainfall and extended drought. He joined the Climate Action Leadership Diploma with the goal of building a foundation of knowledge to create change. Mosab is a vibrant member of the second cohort, and his commitment to create tangible solutions and motivate everyone to care about the climate crisis is inspiring.

Mosab hopes to innovate solutions for climate change, and he is broadly interested in science, engineering, and economics. His IB diploma courses are Physics HL, English B HL, and Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL. Mosab appreciates the diverse community at Pearson and the ability to live and learn with people from different backgrounds and perspectives.

When he is not in classes, Mosab is a member of the Model United Nations activity and exploring a new skill in rock climbing.

University Destinations

Making an Impact Now and Beyond

The IBCP diploma is accepted by universities and other post-secondary schools around the world.

IBCP students are in demand and scholarship-eligible because post-secondary admissions staff know this challenging and intense program fosters the self-confidence, skills and enthusiasm students need for success in higher education and in their careers. We believe that the CALD program offers a deeper dive into the relevant skills, attributes, values, and behaviours that are necessary to solve complex problems, such as the climate crisis.

Check the IB Organization’s database of postsecondary possibilities for IBCP graduates:

UNIVERSITY LIST

GRADUATE DESTINATION

Partnerships

Building partnerships for an impactful education

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Camosun College

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Royal Roads University

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International Baccalaureate