CHASI holding summer camp for young changemakers

You’re never too young to be a changemaker.

The University of the Fraser Valley’s Community Health and Social Innovation (CHASI) Hub is holding a free four-day Social Sciences and the Art of Changemaking summer camp Aug. 4-7, showing high schoolers in Grades 11 and 12 how they can play a role in solving social problems.

Gathering from 9 am to 3 pm each day, participants will learn about the social sciences and explore the community issues they’re passionate about.

As UFV’s Changemaking Hub, CHASI conducts extensive research to develop deep understanding of today’s most challenging questions, and supports our community partners as they turn knowledge into action.

At the CHASI camp, students will learn about research methods (such as designing surveys and conducting interviews) and put those methods into practice as they answer their own research question.

“The CHASI summer camp has been a few years in the making, and we are so excited to be able to bring high school students on campus to learn more about how research can respond to needs in the community,” says Chelsea Klassen, CHASI’s lead researcher (pictured above).

CHASI has a long list of partners across B.C., and summer campers will hear from guest experts such as politicians, economists, non-profit founders, and sustainability experts.

They’ll deliver inspiring messages about the importance and impact of research for our communities, encouraging students on their journey to becoming changemaking citizens socially, economically, and politically.

“We are lucky that we can rely on our community relationships and faculty associates to support this camp by providing their expertise in a way that can ignite a passion in the high school students,” Chelsea says. “We hope that this camp will inspire students to continue to think of creative ways to contribute to their community.”

Students will also have lunch and learn opportunities to ask questions to community leaders, learn more about sustainability on campus and in the wider community, and learn about how to communicate research through creative knowledge mobilization strategies.

CHASI thanks the Mission Community Foundation and other private donors whose financial support has made this camp possible. Anyone wishing to connect with CHASI in its mission to encourage young changemakers can reach out to Chelsea via email at chelsea.klassen@ufv.ca.

For more information on the camp, please visit https://www.ufv.ca/chasi/projects/2026-summer-camp/ .