Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the CARE InnovEAT Hackathon at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario.
The hackathon was an opportunity to join a sprint on ‘Hacking’ sustainable solutions to the challenges of climate change for a sustainable food system in Canada. It was amazing to take a deeper dive into brainstorming, designing, and pitching solutions for a resilient food system in the country in the face of climate change. The experience is an inspiration to look at how we can better maximize nature-based solutions and integrated landscape approaches as a go-to strategy for a stronger environmental pillar in the sustainability of our food systems.
I am deeply grateful to the CARE Program, CARE at UBC, the Arrell Food Institute, ALUS, and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UBC for making this opportunity possible and to the inspiring Mastercard Foundation Scholars, mentors, and leaders I connected with. I am looking forward to an engaging program as we dive deep into how we can better monitor and communicate the value of biodiversity derived from the restoration efforts on our production landscapes and agricultural farmlands. For me, it is an opportunity to better inform investments and spark policy conversations on enhancing food security and sustainability of food systems in communities like mine.