Sustainability Summer School

Fort McKay Sustainability Summer School 2026

The Fort McKay Sustainability Summer School 2026 (FM3S’26) program was a three-day summer camp (August 4-6) coordinated by the Volt-age Creeburn CLEAR Hub project and the One-Child Every Child (OCEC) Climate project partners, and integrated into the broader Fort McKay First Nation (FMFN) Youth Summer School program. FM3S’26 was a space for high school students aged 15-17 to learn about clean energy, sustainable food systems, environmental monitoring, and multiple-knowledge systems approaches to ecosystem restoration. In parallel, the OCEC-Climate team ran activities with kids ages 5-12 in partnership with the Fort McKay Wellness Centre.

This Sustainability Summer School aimed to engage students in imagining an alternative, healthier, and cleaner future for Fort McKay and to increase Indigenous sovereignty through renewable energy systems and food security projects.

Over three days, our team immersed the FMFN youth in prototype development and environmental monitoring, co-creating sustainable solutions and bridging youth and Indigenous knowledge with academic and industry technologies. Empowering students to participate in ecosystem management practices enhances social resilience in FMFN. Students also had the opportunity to speak with undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta, and Concordia University throughout FM3S’26 about continuing with higher education, engaging in the pursuit of knowledge and its value in building stronger communities.

Day 1: Students rotated through five different lesson plans (soil sampling and monitoring, forestry and Earth observation, hydroponics, composting, and art and digital media). Here, they learned about theoretical backgrounds and the importance of each practice amid the demands of the climate crisis. In the afternoon, students chose a lab to participate in for the rest of the FM3S’26, practicing the technical skills associated with each workshop.

Day 2: Students continued with their lab of choice, applying theory to real-world experiments and hands-on activities. Students assisted in building hydroponics and composting prototypes, collected soil samples and forestry data, and engaged in digital media projects in connection to the Seven Teachings.

Day 3: Students visited Creeburn Lake Lodge and explored the site where the Creeburn CLEAR Hub Living Lab will be built, assisting in beginning the cleaning of the abandoned lodge as a team-building exercise. In the afternoon, students participated in our Green Roots Art Showcase & Open House, displaying the outcomes of each workshop’s project. Community members and youth aged 5-12 from the Wellness Centre were invited to learn about each project from the students and university instructors while completing a Sustainability Scavenger Hunt.

Art and Media Stream 

The Art & Media stream was one of five groups at FM3S’26, led by Sabrina Perić (University of Calgary, Associate Professor, Anthropology) and Destiny Chescappio (Concordia University, Volt-Age Indigenous Engagement and Outreach Officer). Students experimented with 5 digital storytelling kits from the Energy Stories Lab. Each kit consisted of 1 camera, 1 laptop, 1 audio recorder, several microphones, storage devices, and tripods, which students were trained on how to use and experimented with around the FMFN Youth Centre and the surrounding neighbourhood. Dr. Perić and Destiny worked more intensively with 7 students and featured their work in the Green Roots Art Exhibit, which opened on the last day of FM3S’26.

The Art and Media Stream had three main goals during FM3S’26:  

  1. To provide students with a creative and technical workshop on digital media: youth learned how to use a digital camera (Fujifilm X-T5), went out on the land to make photographs using their own knowledge of the Seven Teachings as a guide, and then composited those images in Photoshop ("photo bashing");

  2. To give the students experience working as the camp’s “media desk”: youth "media" reporters were embedded across the soil, hydroponics, composting, and mapping stations to document the whole camp in photo and video; 

  3. To provide youth with basic knowledge of photo editing (using Adobe Photoshop) and creating pixel art;

  4. To provide youth with experience designing and installing an exhibit based on their creative work: the youth-curated exhibition, Green Roots, opened on August 6 in the McKay Youth Centre.

Over the course of three days, students participated in various workshops and activities to achieve these learning objectives.

Day 1 

  • Students received a basic introduction to using digital cameras. They practiced taking three types of photos, becoming familiar with capturing portraits, landscapes, moving objects, and experimenting with brightness and shutter speed. 

  • Students participated in an extended nature photo walk, visiting different places in the community and attempting to capture photos interpreting the Seven Teachings (Love/Eagle, Respect/Buffalo, Courage/Bear, Honesty/Sasquatch, Wisdom/Beaver, Humility/Wolf, Truth/Turtle) in the land around them. 

  • Students picked out 3 shots each based on their teaching to print out and display in the Green Roots Art Exhibit.

Day 2  

  • Students wrote and finalized a caption for their three photos in the Green Roots Art Exhibit. 

  • Students participated in a photo-bashing workshop (combining animal + landscape photos together) and learned basic tool use in Photoshop.  

  • Other students who were less interested in Photoshop were given the opportunity to create pixel art (with Pixilart.com) and create their favourite video game or cartoon characters.  

  • Student “media reporters” visited the other workshops and documented their activities.  

  • Students planned the layout and placement of the photos for the Green Roots Art Exhibit, hanging the photos and captions for the exhibit, and creating a comment board for visitors. 

Day 3

  • Students presented their photos in the Green Roots Art Exhibit!

The main outcomes from the Arts and Media group included:  

  1. A body of youth photography (nearly 2000 photos) which included both photo activities around the Seven Teachings, and a photo/video record of the entire camp; 

  2. The Green Roots public exhibition;  

  3. A youth-facing skills transfer: camera operation, basic Adobe Photoshop, and exhibit design. 

Student photos from FM3S’26

Below is a collection of photos taken by students from the Arts and Media Stream over two days of experimenting with the digital storytelling kits. Stay tuned for a digital storymap of the Green Roots Art Exhibit!

Fort McKay Sustainability Summer School 2025

FM3S’26 is the second iteration of the Sustainability Summer School, the first debuting in Summer 2025. Similarly to the Arts and Media Stream of FM3S’26, students of FM3S’25 experimented with the digital storytelling kits, creating a body of work comprising nearly 300 photos, a collection of which can be found below.