Land Acknowledgement

The Compost Education Centre (CEC) is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, specifically the land of the Lekwungen speaking people—the xʷsepsəm and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and Kwakwaka’wakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour, and continually grow our own understanding of Indigenous rights and history as well as to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers who live and work directly with the land, its complex and vital ecologies, and our diverse, evolving communities.

Hey Pollinators,

In 2024, we launched an almost year-long process of developing the Compost Ed Centre’s intended impact statement and Theory of Change. An intended impact statement expresses the impact that we hold ourselves accountable for achieving as an organization, and a Theory of Change describes the logic of how our day-to-day work leads to that impact. With the support of MakeWay funding through Innoweave, we worked with amazing coaches at Garrow & Evoy, consulted with stakeholders, analyzed our programs, and engaged in deep discussion on an almost weekly basis.

One of our key learnings from the process? That we all have the capacity to be pollinators, or ambassadors for hands-on regenerative soil practices.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• MONIKA BORCHERT
• ASH WHELAN
• ALISON RAMSAY
• BOWEN MACY
• TINA TULLOCH
• CASSIDY DASKALCHUK

STAFF

• KAYLA SIEFRIED: SITE MANAGER & EDUCATION DIRECTOR
• ZOE-BLUE COATES: COMMUNICATIONS & OFFICE MANAGER
• ELORA ADAMSON: CHILD & YOUTH EDUCATION MANAGER
• JEFFREY ELLOM: CHILD & YOUTH EDUCATION COORDINATOR
• CLAIRE REMINGTON: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
• MARTYNA TOMCZYNSKI: HEALING CITY SOILS MANAGER
• HAYA ALDOORI: CHILD & YOUTH EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Hands-on regenerative soil practices (HORSPs) are activities that can be done at the individual level to restore soil and ecosystem health, address inequity, and leave our land, waters, and climate in better shape for future generations. Examples of HORSPs include at-home composting, sustainable food growing, and pollinator care in boulevard gardens, community gardens, and on balconies.

Through an initial connection with the Compost Ed Centre, our members, volunteers, and workshop participants are in increased relationship, collaboration, and engagement with their communities. Small changes aggregate into broader positive impacts on larger systems and policies just like how the smallest of pollinators contributes to the functioning of ecosystems.

Thank you for working with us to strengthen community resilience,

Claire

[Photo: Staff members standing together outdoors on a beach]

Over the next three years...

The Compost Education Centre will strengthen community resilience and stewardship of Greater Victoria’s land and nutrient cycles through a place-based educational approach consisting of a unique focus on hands-on regenerative soil practices, a learning process that emphasized equity and access, and a reciprocal relationship with land. Through these approaches, we will achieve the following impact:

• Teaching individuals about hands-on regenerative soil practices including how to reduce waste, divert waste from the landfill through composting at home or through curbside programs, and create healthy soil with compost.
• Creating connections through a membership program, volunteer opportunities, and our educational offerings.
• Empowering individuals to change their behavior and use hands-on regenerative soil practices.

[Photo: Hands washing fresh green and red apples in a bin of water]

Theory of Change

Who we engage

• Educators
• Greater Victoria Residents
• Volunteers
• Members
• Partners & Levers

Warm & Welcoming Education

Immediate Outcomes (1-3 years)

• Spark awareness and inspiration in Greater Victoria children, youth, and adults.
• Work with educators and community partners to improve their knowledge, capacity, and confidence.
• Transform our members and volunteers into pollinators.

[Illustration: A multi-tiered red worm composting bin]

Intermediate Outcomes (3-5 years)

• Transfer knowledge with an approach that results in an increased sense of belonging and purpose in the community, empowerment, and changed waste management behaviors.

Longterm Outcomes

• Strengthened community resilience, deepened stewardship of the region's land and nutrient cycles, reduction of organic waste disposed of at the Hartland Landfill and in the Capital Regional District, and strengthened food security and sovereignty.

Ultimate Impact Greater Victoria residents steward the region's land and nutrient cycles, which contributes to waste reduction, healthy soil regeneration, local food sovereignty/security, and community and climate resilience.

[Illustration: A potted tomato plant with ripe fruit]

Outreach

“The resources the Compost Education Centre provide to the community are excellent, as usual, and it is nice to reflect on how those Fact Sheets have been a part of my education, teaching and gardening for many years.”

2024 was a stand-out year for our Outreach program as we were able to bring our info booth to 38 festivals, markets, and special events in the CRD. This included events like Cordova Bay Day, the Queer & Trans Farmers' Market, the City of Victoria’s urban farming education event, the Saint Michael’s University School’s Youth in Service Fair, and Seedy Saturdays in Saanich, Salt Spring, Victoria, West Shore, and Sooke. Also included were the Get Growing Victoria! seedling distribution events put on by the City of Victoria where many new gardeners were able to ask us questions about growing food and managing organic wastes after picking up free vegetable starts.

At these events, CEC staff and volunteers answered questions, distributed factsheets and program pamphlets, worked with new volunteers, educated residents on local waste management systems, and connected to other local organizations and businesses who offer important resources. Our info booth isn't solely for us to give out information, however. We also absorb a lot from the conversations we have with attendees and learn about what issues matter to people we share community with to help guide our future educational efforts. We are so grateful to all of the community partners who welcomed us at their events in 2024 and to everyone who took the time to chat with us!

Child & Youth Education

The CEC's Child & Youth Education team continued to offer their two streams: a roster of 25 beloved bookable workshops and the semester-long "Let It Rot" program (LIR). In 2024, we delivered over 300 workshops - our highest number yet! - in classrooms, community centres, in school gardens, and at the CEC's demonstration site. Through both streams, we facilitate interactive and hands-on learning experiences on topics like vermicomposting, soil health, seeds, and pollinators. In 2024, the vermicomposting workshops continued to be a fan favourite!

In the LIR program, a single cohort of students are consistently engaged through a semester's worth of weekly lecture and skill-building sessions in the classroom and at school gardens. In 2024, LIR continued to be offered at both Mount Doug Secondary School and SJ Burnside Education Centre.

Additionally, the CEC continued its collaboration with City of Victoria's Parks and Recreation department by offering Summer Camps as well as Spring Break Camps.

In 2024, our much loved Child and Youth Education Manager, Elora, moved on to new adventures. We are grateful for all of the hard work Elora put into our schools program over the last four years and for the ways in which her experiences and knowledge have shaped the trajectory of the CEC's Child and Youth programming. In her place, we welcomed Haya as a new Child and Youth Education Coordinator.

We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all the hands that helped make this year such a successful one and we looking forward to continuing this work in the following years!

"I love all the hands-on activities and opportunities that are provided for students to be involved in the presentation."

[Photo: A young girl wearing a blue hat and purple hoodie holding an egg carton with soil and seeds]

Healing City Soils

[Photo: Hands pouring soil into a designated square plot marked by string on the ground]

In 2024, Healing City Soils adopted a new "citizen science" approach to residential soil testing, which empowers residents to take an active role in the research program by collecting and submitting their own soil samples. This shift helps foster deeper engagement with participants, allowing for more meaningful participation and connection to the soil in their own backyards and/or community spaces they use to grow food. A total of 27 residents from the Capital Regional District took part in the 2024 program year. The CEC hosted online workshops on "Understanding and Addressing Soil Contamination," where participants explored concepts related to soil chemistry and environmental toxicology to better understand of their soil test results as well as best practices for growing food in soils with low-to-moderate levels of heavy metal contamination.

This year marked the third year of the Ground Beneath Our Feet project, where Environmental Science undergraduate students at RRU continued the applied research into the use of native plants, compost, and fungi to bioremediate heavy metal contamination in soil. Since the inception of this project, the CEC has been working in partnership with the PEPÁḴEN HÁUTW̱ Foundation at SNIDȻEŁ (Tod Inlet, Gowlland Tod Park) to better understand the legacy of contamination from the site's industrial history. The students planted and monitored the growth of Western Canada Goldenrod (Solidago lepida) for the 2024 bioremediation experimental plots and conducted soil sampling across the larger study area.

Adult Education

[Photo: A group of adults attending an outdoor workshop, listening to an educator at a display]

“I was very impressed with Kayla’s knowledge, delivery, ability to connect with folks from diverse backgrounds, cultural recognition, and fielding a wide range of questions in a casual yet highly effective manner.“

In 2024, the Adult Education Program continued to thrive. We continued to offer our very popular Saturday workshops on site at the Compost Education Centre's demonstration site as well as some online workshops to reach a variety of audiences. We had a regular slate of free workshops like “Composting Basics” and “Zero Waste Living,” one-off food literacy workshops on topics like “Fermenting Vegetables” and “Hot Water Bath Canning,” the five-party monthly "Grow the Best Garden" series, and eco-arts workshops like "Solstice Wreath Making" and "Mindful Nature Stitching." We also had a great turn out for a free tour of Hartland Landfill in partnership with the Capital Regional District. And so much more!

The private adult workshop program where CEC staff provide expert education to community groups, companies, and organizations saw its biggest year in 2024 in terms of quantity of workshops taught and people reached. We taught 64 workshops to 1091 participants! It was the best year yet for this program.

“Your workshop sparks motivation, inspiration, and drive to take action to increase our awareness and care for life around us, to strengthen our ability as stewards of not only the soil, but of the land.”

[Photo: Two people working together in a garden, focusing on green leafy plants]

Capacity Building & Urban Garden Stewardship

[Photo: A person in a blue shirt working at the base of a large tree surrounded by flowers and plants]

Our demonstration site underwent many shifts in 2024. Our site footprint was drastically impacted by the Caledonia Housing Development. Vining St at the north end of our site was widened, which resulted in the removal of two large apple trees and a eucalyptus, much loved by the neighborhood crows. In exchange for the lost space, the demonstration site expanded into North Park St, between Chambers St and the development. The wonderful folks at Hatchet and Seed were sub-contracted by the Capital Regional District Housing Corporation to build new demonstration areas, rebuild the greenhouse and cold frame, and reconfigure some impacted allotment garden beds. While we were sad to lose the largest tree on our site, much of the eucalyptus was chipped for our pathways and larger logs were milled into beautiful live edge boards, which we are selling as a fundraiser for our programming. Through the expansion of the Chambers Allotment Gardens were also able to welcome three new gardeners.

In summer of 2024, the Compost Education Centre took over the administration, stewardship, and volunteer coordination for both the Earthbound and Chambers Community Allotment Gardens from the Fernwood Community and Arts Association. These gardens have 78 active gardeners, and there is a waitlist of over 100 interested gardeners.

Gratitude to Our Partners & Supporters

Your support is instrumental in helping the Compost Education Centre achieve its vision of cultivating resilient communities, which enable the land and all living beings to thrive. Thank you!

[Photo: A large harvest of green, yellow, and orange squash and pumpkins]

Individual Donors

Zoe Jackson · Michael Large · Elizabeth Nuse · David Grieg · Chris Martin · Wendy Pottery · Daniel Tourigny · Christiane Joubert · Brigitte Sutherland · Marlise Nussbaumer · James Lamb · George Klima · Elizabeth Wendy Mayne · Wendy Welch

Cash & In-kind Donations

Chek News · Ecologyst · Fernwood Coffee · Habit Coffee · Zero Waste Emporium · Portofino Hoyne Brewing · Butchart Gardens

Corporate Sponsors

Lifestyles Market · Quantum Yoga · The Sanctuary

Funders

Capital Regional District · Canada Summer Jobs · The City of Victoria · Employment and Social Development Canada · Canadian Parks and Recreation Association · First West Foundation · Canadian Red Cross · National Science and Engineering Research Council · Telus Friendly Future Foundation · Victoria Foundation · Vancity · TD Friends of the Environment · Environment · Province of British Columbia · Rotary Club of British Columbia · Ecclesiastical Insurance · Eco Canada · McConnell Foundation

Breakdown of Expenses

[Chart: Pie chart showing the allocation of expenses for 2024]

Breakdown of Revenues

Program stability and growth are possible thanks to the diversified streams of funding outlined below.

[Chart: Pie chart showing the sources of revenue for 2024]

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Follow us on social media: @viccomposted