Social Media Action for Climate Knowledge Intern, 2025

To Be Eligible for this Internship:

Eligible students must be enrolled – or accepted for enrolment – in a full time undergraduate or graduate program at one of the four PICS partner institutions: UVIC, UBC, SFU or UNBC. Students must either be returning to complete their degree programs following the internship or have completed their programs the semester prior to the start of the internship.

The West Coast Climate Action Network (WE-CAN) was established in 2021. We have 290 Member Groups across British Columbia that are working to tackle the climate crisis and achieve more rapid action.

Social media platforms are increasingly being used to spread harmful climate disinformation and myths about climate solutions, and to prevent or delay essential climate action. To counter this threat, WE-CAN is starting a Social Media Action for Climate Knowledge (SMACK) project, for which we seek an Intern who will assist us in developing and running it. You will work with our Communications Team to engage 20 climate action groups in BC to join the project, help them find local social media champions, and support them in the active use of Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and BlueSky.
The ideal candidate will understand the urgency of the climate crisis, have a passion to make a difference, a good understanding of social media platforms, and an ability to create compelling content.

By the End of this Project, Our Goal is that:

WE-CAN and 20 Member Groups will have a well-established social media presence with a wide following and engagement.
We will have created a user-friendly SMACK Toolkit that will encourage and enable climate action groups all across BC – and the world – to be far more active in the social media realm.
The project will have sparked a buzz that will inspire people to raise their voice, advocate for change, and share solutions.

Intern Responsibilities

In partnership with the volunteers on WE-CAN’s Communications Team, you will:

Help us to enroll 20 climate action groups in BC to participate in the project.
Learn which kinds of climate language resonate with ordinary people, and which don’t.
Develop a series of steps that will enable the 20 climate groups to find social media champions who will be excited to help them develop their social media presence.
Create compelling posts and videos for WE-CAN.
Develop a SMACK Toolkit that will encourage and enable climate action groups across BC (and hopefully, the world) to develop a much stronger social media presence.
Keep track of your work, hours, and progress, and report monthly to WE-CAN.

Learning and skill-Building Opportunities

You will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in social media content creation and management.
You will play a valuable role in helping to combat climate misinformation and disinformation.
You will have personal and organizational support from our Communications Team.
You will have the opportunity to develop your platform skills and creative capacities.
You will have the opportunity to attend our Indigenous Climate Action Lunch ‘n Learn presentations and other WE-CAN activities.

Abilities and Qualifications

We seek someone who:

Has a passion to do something about the climate crisis.
Eligible students must be enrolled – or accepted for enrolment – in a full time undergraduate or graduate program in a field such as climate, environmental science, political science, communications, media studies, geography, forestry, etc.
Has experience with graphic design, video and photo creation, editing, posting, search engine optimization, and web analytics.
Has a strong understanding of social media platforms and their functionalities.
Has excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Has good interpersonal skills and the ability to work with a team.
Has good organizational skills and the ability to work on your own.

Personal Supports

You will have support from our volunteer Communications Team as we work with you to bring the SMACK project to success. If you run into work-related interpersonal issues, you will have support from someone you can call on.

Logistics

WE-CAN does not have physical offices, so this is home-based/remote work. There may be opportunities for in-person meetings, depending on where you live.

You will need your own laptop or desktop computer.
Up to 550 hours work, flexible hours. You can decide yourself when you want to work.
Start date: Early May
End date: Between September 6th and October 31st, depending on your plans.
Pay: $25/hour.
Deadline for applications: Saturday, April 1st, midnight.

The application form is below.

As part of your application, we will ask you to submit a 30-second video that demonstrates your creative social media skills and tells us why tackling the climate crisis matters to you.

This Internship is funded by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS). PICS acknowledges Coast Capital Savings for its generous support of the Climate Internship Program.

WE-CAN PICS Summer Intern, 2025

We’re seeking someone who cares passionately about the climate crisis, and will enjoy working with 20 climate action groups to help them find social media champions and develop their social media skills. To apply for the position, please fill out the form below. If you have any questions, please email admin@westcoastclimateaction.ca. As part of this application, we ask you to create a 30-seconds video that demonstrates your creative social media skills, and tells us why tackling the climate crisis matters to you. Then upload it to YouTube, and give us the link, so that we can view it. The deadline for Applications is April 1st, 2025 at midnight.

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This is a PICS-funded Internship position. Are you enrolled or accepted for enrolment in a full-time undergraduate or graduate program at one of the four PICS partner institutions: UVic, UBC, SFU or UNBC? You must either be returning to complete your degree programs following the internship, or have completed your programs the semester prior to the start of the internship(Required)

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Please create a 30-second video that demonstrates your creative social media skills, and tells us why tackling the climate crisis matters to you, upload it to YouTube, and give us the link.(Required)

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