Welcome to
CIFAL Victoria

Building Capacity for a Sustainable Future

Grid of nine photos. Top row, left to right: Rajesh Tandon and Budd Hall giving a lecture on participatory research; students walking with cherry blossoms; stack of cube blocks with the UN SDG symbols printed on their sides. Middle row, left to right: Students walking down a wide path lined with autumn trees; Indigenous students dancing in the UVic First People's house at the CIFAL Victoria Opening Ceremony; participants from the 2022 CBPR Autumn School with ICLD in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Bottom row, left to right: Director Crystal Tremblay with UVic “Advancing UN SDGs through Co-operative Education” student Erica Dolman; Western Red Cedar trees; students presenting their final project for GEOG 411, "Co-Creating Research for Sustainable Futures".

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

UN-accredited training at the University of Victoria

CIFAL Victoria, hosted at the University of Victoria (UVic), is working with learners and partners around the world to explore innovative solutions for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) through education and research.

We work with partners UVic and beyond to offer specialized sustainability learning and skill-based training accredited by CIFAL Victoria and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). In addition, we work with our partners on collaborative research initiatives and knowledge-sharing events that advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We help partners strengthen and expand the reach and scope of their work, supporting local and global communities as they take on today’s most pressing challenges.

Signature Sustainability Training

The Developing a Sustainability Mindset training program delivers skills and strategies for university leaders to drive institutional transformation for sustainability across research, teaching, operations, governance and outreach.

Custom Workshops

We work with partners to develop personalized training workshops to support organizational and institutional sustainability goals.

More information coming soon.

Accredited Courses at UVic

CIFAL Victoria works with UVic faculty and staff to deliver dynamic training programs across campus and beyond. We provide UN-accreditation for UVic programs and courses that advance institutional commitments to the SDGs and UNDRIP, focused across our four thematic areas.

Research

We partner with UVic scholars and community partners to support impactful research that aligns with our mission, including both sharing existing work and working collaboratively with our partners to develop new research endeavors that support the SDGs and UNDRIP.

What our learners have said…

Anonymous

From Theory to Practice: Competencies
for Community Engagement, 2025

“I have taken A LOT of supplementary courses in my lifetime. This course was in the top 2.”

Anonymous

ESG & Impact Fundamentals for SMEs
in the Blue Economy, 2025

“…the sessions helped to provide a bridge from my current work in developing accredited management systems to fully integrating the ESG principles and metrics into those systems in the future.”

Anonymous

Developing a Sustainability
Mindset, 2025

“Thank you for all your hard work! I’ve learned so much more about SDGs and got a better understanding of all the goals.”

Collaboration for global action

We work with organizations and individuals focused on positive action towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), connecting the University of Victoria (UVic) and our local communities to a global network of partners.

Through partnership with CIFAL Victoria, you will be able to levarage connections to the UN system and the CIFAL Global Network to apply globally recognized accreditation to your training programs. We work with your team to support research and amplify training events and activities through our diverse network of local and international collaborators.