The 2014 Cascadia Sustainability FIeld School kicked off this week. A group of 20 Geographers from the University of Victoria, we are traveling down the coast from BC to San Francisco. Along the way we are meeting with and learning from a range of different folks - First Nations, planners, EcoVillagers, academics, entrepreneurs and other citizens grappling in different ways with sustainability challenges in this trans-boundary region some call Cascadia.

We will be blogging our journey of self-discovery, sharing stories of the inspiring efforts and people we encounter. 

This video produced by UVic geography student Arden Mathieson explores communication and consumerism with Allison Cook of the Story of Stuff. Learn what's behind this highly influential project that tackles major sustainability concerns through short animated videos. 

After a long, 16 hour train ride from Eugene, we finally made it to Emeryville, California, USA, where we hopped on a bus to take us to the fabulous San Francisco. We were then released out into the city for lunch before reconvening in the Yerba Buena Gardens, where we gave our group presentation about San Francisco.

On the first day we arrived on the Oregon Coast after a full on city experience in Portland. Everyone was looking forward to some down time and with any luck, some relaxing on the beach. Little did we know the beach would be much wetter and windier than we could ever expect. The first stop was Astoria for the Public Market was filled with local vendors selling their wares: birdhouses, freshly caught fish, veggies, wine, and the amazing cigar box guitars, which Alec could not resist.