Episode 1: Give more than you take
Regenerative Travel
Travel is back! As Generation Z heads out to explore the world again, they’re looking for ways to travel greener, smarter, and with less impact. In this episode, host Bianca Rego learns about regenerative travel — the movement that encourages travellers to leave their destination better than it was before. She talks to two Davids — BCIT instructor David Tikkanen and David Leventhal from the Regenerative Travel group of resorts — about how travelling can help make the world a better place. And she meets Randy Louie, a cultural guide at the Klahoose First Nation Wilderness Resort on BC’s Sunshine Coast.
Episode 2: Start me up
Career connected learning
How do you know what you really want to be when you grow up? And how do you make the jump from training for that career to actually doing it? One way is to check things out through “career-connected learning.” It allows you to test the waters of different jobs related to your field while still at school, so you can be workforce-ready the day you graduate.
In this episode, Joan Pascual, Program Head of BCIT’s Centre for Workplace Education, tells Fireweed host Bianca Rego how a good career-connected learning program helps both students and employers. And BCIT Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Alumna and Air Canada Team Leader Jenny Tung gives us a tour of her workplace.
Episode 3: Share the wealth
How Gen Z is redefining real estate
Ziggy and Kate Linklater are both 27-years-old and they’ve just achieved the impossible dream — owning their own home in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Surveys show that most Canadians under 30 have given up on the dream of home ownership. Host Bianca Rego talks to Ziggy about how he and Kate managed to purchase a 1,000 square foot condo without any financial help from family and friends. Finally, BCIT Alum Steve Jagger from Addy Invest, talks about why he thinks real estate crowdfunding platforms can help Gen Zers buy their own place to live.
Please note BCIT doesn’t endorse any investments or investment companies – but it sure makes for an interesting conversation.
Episode 4: Blow your house down
Building climate resilient communities
We’re already living with the devastating impact of climate change. Wildfires, torrential rain, and heat domes in British Columbia have caused billions of dollars in damage in just the last couple of years. But British Columbians aren’t going down without a fight. Cities are setting a new standard for climate resilient housing. Vancouver has promised to become the “greenest place on the planet,” partly by passing a new building code that says every new home must be a passive home. In conversation with Alexandre Hebert, Manager of BCIT Zero Energy/Emissions Buildings Learning Centre, host Bianca Rego finds out what a passive home is and how it can help cut green house gas emissions. Bianca also gets a first-hand look at the passive home that Mike Cairns built for his family in Langley, BC.
Episode 5: Not a contest
Building resilience at school and work
Our approaches to school and work are changing. Success isn’t just about masochistically pushing yourself beyond your limits anymore — it’s about nurturing sustainable relationships with your studies and your career. At the same time, nobody said it was meant to be easy. In this episode, host Bianca Rego speaks with BCIT’s Gurleen Bhatia and Laura Vail, experts who are evolving our learning and working environments to be more human-centric. Next, she’s joined by Diosa Femme — one half of the hard-working podcasting duo behind Locatora Radio — to talk about “multi-hyphenate careers” and avoiding burnout.
Episode 6: Cannabis
Debunking the myths
Recreational cannabis has become ubiquitous, and with it, an entire encyclopedia of products and terms. Vapes, edibles, carbonated beverages, THC, CBD, terpenes — there’s a lot of lingo out there. In this episode, Bianca Rego speaks with Michael Chan and Hazrah Moothoo of BCIT’s Natural Health and Food Products Research Group to get a vocabulary lesson and a better sense of how the plant is being studied and brought to market. Then she’s joined by Josh Beckett — a master grower from Magi Cannabis on Saltspring Island, for a conversation about where this high-growth industry is headed next.
Episode 7: Fly right 
How do we make flight sustainable?
We are on the move again. We live where we want, we work where we want, and for many of us, that means more time on the tarmac. But how can we reconcile all the jet-setting with the realities of the airline industry’s impact on our environment? What alternatives to traditional flight are emerging? In this episode, Bianca Rego — who has struggled with a lifetime fear of flying — speaks with Nathan Zvi, climate innovator and host of The Net Zero Life podcast. She also chats with Dr. Eric Saczuk, who integrates his environmental research with adventurous travel to off-the-beaten path destinations, and oversees the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Hub at BCIT.
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