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The story behind ROOTS Quest

A youth-led course that teaches young people to see the world differently, and to design with it, not against it.

About us

What Truly is ROOTS Quest?

ROOTS Quest is an 8-week project-based STEM program for students in Grades 6⁠–⁠8 that teaches young people to see the world differently.

Rather than beginning with solutions or answers, students first learn how to understand the systems behind the problems they care about.

Through systems thinking, regenerative design, and innovation inspired by nature, students explore how people, technology, and the environment are connected—and how thoughtful design can strengthen those relationships instead of breaking them.

Completely freeNo tuition, no fees, no catch
8 weeksOne live one-hour session per week
Grades 6⁠–⁠8Students ages 11–14
5–6 studentsPilot cohort, real conversations
Live over ZoomJoin from anywhere with internet
Based in CalgaryOpen to students everywhere
Meet ROOTS Quest in one minute A short introduction to the course from Ryan Xia, founder and facilitator.

Ryan Xia, founder and facilitator of ROOTS Quest, walks through what the course is and who it is for.

Where curious, young minds learn to
‘think like a forest’

It empowers students ages 11-14 in grades 6-8 to understand problems and ask questions with consideration of the entire system, every angle and scale, and how it supports life on earth.

Courses

The Connection Between Everything

Within a forest, everything is connected. The ecosystem’s health sits on a tightrope, yet nature manages to keep it balanced.

ROOTS Quest strives to build a connection between passionate young students in STEM and the natural ecosystem through regenerative and systems thinking.

A spider web lit by warm sunlight
Students participating in a hands-on outdoor project
A forest tree with exposed roots

What Does ROOTS Mean?

Regenerative - Thinking, planning, and designing not just to ‘make things last’ or ‘a little less bad’, but to make them actively good for the ecosystem for the future.
R
Observant - Not just seeing, but slowing down, looking closely, and finding patterns and asking questions about what other people just walk by or dismiss
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Organic - Looking to nature for technological answers and solving problems with assistance from nature’s billions of years or experience in designing solutions.
O
Thinking - Not just memorizing answers, but asking questions to carve out better questions. Not just asking what is right, but what is the right question to ask.
T
Systems - Understanding that everything is connected, seeing feedback loops, relationships, how the growth of one can stifle the growth of another.
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Meet the team

The people behind ROOTS Quest

Ryan Xia, founder and facilitator of ROOTS Quest

Ryan Xia

Founder and facilitator, ROOTS Quest

Ryan Xia is a student, youth creator and educator, and aspiring engineer based out of Calgary, Alberta, and the founder of ROOTS Quest. As a competitive robotics member in FIRST Tech Challenge with Cybertronic Penguinz and a youth creator and educator with experience running education programming in STEM and robotics subjects, Ryan brings a unique combination of technical curiosity and a passion for teaching everything he builds.

Adam Wu, outreach and marketing at ROOTS Quest

Adam Wu

Outreach and marketing, ROOTS Quest

“ROOTS Quest didn’t stem from a classroom assignment or a school project. It came from the core philosophy that regenerative thinking is one of the most important ideas of the present and future—and that its seed should be planted in our future innovators, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and engineers.”

Contact ROOTS Quest

Let’s start a conversation.

Ask about the course, the pilot cohort, accessibility, or anything else you would like to know.

rootsquestorg@gmail.com
Join the pilot cohortRegistration closes October 16