Columbia University’s Eco Ambassador Program of the Center for Sustainable Development at the Earth Institute, in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation in New York City and New Jersey Audubon, is organizing a Climate Education Youth Summit for New York and New Jersey’s students.
This summit will take place February 8-12, and is best for middle and high schoolers as well as college students, but it is free and open to all.
Each day of the summit will include a panel of inspiring speakers as well as hands-on, skills-oriented workshops addressing the climate crisis. Our conversations will be based on the key questions listed below, with a theme each day. The themes include: climate education, community organizing, action planning, communication and arts for climate, and tips from students on college and career preparation.
- How can communities take up climate change-related actions?
- How are students addressing the issue of climate change education?
- What role does education play in addressing climate change?
- How can institutions help to raise awareness and change behaviors?
The summit will explore the climate crisis and its links to education through fun and engaging discussions, and will increase awareness about local environmental issues in the two states and to encourage community activism through citizen science and other approaches. Through skills-based workshops, students will learn how to address sustainability issues in their communities.
The summit will also make youth aware of career pathways in sustainability and environmental education. There will be networking sessions with current sustainability-track Columbia University students, and opportunities for questions and answers with world-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, marine biologist Joaquim Goes, and New York Times reporter and Earth Institute journalist Andrew Revkin.
The summit is a great opportunity to open young minds to the possibilities in research and activism. The keynote speaker is New Jersey’s First Lady, Tammy Murphy, who is spearheading climate change education as an integral topic in New Jersey’s K-12 school curriculum.
Check out the full agenda here. Please join us to ask questions, debate and participate! Register here.
The New York – New Jersey Climate Education Youth Summit is organized by the Center for Sustainable Development at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, in partnership with New Jersey Audubon and the National Wildlife Federation in New York City.
