In bella Italia, I headed to Milan for the third forum, and to meet with Staples Associates in nearby Castelletto Cervo. 

At the beautiful offices of the Commissione Europea in the centre of the city, I met with Valentina from the World Wildlife Fund's Lombardia office, to start setting up for the forum. Tread Lightly partnered with the WWF to run the Italian Youth Environment and Education forum, a perfect fit since WWF works with teachers across Italy on education initiatives, so we were able to reach out to their networks to spread the word about the event. Participants were a mix of university students involved in environmental initiatives, and teachers, so we had some diverse perspectives contributing to the discussion.

I was lucky to have Federico Brocchieri as a co-facilitator - one of the most dedicated people I know when it comes to climate change issues and giving youth a voice. Federico traveled all the way from Rome for the event, to co-host and share his expertise as a former Climate Champion with the British Council and a crusader for climate change education - he has given hundreds of presentations to students across Italy to introduce them to climate change issues and encourage them to make a difference, all on his own initiative. Meeting people like Federico has been my favourite part of this forum series - I am constantly inspired by the amazing individuals creating awareness and action. 

I had an opportunity to meet with Staples Associates at the Italian headquarters in Castelletto Cervo, a small town outside of Milan situated among fields and farms. The rural setting was great news for the lunch part of our lunch and learn - it was not difficult to find local food, and as expected, the Italians did not disappoint! The spread included cheeses, salamis, breads, and even strawberries and tomatoes, all from nearby farms and producers. It was a delicious example of how to reduce your ecological footprint. 

I learned about some impressive environmental initiatives at the Italian office, spearheaded by employees like Alessandro, who operates an office-wide recycling program that is setting an example for the local municipality, which currently does not have a central recycling system.

Paris is my next stop, arriverderci! 

After a great start in Oslo, I traveled to London for the second round of the Youth Environment and Education Forums. We partnered with Stakeholder Forum (http://www.stakeholderforum.org), an international organization that works to advance sustainable development and promote democracy at a global level. With such a mission statement, Stakeholder Forum was an ideal partner! The event was hosted by Defra, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and attendees included approximately 50 representatives from major UK charities, including Oxfam and Friends of the Earth. It was a spirited forum with insightful input from all the participants. 

Next, I visited the Staples UK headquarters in High Wycombe, just outside of London. Staff there worked hard to organize a breakfast version of a "lunch and learn" event to engage Staples Associates in reducing their ecological footprint, in the spirit of Tread Lightly. There was an impressive breakfast spread of local and organic products, featuring apple juice from a local farmer and producer.

I gave a presentation to highlight the successes of Tread Lightly in the last two years, including over 2,000 student participants in video conferences, and over 4,000 downloads of the teacher toolkit. Then, the Staples Associates participated in a lively discussion about how to apply the ideas behind the Tread Lightly program - reducing your ecological footprint in the categories of food, energy, water, waste and transportation - in their own office, communities and homes. Suggestions brought up included a cycle-to-work program to encourage Associates to use sustainable methods of transportation. 

Onwards to Italy!

Last week, the inaugural Youth Environment and Education Forum was held in Oslo, Norway. This was the first in a series of five events, held  to engage youth and educators in the dialogue around the Rio+20 Earth Summit, and spread the word about the Tread Lightly climate change education initiative.

Oslo proved to be an excellent place to kick things off! The Oslo forum was a great success; thanks to the efforts of SPIRE, our co-hosting organization. SPIRE is a youth environmental network with chapters across Norway. They arranged for the location for the event, which was held in the beautiful Utviklingshuset, (Development house) a facility operated by Norad (the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) for use by youth and students. With SPIRE's promotional help, the forum attracted students, youth activists and representatives from NGOs to discuss the issues around Rio+20 and provide a Norwegian perspective. SPIRE representatives were particularly interested in the Tread Lightly Challenge cards and carbon footprint calculator, as they will be starting their own educational campaign in the new year and are looking for Norwegian materials to include.

All the participants applied themselves diligently to the task at hand. It was decided that the five categories of the Tread Lightly Challenge were best combined into three groups: food and waste, transportation and energy, and water. Many suggested initiatives and policy recommendations surfaced during the small group discussions and presentations. One suggestion in particular was to create awareness-raising campaigns not only to promote new environmentally-friendly initiatives, but to make Norwegians aware of the areas in which their country is already achieving success, such as the promotion of organic food, energy efficiency, and the klimahelt (climate hero) program. These types of public campaigns would help boost morale and put a positive spin on environmental concerns. The need for environmental education in the permanent school curriculum at all levels was addressed, to create a robust knowledge base. The youth present called on the government to involve young people as a stakeholder group at an equal level with industries during consultation sessions. One excellent outcome of the forum was the connection between diverse groups in attendance, who made plans to collaborate as a result of coming together for this discussion.

To conclude, Kari-Anne from SPIRE said a few words and shared news about their upcoming campaigns. Afterwards, participants mingled over refreshments while checking out artwork from around the world in the Imprints Art Collection display.

On to London next - stay tuned for the next update!

 

Sustainable Campuses

Hi Everyone!

Now that I have moved out to Montréal I thought I would share with you some cool things going on related to sustainability and education.

The Sierra Youth Coalition has a nationwide campaign called Sustainable Campuses. Its aim is to provide support, train and inspire to students working toward ecological equity and sustainability on their campuses. The program has worked with many students since 1998 to help give youth a voice when it comes to environmental practices on their campuses.

To learn more about the details of this campaign check out this link: http://www.syc-cjs.org/sustainable-campuses

In September, École Polytechnique de Montréal was given certification by the Sierra Youth Coalition as a sustainable campus. It is actually the first university in Montréal to be awarded this title! The school prides itself in leading by example by providing engineering students an atmosphere to learn and work in that is sustainable, to encourage students to take the path of sustainability for their careers. For 10 years now the school as offered Diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées (advanced graduate diploma -- DESS) in sustainable development. On a more technical note, the school has worked towards lowering its water consumption 61% since 1995 despite the student population rising 37%. Additionally, sustainable transportation is a priority for the school: they’ve installed 163 bicycle racks, a number of showers, free access to public bicycles, the creation of Biciklo (a bicycle repair workshop), and access to BIXI bikes at Polytechnique.

Pretty cool!

This past week has been a busy one at the office, as Daniela (Tread Lightly's Outreach and Promotions Assistant) and I have been working hard to prepare for the upcoming Youth Environment and Education Forums. 

I'll be traveling to five European cities (Oslo, London, Milan, Paris and Amsterdam) to host forums for youth and envirionmental NGOs, and educators. Together, we'll be discussing environmental issues through the lens of the five Tread Lightly Challenge categories (food, transportation, energy, waste and water) and forming recommendations for the agenda of the UN Rio+20 Earth Summit in 2012. 

We have some exciting new promotions materials, modeled here by Daniela and myself! Check out our stylish t-shirts, and Tread Lightly Challenge card sets - to encourage youth to reduce their ecological footprints in one or more of the five categories. 

If you're in Oslo, London, Milan, Paris or Amsterdam in October, join in for the forum event! They're sure to be a great place to meet other like-minded young activists and educators, discuss important issues, and contribute to a significant global environmental event. 

For details on the event in your city, visit the TIG event for each one: 

www.tigurl.org/TLOslo

www.tigurl.org/TLLondon

www.tigurl.org/TLParis

www.tigurl.org/TLMilan

www.tigurl.org/TLAmsterdam

And, help us spread the word by sharing the link with your friends!

Cheers, 

Deanna