Generation Green Virtual Conference

• Who: Open to all Halton District School Board Students from Grade 7 to Grade 12, Registration capped at 450.
• What: Generation Green Virtual Youth Conference: Climate Action to Climate Justice
• When: March 10th from 1 pm to 4 pm
  
• Where: Hosted Online through Pheedloop
  
• Per​​​​​​​mission forms - must be received by school by March 1st.​
  

​About the Conference

The Generation Green Virtual Youth Conference is designed by youth for youth, with the goal of engaging students in climate action leadership and supporting them in their desire to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The 55 stakeholders designing this conference are HDSB students, working on their own time.

Generation Green Virtual Conference will focus on Climate Justice, using the knowledge and understanding of climate action, students will move from “Climate Action to Climate Justice”. Students will build connections and solidarity with those who are most affected by the climate crisis in order to provide deeper context to the global climate movement. Featuring an International Panel Discussion, Keynote Speaker and 12 engaging workshops, students will go back to their communities equipped with tools and skills to implement their own unique way to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in our community. ​

Registration & Attendance

Once the signed parental permission form has been received by the student’s school, HDSB will register the student.  Students will be provided with an alias and password for the conference on March 5th.  Registered students will be marked as “Excused” for the duration of the conference (March 10th, 1pm - 4pm).  Students are expected to login to the conference from home - any transportation from school to home outside of normal procedures, is the responsibility of the student/family.

Permission Form & In-School Presentation Notification​​

Panelists 

Marinel Sumook Ubaldo
a climate activist from the Phi​​lippines who helped to organize the first youth climate strike in her country.​ 

Tina Yeonju Oh
One of Earth Island's 2018 Brower Youth Award winners, recognized her leadership with the DivestMTA campaign and the Canadian Youth Delegation. 

Ashneil Jeffers

​an environmentalist from Montserrat Caribbean.  Being born and raised in the Caribbean, he has firsthand knowledge of the present effects of the rising temperatures.​

Keynote

“Elizabeth Wathuti is a Kenyan environment and climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, which nurtures young people to love nature and be environmentally conscious at a young age and has now planted 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya.”​

Confirmed Workshops 

• Track Measure and Report back: Michael Dean, Town of Halton Hills and Deniz Ergun, Town of Oakville (this will be live so that students can ask questions about the mathematics involved)
• Cooking class with food waste: Alyson Prokop-Baker, Halton Food
• How to lobby politicians in reducing GHG emissions: Amar Kumar, Citizens Climate Lobby Canada
• Climate Adaptation and what it means for you: Trisha Henderson, Town of Oakville and Fleur Storace-Hogan, City of Burlington
• Carbon sequestration and GHG emissions: Sasha Benevides, Conservation Halton
• Textile upcycling: Georgia Wiggins, Halton Environmental Network
• Green development & its impact on Climate Mitigation and Adaptation: Gaby Kalapos Clean Air Council
• Ethics of inequality in Climate Change: Dr. Sarah Burch, University of Waterloo
• The Federal Climate Budget and the impact for transformative change: Nick Xenos, Treasury Board of Canada

While access to this conference is limited to HDSB students, registered through HDSB, please reinforce good online practices with your students. Participants will not be able to use their cameras for the duration of the conference. All students will be assigned an alias email and an unique ID to ensure no identifying information will be shared with any third parties. Students will be invited to use the Q&A capabilities to discuss, and discussions will be monitored.  ​

March 11th - Taking Action​ - Project Launch

A second part of the conference will involve youth action through a 6-week project aimed at reducing emissions of GHGs  in our community.  Youth will be asked to measure, track and report back on their climate actions.  

The second part of the conference will be coordinated by Halton Environment Network (HEN) and will occur outside of school hours. Additional permission forms will be circulated to interested students by HEN (https://haltonenvironet.ca/special-events/ ). Weekly meetings will occur with continuous support to provide students with tools and resources to complete the project.  During spring break (April 12th-16th) daily events will be hosted for the students to gather on-line.

On May 5th, an event to recognize all projects which students initiated to reduce GHG emissions in our community. will be held. Everyone is welcome to attend

Participation in the second phase of Gen Green (including weekly webinar support) will be recognized with Community Involvement hours for students in Grades 9 -12.