NOTE: Workshops for Middle School and High School Educators as well as Middle and High School Students will be available at the 2008 Summit

Taking Action
During the Summit, there will be several activities aimed at inspiring students and educators to take ongoing action against global warming! Thanks to the National Wildlife Federation, Youth CAN will offer Summit participants the opportunity to apply for Climate Action Grants to promote groups taking action in their own schools or community.  Come to the Summit to pick up an application!  Ten $1,000 grants will be awarded by June 20th, 2008

The Summit will feature a special networking session aimed at developing the Youth Climate Action Network.  This year’s focus will be to create a coalition of youth and educators who will continue working together after the Summit to promote climate change education by planning and holding a public hearing about the need for climate change education at the secondary level. 

Food
Breakfast and lunch will be provided free to all who attend!

Guest Speakers and Workshop Leaders
The 2007 summit presenters included Mayor Menino and Professor Kerry Emanuel,  Linda Lopez of the Natural Resources Defense Council;  Sandy Farrier (IST) and Laurie Bryce (MIT Human Resources); Patricia Weinmann, Asst. Coord., Technology & Culture Forum @ MIT and Director of New England Conservatory's Opera Workshop;  Nancy DuVergne Smith, Communications Director, Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development, MIT; Janna Cohen-Rosenthal of the Massachusetts Energy Consumers Alliance, Paul Shoemaker, the Program Supervisor for the Environmental Health Office, at the Boston Public Health Commission and members of MIT's Energy Club, Anja Kollmuss at Tufts. 

The 2008 Summit Planning Committee has invited an exceptional list of speakers and presenters including Mayor Menino, MIT President Susan Hockfield, Patricia Weinmann of the Technology and Culture Forum at MIT, Linda Lopez of the Natural Resource Defense Council, Janna Cohen-Rosenthal of Mass Energy Alliance, Anja Kollmus of Tufts University, Paul Shoemaker of the Boston Public Health Commission, Andrew Schuyler of Northeast Biofuels Collaborative, Barbara Hill of Clean Power Now, Liz Soper of the National Wildlife Federation, Lilah Glick of Clean Water Action, Debra Lapidus of Corporate Accountability International, Jenna Sigman and Bronwyn Cooke of the New England Aquarium, Marybeth Campbell, Mass Technology Collaborative, Mary Essary of the Foresight Project, and more.   youthsummitcommittee@blsyouthcan.org

2008 Summit Schedule

Summit Schedule & Workshops            Register online now

Registration/Breakfast - 9:00 – 9:30 AM 

Step squad – 9:50

Welcoming Remarks – 10:00 – Mayor Thomas Menino & MIT President, Susan Hockfield

Keynote Speaker – 10:30 – Jim Hunt (invited)

Workshop Session #1 - 11:00 – 11:45

Workshop Session #2 - 12:00 – 12:45

Lunch - 1:00 – 1:30

Entertainment –Green Bands: Undecided & Jonny Lives 1:30 - 2:30

Networking Session – 2:30 - 3:30

Door Prizes – 3:30– 4:00

Workshop Session I       11:00 - 11:45

Workshops have a limit of 30 participants per workshop.  *For workshops #7 & #8 only, the limit is 40.  Educators are encouraged to attend any and all workshops.  An “E” signifies a workshop specifically for educators.

1. Energy Programs

This session will address the pros and cons of new and existing sources of energy, (i.e. solar, wind, clean coal, etc.) as well as energy conservation.

Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Find out in this look at your everyday life.  From the building you live in, to the food you eat, and the daily activities you undertake, we’ll explore the connections between the way we live and global warming.

3.  Think Outside the Bottle

Bottled water corporations have portrayed bottled water as healthy when in reality it threatens our health and our ecosystems, costs thousands of times what tap water costs, and undermines local democratic control over a common resource. Come find out what you should know and how to launch a campaign at your school!

4.  Health Effects of Climate Change

Climate Change and Public Health:  Come learn with the Boston Public Health Commission about the health impacts that climate change will have on all of us and what you can do to reduce the problem and prepare for changes.

5.  Climate Change Effects on Oceans

Meet with staff from the New England Aquarium to explore the impacts that climate change is having on the world’s oceans.  Learn what you should know about it!

6.  The Science of Climate Change

Interested in the actual science of global warming? Get an inside view as to how global warming really works, and learn about the science behind some of the proposed solutions.  Come learn how to speak knowledgably about global warming, and ground your arguments in science!

7.  Filming a Climate Change PSA *Both Sessions Required

8. The Story of Stuff & The Trashion Show  *Both Sessions Required

Watch a short film about problems connected to our consumerism, then work with an artist to create trashion designs that will help to raise awareness about the issues involved.  Display your creations on the “Street” in Stata Center at MIT! 

9.  E -Climate Change Filmmaking in the Classroom For Educators

You want to talk about Climate Change in your school, but are constrained by so many existing curriculum demands: Learn how the Foresight Project’s innovative program engages students and reaches out to educate the community at large.  Find out how a creative writing and video contest for high-school students on the subject of climate science and clean technology can be adopted by teachers as a project in any almost any subject area across the curriculum. 

10.  E –National Wildlife Federation’s Climate Literacy for Educators

Join Liz Soper (NWF),and learn about National Wildlife Federation*s new comprehensive program that helps students, parents and educators understand the science of global climate change as well as steps they can take in their daily lives to reduce and reverse global warming.  As part of this session, you will explore the Climate Classroom website, resources and *An Inconvenient Truth in the Classroom,* a high school curriculum that provide teachers with guidelines for teaching about global warming, adaptable versions to tailor to their needs and conservation action projects to engage kids in active learning. Each educator will receive a copy of the AIT curriculum and a copy of An Inconvenient Truth.  Climate Classroom* (www.climateclassroom.org

11.  E –DOE Climate Change Curriculum

Let’s teach about climate change! We will sort through myths and misconceptions, try out activities, work with climate data, and discuss how you can keep current with research about this important issue. Teachers will receive a CD of resources for teaching about climate change.

12.  E - The Gore Slide Show

Ileana Jones, The Climate Project, is a former science teacher at the Winsor School, and member of Al Gore's Climate Project.  She will give a slide/talk about climate change and practical solutions. There will be time for discussion.

Workshop Session II       12:00  – 12:45

Workshops have a limit of 30 participants per workshop. *For workshops #8 and #9 only, the limit is 40.  Educators are encouraged to attend any and all workshops.  An “E” signifies a workshop specifically for educators.

1.  Alternative Fuels

Learn about a not-for-profit, public/private partnership dedicated to educating the general public about the economic and environmental benefits of increased biofuel production and use.  Find out how to promote renewable fuels as a viable, near-term strategy to address petroleum dependence and global climate change.

2.  The Food We Eat & Climate Change

Modern methods of growing, packaging, and transporting food have a tremendous negative impact on the environment. However, you can choose to eat in a way that saves fuel, nurtures the environment, supports your local community, and reduces your carbon footprint. Come find out why it matters what you eat! 

3.  Activism:  Climate Change Legislation

Making a difference in your local community! Learn about how to work with your community to promote green policy and environmental awareness. This session includes a short video on Boston's Step it Up event. Community activism can take many shapes and forms. Come and explore ways to create change on both a personal and community level.

4.  Green Architecture, Green Design

Ideal for individuals interested in green design, green building, or a general understanding of the sustainable design movement, led by the President of Boston Architectural College, Ted Landsmark.

5.  Wind Power & Cape Wind 

Learn from Clean Power Now members what wind energy, and the Cape Wind proposal in particular has to offer.

6.  How to Start Your Own Youth CAN Group

Interested in starting a climate action group at your school or youth organization?  Meet with Youth CAN members to get useful tools for getting started.

7.  Modeling Earth & Climate System Dynamics

To understand how the climate system works, participants become “elements” in a complex system, modeling natural system processes, as well as responses to external perturbations. Student scientists perform “experiments” to discover the rules that govern this “natural system.”

8.  Filming a Climate Change PSA – Continued from Session I

9.  The Story of Stuff & The Trashion Show * Continued from Session I

10.  E -Climate Change Filmmaking in the Classroom For Educators

You want to talk about Climate Change in your school, but are constrained by so many existing curriculum demands: Learn how the Foresight Project’s innovative program engages students and reaches out to educate the community at large.  Find out how a creative writing and video contest for high-school students on the subject of climate science and clean technology can be adopted by teachers as a project in any almost any subject area across the curriculum. 

11.  E -National Wildlife Federation’s Climate Literacy for Educators

Join Liz Soper (NWF),and learn about National Wildlife Federation*s new comprehensive program that helps students, parents and educators understand the science of global climate change as well as steps they can take in their daily lives to reduce and reverse global warming.  As part of this session, you will explore the Climate Classroom website, resources and *An Inconvenient Truth in the Classroom,* a high school curriculum that provide teachers with guidelines for teaching about global warming, adaptable versions to tailor to their needs and conservation action projects to engage kids in active learning. Each educator will receive a copy of the AIT curriculum and a copy of An Inconvenient Truth.  Climate Classroom* (www.climateclassroom.org

12.  E -DOE Climate Change Curriculum

Let’s teach about climate change! We will sort through myths and misconceptions, try out activities, work with climate data, and discuss how you can keep current with research about this important issue. Teachers will receive a CD of resources for teaching about climate change.

13. E - The Gore Slide Show

Ileana Jones, The Climate Project, is a former science teacher at the Winsor School, and member of Al Gore's Climate Project.  She will give a slide/talk about climate change and practical solutions. There will be time for discussion.