YIP - Washington Youth Summit on Climate Change

Washington Youth Summit on Climate Change
2013

By Jacqueline Reid

The Youth in Planning Task Force of the Washington Chapter of APA organized a Youth Summit on Climate Change in October 2013 to bring together students, educators, and leaders from business, government and non-profits to address the important role the next generation must play in dealing with climate change and creating a more sustainable Washington. The summit featured dynamic keynote presentations highlighting key issues and provided skill building and networking opportunities for youth.

Over 100 students from six community colleges and several high schools across Washington State participated in the day long summit. Together with experts and professionals they had informative discussions on how climate change is affecting the Pacific Northwest. Exciting information was shared on innovative practices being done currently to address climate change in business, government and public education within Washington. The Summit culminated with students developing recommendations for actions business, government and education could take to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a more sustainable Washington.

The Summit’s success was due in part to funding support from the APA Washington Chapter, which helped produce a webinar providing background information about the Summit to get the word out. Funding also enabled a portion of the Summit to be webcast to students across the state. Also, by timing the Summit to immediately precede the State’s annual APA conference, organizers of the summit were able to leverage meeting space, advertising, administrative support and the services of Mitchell Silver, former president of the APA, to be the Summit’s keynote speaker, who also happened to be the keynote speaker for the Chapter conference.

Supporting materials include: Presentation slides, webcast and the Summit Flyer.

For more information contact: Jacqueline Reid, AICP at [email protected] or Paula Reeves, AICP CTP at [email protected]

Image: State Capitol building in Olympia, Washington.

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