Environmental Youth Summit
The Environmental Youth Summit (EYS) is the training and delivery arm of Sustainable Earth Solutions, Inc. The Summits are often 2 days in length with five to ten schools and organizations attend. The Youth teams are composed of five to eight students along with a teacher/advisor. Youth from each school and organization come to the Summit with an environmental challenge/problem they wish to address in the school or community. The EYS can have a general theme for all the participants, like “Climate Change”, or each school and organization can have very different issues they wish to address, like: “How might we start or improve the recycling in our school/community?”; “How to get some working solar panels and a wind turbine on our school roof”; and “How might we improve the looks of our school grounds and local community?”
The model employed at the EYS has been developed at the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College. The model is research based and is used in educational and business settings throughout the world. Among the outcomes for each youth team that attends the EYS are:
- Skills in strategic planning of an environmental initiative
- Designing and implementing a Plan of Action
- Follow up mentoring by the training team for 45 days after the EYS
- Seed money for each youth team's project
- Training in "Change Leadership" skills
A first step in the planning of an EYS is to identify the host site for the training (Q & A on hosting a Summit). Once the site is established, then schools and youth organizations in that area are invited. The 2 days of training at the EYS run from approximately 8AM to 4PM. Youth can range in ages from middle school to college, with high school being the predominant level to date.
The registration fee covers:
- Breakfast, lunch, healthy snacks
- Workbooks for designing and implementing the Plan of Action
- Personal "Change Leadership" inventory per student and adult
- Two days of professional facilitation for each school/group
- Mentoring by training team for 45 days after the Summit
- All supplies and materials used at the Summit
Contact us for more information on the Environmental Youth Summits.