Youth, Climate Change and Jobs Youth Institute: Curriculum Kit and Organizer’s Manual

Youth, Climate Change and Jobs Institute was created for high school students to engage young Canadians in the issues surrounding climate change and work, and to invite them to participate in imagining then creating solutions for our future. The workshop was organized by Work in a Warming World (W3), a project affiliated with York University’s Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS). Support for the workshop was provided by a Social Sciences and the Humanities Research Council public outreach grant.

On Feb 4th and 5th 2012, thirteen high school students from the Greater Toronto Area attended the Climate Change, Youth, and Jobs Institute at York University. The two-day institute was conceptualized by York faculty members, Carla Lipsig-Mummé, the Director of W3, Dawn Bazely, who is affiliated through IRIS, and Steven Tufts from the department of Geography. The workshops were co-facilitated by Professors Bazely and Tufts as well as Matthew Carroll, a scientist and environmentalist with Lead Now. Stefanie Hall, the Institute Coordinator, is an MES student in the Faculty of Environmental studies.

This resource has been designed in order to support individuals and groups who would like to implement an entire or section of the Youth, Climate Change, and Jobs Institute in their community. All of the materials are available to support organizers, facilitators and educators in the creation, adaptation and delivery of a workshop for youth related to climate change and work.

The workshop outline, lesson plans, and academic and supplemental activity resources are based on the two-day Youth, Climate Change and Jobs Institute that was held at York University on February 4th and 5th, 2012. The purpose in providing the outline, resources, panellist biographies and budgets is to give future planners a holistic idea of what is involved in planning the institute in its entirety. Other materials such as the budgets and schedules are included to support the planning process. All supplemental materials, such as the brochures may be adapted to fit the needs, dates and locations of subsequent workshops.