Today’s highschool students could be forgiven for being paralyzed with dread and depression as they will come into the prime of adulthood when climate change consequences are likely to be much more severe than they are now. But that is not the case with students in Vernon, British Columbia.
In the spring of 2022, “more than 120 senior high students from four area high schools worked in small teams to create climate-action projects in support of the City’s CAP (Climate Action Plan) and UN SDGs. Projects focused on diverse topics ranging from beekeeping and hydroponics to a solar-powered windmill and a solar power plan for a Vernon high school.”
The program was so effective that in the fall 2022 semester 42 climate-action projects were judged at the CARE Summit December 2022.
Students in this program are not doing ‘make work’ projects. They are developing initiatives that will feed back into Vernon’s Climate Action Plan and can be shared and scaled up into viable business opportunities too.
News of the program has spread and Teacher Al Gee and Fresh Outlook Foundation CEO Joanne de Vries - co-founders and developers of the CARE program have even made a video to help other interested schools understand how to start a CARE program.