The annual Hawke’s Bay Regional Youth Environmental Forum will involve nearly 50 keen young people from 14 high schools tomorrow, Wednesday 14th May.
It is remarkable in that the forum is for teenagers and by teenagers - the Hawke’s Bay Youth Environment Council (YEC), a team of eight dedicated 15-17 year olds, has pulled the event together with guidance from Hawke's Bay Regional Council staff and some funding from the Ministry for the Environment.
The forum will be held at the Pettigrew Green Arena in Taradale and is a hands-on event aimed at encouraging and educating Hawke’s Bay youth to be environmentally aware and pro-active.
“We want to provide the students with practical steps to help our communities become environmentally aware, starting with school. A number of schools have already taken the initiative to set up their own environmental committee, and it is this pro-active attitude the forum wishes to achieve in as many Hawke’s Bay schools as possible, “said YEC team member, Madeline, 16 from Iona College.
The students will take part in a choice of four environment-specific workshops including: recycling and waste, carbon footprinting, biodiversity and social marketing. Each group will be mentored by experienced people from the EIT, Hastings District Council, ECOED and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.
After the day’s main activities, students will present their findings to key professionals. The forum will also include hands-on activities such as waste auditing, calculating carbon footprints, landscape planning and social marketing strategies, all of which will provide students with useful skills for working on environmental issues.
“The 2008 Hawke’s Bay Youth Environmental Forum is expected to be a great event where the minds of our future leaders are put into action on environmental issues.”
- Media release written by Madeline, 16, Iona College
The Hawke’s Bay Youth Environmental Council is a small group of 15-17 year old Hawke’s Bay school students. They meet nearly every week to discuss local environmental issues and practical ways of solving them. The group host the forum each year with the aim of helping other teenagers become more environmentally aware. As well as planning and facilitating this Forum, the group also works on local community projects such as “Go By Bike Day”, Ben Gee beautification project, and securing funding for recycling in local schools.
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